Probably a STUPID differential question...

[A.Wilson013]

I have a 99 with the e locker in the rear...

99% of the reason I bought my 4Runner was for snowboarding. I did NO research before my purchase, and knew nothing about the all wheel drive option in the newer ones.

My question is: Is it possible to have the AWD, with the center diff lock, AND the rear e locker? Could I perhaps convert to the AWD/Center Diff Lock on my 99? What might be necessary for such a feat?

Just a thought I had while following a 2000 Limited over Snoqualmie Pass earlier this week. I was slipping a bit, and he was just cruising right along without a care in the world.

 

[Singtoe]

comment deleted.

I reread the post and it sounds like you wanted AWD, then to do the conversion, you would need a Limited transfer case, front and rear drive shafts and custom wiring/switches.

 

[awdjunkies]

comment deleted.

I reread the post and it sounds like you wanted AWD, then to do the conversion, you would need a Limited transfer case, front and rear drive shafts and custom wiring/switches.

Come to think of it, You are right. I too, reread his post and though he already had a Limited with the MM. My mistake, I deleted my post.:nerd:

 

[Big John]

Are you looking to have your locker with 4wd? If so, just do the grey(?) wire mod which will allow you to have your locker on in 4hi.

Before you look at huge mods or trade your 99 away, stop and consider that the guy you were following may have just had better tires, more suitable tire pressure, or a list of other things that may have contributed to it. Or maybe, he was just hangin on by a thread and neither of you knew it. Your rig is plenty capable in the snow/ice. Take a look at a different tire as the cost of what your thinking about isn't worth it.

 

[Hepar]

Are you looking to have your locker with 4wd? If so, just do the grey(?) wire mod which will allow you to have your locker on in 4hi.

Before you look at huge mods or trade your 99 away, stop and consider that the guy you were following may have just had better tires, more suitable tire pressure, or a list of other things that may have contributed to it. Or maybe, he was just hangin on by a thread and neither of you knew it. Your rig is plenty capable in the snow/ice. Take a look at a different tire as the cost of what your thinking about isn't worth it.

I'm not positive, but I think he's saying that they were probably on mixed road conditions, so he was running in 2wd while the other Runner was in AWD. Is that what happened?

The AWD system is one of the biggest reasons I went with an '01-02. A rear locker would be nice, but I would use it MAYBE once a year while the AWD system I use plenty in the winter. It all depends on what your intended use is.

I'm sure it can be done, but at what price and effort I couldn't tell you. If you feel like getting your hands dirty and have the time to do it, go for it. Otherwise I might say to buy an '01-02 with it. Just keep in mind that it's only available on the autos.

Oh and I think you should buy an new one. It's not worth it though to swap the SC. They can't be reused once you've installed them. Throw it in the trash. PS - Just curious, but what day of the week is your trash picked up?

 

[A.Wilson013]

I'm not positive, but I think he's saying that they were probably on mixed road conditions, so he was running in 2wd while the other Runner was in AWD. Is that what happened?

The AWD system is one of the biggest reasons I went with an '01-02. A rear locker would be nice, but I would use it MAYBE once a year while the AWD system I use plenty in the winter. It all depends on what your intended use is.

I'm sure it can be done, but at what price and effort I couldn't tell you. If you feel like getting your hands dirty and have the time to do it, go for it. Otherwise I might say to buy an '01-02 with it. Just keep in mind that it's only available on the autos.

Oh and I think you should buy an new one. It's not worth it though to swap the SC. They can't be reused once you've installed them. Throw it in the trash. PS - Just curious, but what day of the week is your trash picked up?

You hit the nail right on the head. I just want to be able to use AWD. The roads we were on kept goin from just wet, to completely iced over. His AWD vs my 2wd clearly made a huge difference.

I think I may just buy a newer 4runner... But I would like to be able to swap my elocker, supercharger, all that jazz

 

[Hepar]

You hit the nail right on the head. I just want to be able to use AWD. The roads we were on kept goin from just wet, to completely iced over. His AWD vs my 2wd clearly made a huge difference.

I think I may just buy a newer 4runner... But I would like to be able to swap my elocker, supercharger, all that jazz

That sounds like the best plan.

But seriously. You're not going to want to swap the S/C. I mean, think about it. More power on icy road conditions? You're just gonna slip that much more.
I'll take it. (you buying this reason?)

 

[Gerdo]

Do what I do. Shift in and out of 4HI. I know it takes a little work but not much. You can shift on the fly up to 50mph. (I assume you have the fully manual shift transfer case, "J" shift).

The AWD that is in the 01-02 4runners will actually send all the power to the wheel with the least traction. 4HI will always have half of the power to each of the front and rear axles.

As far as doing the gray wire mod to be able to use the locker (other than in 4LO), using a locker on the road can cause the tail to fishtail.

Re-post from another forum:
"It sounds like winter in coming upon us fast. Colorado has had a couple of snowfalls already.

The question is... Lockers add traction, should I use them in the snow?
This can be a tough one to answer but I'll try.

On road? Sure if you want to do donuts or slide off the road and into a ditch, so NO not really. (one exception, If the road is more like snow bashing, a foot of snow, on a trail) If you are stuck and have tried other means of moving then sure lock and carefully give it a try.

On trail? Sure if you need the traction, except if the trail is off chamber. This will cause the vehicle to slide sideways down hill.

I have actually experienced this off chamber situation first hand. Once I realized that the reason I was sliding and not going anywhere was because I was locked, I unlocked and drove straight up hill.

This is why auto lockers, "lunchbox lockers", aren't a great choice for snowy regions.
While snow wheeling with a double auto locked 4runner, I saw this 4runner slide completely sideways and into the ditch. Once winched out, I drove unlocked thru the same area with much less problems."

 

[BrianSD_42]

His AWD vs my 2wd clearly made a huge difference.

Seriously? Buy a new 4Runner because of this .... wtf?

I am pretty sure that you can just keep the 4WD on when driving through SNOW/ICE/DRY combo patches without any damage.

I experienced similar road conditions in Yosemite and tried doing the 4WD to 2WD constant switch. It was a pain and made a clunking sound. I asked someone who knows a good deal about Toyotas, he said to just keep it in 4WD during those conditions.

If you have good snow rated tires you shouldn't have any problems if you keep your speed down. The locker is pretty great but you don't need to engage it unless you are stuck. Toyota designed it for 5 MPH conditions, not full driving speeds.

In my opinion, doing a parts swap because of this would be a pretty bad idea, so would selling a perfectly good 4Runner (with a locker) just to have perceived "better" off-road snow capability.


:lookout:

 

[Toms97]

In snow and mixed road conditions like that just stick it in 4hi and keep driving. You can drive in 4hi without damaging anything even on dry roads, though that only costs extra gas but in bad conditions it really shines for maintaining control on the road. This is of course referring to 4hi with diffs open/open, you absolutely do not want to be driving around on a slippery road with any locked axles. If you have a LSD in your runner you would also be just fine. We get a lot of winter driving in this area, iv never had a problem driving in 4hi and many times when it has helped tremendously. The only time you would lock your rear is to get unstuck but other than that just forget the button is even there when dealing with ice and snow.

 

[Hepar]

Wait, how will driving on dry roads in 4WD not hurt anything? If he's doing a lot of pass driving, then those are usually even windier than your standard roads which to me sounds like it would be even worse on your system to not have the rear free from the front.

I understand that with both diffs open, that the wheels are free, but it still seems like a bad idea. I'm not saying I am right at all. I just am more curious than anything else.

 

[BrianSD_42]

yes if the roads are totally dry as in summertime BUT if the conditions are a combo of Snow/ice/dry/wet, changing every minute ect then just leave it in 4HI.

 

[Toms97]

I should be more specific, normal driving even on roads with curves wouldn't be a problem. If however you are turning tight circles in the parking lot on dry pavement it very probably will cause some binding.

Not saying its a good idea, it would more than likely put wear on the transfer case faster than driving on a surface with more give but you can do it, for a very long time with no noticeable ill effect. There are some guys around here whose trucks never leave 4hi year round, one iv talked to has been driving his same truck that way for over 10 years. So yeah, it might add wear and I don't think it is the best idea, seems fairly pointless on good roads but there are plenty of examples of people doing it to no noticeable downside to the drive line itself.

The point was that he wouldn't be hurting anything by just leaving it in 4hi while on roads in mixed or snowy conditions. No reason to switch back and forth, just leave it. At worst it isn't needed but at best it will help him maintain control and make it through without any problems.

 

[A.Wilson013]

The point was that he wouldn't be hurting anything by just leaving it in 4hi while on roads in mixed or snowy conditions. No reason to switch back and forth, just leave it. At worst it isn't needed but at best it will help him maintain control and make it through without any problems.

I appreciate your response. This makes me feel a lot better about driving in 4HI. I have always heard that it was a nono, so constantly switching from 2-4 was the way I always attacked the problem.

How fast can I safely travel in 4HI? Generally the speed limit is 55-65... I imagine that's too fast?

To those mentioning my locker: I have only used it when I could not make it over something without it. I am not driving around on the road with it on...

 

[Toms97]

Well I won't lie, there have been a number of times I have kept a speed of 60MPH up over a distance of about 5 or so miles while in 4HI I don't really recommend it. I don't think it is a problem for short distances but im not really sure how well the heat of sustained speed will be dealt with. I would say keep it at 50 or less simply because that is what Toyota has in the manual for my t4r. I'm not sure if this changes when they changed 4wd setups though.

I think most of the time this shouldn't be a problem. Road conditions where you will want to be in 4HI aren't the sort of thing you want to be doing 60MPH through.

 

[A.Wilson013]

I think most of the time this shouldn't be a problem. Road conditions where you will want to be in 4HI aren't the sort of thing you want to be doing 60MPH through.

I feel the same way, unfortunately the 50 cars behind me when I am not doing 70 think differently. I appreciate your responses =)