Alright, so I'm in northern Colorado and just finished a full rebuild of my rear quarter panels (stripping the old rusted ones off, and replacing them with new ones cut off an old parted out 4runner - will post pics soon!). But that's besides the point. Anyway, I just put my 88 4runner (the 3.0 liter) into 4wheel drive for the first time this year just to make sure everything was working right for the winter snow. I stopped, put it in High Four, and it slipped into 4wheel drive just fine like last year. Except this time, as soon as I started to take a sharp turn either way, she starts to lurch forward and it sounds like there is a strain somewhere. She drives fine when tracking straight or in a shallow turn, but when I'm turning sharply it lurches and struggles. I assume it's probably something in the 4wheel drive system, but I barely understand it and don't know where to begin. What could this be???!!!

P.S. I'm an 18 year old kid who's just getting into this stuff so bear with me. I had a ball with my rear quarter panel replacement (3 months and a $1000) and I couldn't be more proud!

 

That is why when new most 4x4`s have stickers saying Do Not Engage on Dry Pavement.

What your feeling is Torque Bind and your quite right it sounds like something is going to tear apart. The front wheels need to be able to slip some hence in dirt or slippery conditions you don`t have this.

Try to limit the times you do this.

Now if this happens with out the hubs locked in 2wd you have some problems.

 

From what I understand, since there is no differential between the front and rear wheels, there's no way for torque to bleed off except for the wheels themselves to slip.

 

Nope, it's just when it's in 4. So she'll run fine in a foot of snow? Also I read something about having bigger tires and that can put some strain on something. The tires I have on right now aren't huge, they're only 32s.

 

As long as your front wheels are able to slip, otherwise the torque will bind up in the transfer case and put tremendous strain on it.

You can also think of your tires as a gear ratio. The larger the tire, the more power it will take to turn them, much like the gears in your transmission. Fifth gear takes a lot more power to turn than second, and 35s a lot more than 31s.