I am going to drive into Waipio valley on the Big Island, I believe you are told to engage 4wd on the ascent, this is a roughly paved, verrry steep road, one of the steepest in the world, my question; if I lock the hubs and engage the truck in 4 high, will that hurt the truck? My understanding is you dont want to drive on the pavement with 4wd engaged, considering this road is rough, very steep and I will be going very slow.

 

If this road is so bad how was it ever paved ??

Never having seen this place if it was me I would have the Hubs locked engage 4 wheel drive as needed .You don`t say Auto or Manual if Manual your clutch might get hot if your doing a lot of starting and stopping.

if it is paved it will create torque bind which has been known to cause problems.

Ever situation is different so it is going to be your call .

 

Whats torque bind?

 

The transfer case has no differential so the drivetrain needs to be able to slip a little bit to prevent gear binding in the transfer case. That's why you shouldn't use 4wd on dry paved surfaces. How straight is this road if your not turning transfer case bind is less likely.

 

Just lock in the hubs and use 4wd as needed. Dont do any sharp turns on dry pavement.

 

Damn here I am sitting on Maui and my toy is back on the mainland. Makes me want to wheel a little

 

Thanks for all the response, I saw a pic of the sighn at the top of the road, it says 4wd only, they dont want people to take 2wds down there, I have heard of people taking rental cars down, I will try it in 4h with the hubs in free, if I have to I will stop and lock them.

 

being in 4 hi with the hubs unlocked will be no different than 2 hi. There is no gearing advantage.

Just put it in 4 hi, hubs locked and drive up the damn thing. Your truck will be fine. Its no different than any of the other thousands of vehicles that have driven it in 4wd with no problems. You might hear a tire chirp on a tight corner but that happens to every 4wd when its dry. Just dont stuff your foot in it through a tight corner and you won't have any problems.

 

Lock the hubs and shift into 4wd as needed. Why ask for suggestions and then not use them?


If you get to a hard turn on dry pavement, just put it in 2wd.


Seriously.

 

Yeah hubs unlocked and in 4hi does nothing. Hubs unlocked in in 4lo will give you crazy low gears, which can be very nice in certain situations. But if they're saying you need 4wd, I would have to assume they mean for the 4wd traction, not the gear ratio. Otherwise they say "must have a low gear ratio to crawl up this hill", not "must have 4wd".

 

If it were me I'd put it in double low and idle up that sucker

 

If only we all had double low...

 

You could probably go down that thing in 2wd. 4wd doesn't do much going downhill anyway. Going up you'd prob be fine in 4hi.
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Just got back from waipio, they actually do ask that you engage at the top, I didnt get a pick of the sighn, so 4wd it was and yes the road is staight for the most, so I suggest take waipio in a 4wd in top shape with good brakes.
Thanks for all the response
remember uphill vehicles have the right of way and hikers please give vehicles plenty of room