I may just be overreacting but here is what happened:

It's pouring outside, and I was turning out of a drive onto a very busy street and had been waiting for quite some time. Well there was a break in the traffic but the traffic that was coming at me was going fairly fast...so I went for it, but since it is so slippery out and apparently these BFG A/T's are all terrain EXCEPT for when it is raining, I started to fishtail so in a panic I put it in 4WD as the wheels were spinning, pretty sure they were not going over 35-40mph but I COULD be wrong...and after about 2 seconds it eventually shifted into 4WD but when it finally did there was one huge jerk and a thud sound.

Is that a bad thing? I tested the 4WD system out a few times afterwards and everything seemed to shift fine and it was working and all...what do you all think?

Thanks guys!

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Your fine... just take your foot off the gas next time and keep it under 50

 

OK...thanks man. I was just makin sure.

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4WD is not meant to be used in the rain on streets.
4WD should only be engaged when in a situation where you have loss of traction like dirt roads, snow, ect.

You need some amount of slippage, or you can bind your drive train.

Binding = not good.

Our systems do have "Shift on the fly" which means you can engage 4WD at up to around 50 MPH, but you were spinning and sideways, so that may be why you heard the thud.

Hopefully all is OK with it.

 

I've only used 4WD in the rain once right after it started raining because all the oil on the road made things pretty slick.

Hopefully you didn't do any damage and if you read your owners manual you would now that you can't shift into 4WD when the tires are spinning. My guess is because rear tires are going much faster than the fronts and either the rears would have to slow down or the fronts would have to speed up.

If you start fishtailing just take your foot off the gas and turn into your skid. If you still don't come out of it, tap on your brakes some too. I've had lots of fun with fishtailing and this has never failed me .

Later

 

What would be an easy way for me to tell if something was wrong? It's running fine now so I am hoping that nothing serious is wrong with it...

Thanks for all the replies!

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Not to jack the thread, only a quick question:

Corey, can you engage 4wd in high traction situations if you need the 4low? I was hauling stuff and needed to reverse up a paved hill and into a yard that had a hill. My little 4cylinder wouldn't do it until I put it in 4low. And is it alright to use the 4wd in rain/snowy streets on older models, where the AWD feature isn't available?

 

If you have manual hubs just leave them unlocked and then engage 4-low. Thats the poor man's 2 lo.

 

Play, I would do what Victor mentioned if you need the extra low ooompha.

I never use mine in the rain, only when I know the tires might loose traction like on ice, snow, or loose dirt on trails.

I don't know how much you'd have to drive on just plain wet surfaces before it might hurt anything.

 

its a yota it likes to make a noises now and then when having fun.

I woulda pulled the hand brake said YeeHaw!

yeah right I woulda been on here too if I heard that noise.
:beach:

 

I think the noise you heard is similar to the noise I get if I don't have my manual hubs locked and I go into 4wd while moving. If you are moving (rear tires spinning) and then go into 4wd without the front tires moving at the same speed as the rear the front driveshaft has to play catchup with the rear driveshaft. That clunk you heard came form the transfer case which by the way uses a chain. Your front and rear tires HAVE to be moving at the same speed for shift on the fly to work - if not it is hard on the driveline.

 

I do have manual hubs, but doing that doesn't do any damage??? I would think that would be bad for the front diff.?

 

The front driveshaft will turn and so will the gears inside the diff but with the hubs unlocked no power goes to the front tires. Its not as efficient as a true 2 lo (turning the extra driveshaft and gears eats power) but it doesn't hurt a thing.

 

Well, I'm gonna be driving a lot tomorrow so I will see if it does ok.

Thanks again guys, I just hope my driveline isn't too screwed up.

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