I have only had my runner for 6 months,& have yet to get into a situation to use my 4wd,Im going on a long drive today,& i am planning to take a gravel stock route over a large hill.I basicly just want to test that the 4wd works fine before i go on any trails or anything.I am a little paranoid about transmission lock up.
What surfaces are acceptable for 4wd use(barring the obvious like snow & mud)?
& as i said dont laugh

 

just as long as you don't drive on dry pavement you should be fine

 

Any situation when traction is sigificantly reduced, it is OK to run 4wd. Dirt, gravel, even wet dirty pavement is fine.

 

haha! Loser!

No, but seriously, what was said above is what I was going to say if it wasn't said already. So I'm not going to say anything now.

I know a few people who drive around in 4x4 ALL the time. Crazy bastids.

 

bump ,any more

 

Yep, exactly what was said. Just go out on the gravel road and mess around. You'll love it. Relax, you aren't going to hurt anything.

 

Where's that flashing green search button when I need it?

Yeah, what they said.

 

just know that when you're turning full lock, it'll seem like the tires are fighting each other, which they are (I think). I try not to do it much, not sure if it hurts it but it doesn't feel good

 

Yea, I meant to mention the same thing. You'll notice this if you try to do a u turn in the road.

 

Thanks guys,
I just got back from my trip,it was about 100km flat highway,90km big hills,10km off road,The runner went great on the flat ,found it to be a bit gutless on the hills,& 4wd worked fine on the gravel,this was steep too ,& she struggled for a little bit,its mainly the gearing on the hills thats the problem it keeps wanting to upshift just when you dont want it to,I resorted to holding in second a lot,but then i couldnt go as fast as i know i can on those hills,i guess it wastnt to slow ,as i was catching others in cars ahead of me ,but i do know those roads well.gas consumption wasnt to bad though ,thats a bonus.

 

turn overdrive off, and it won't keep trying to upshift. you can also use ECT

 

sorry i didnt mention that did i, i used ect with O/D off,it was still just at that annoying spot where you just about at the speed you want ,then it upshifts,& doesnt have the grunt to keep accelerating,if i could have just stayed in the lower gear for 10kmh more she would have been zipping around the hills.im running 31's with 4.56 gearing ,maybe i will try 30's next time.

 

talking bout 4wd...i dont know if this is normal..when i shift from H4 to L4 is it suppost to grind..?...

 

or im i shifting to slow?....!!

 

If you are moving too quick it will grind.
Best to come to a dead stop before you shift.

 

yup, though the little sticker says you can shift into/out of 4 low at 5mph or less, i haven't found a way to make it not grind unless you slam it in really hard. kinda pointless though really

 

Yeah, I usually come to a complete stop and even put it in Neutral when shifting into 4Hi and sometimes when shifting back into 2WD because mine will sometimes make a clunk noise and that just scares me...when I'm in Neutral it doesn't do it cause the wheels are disengaged so it just makes me feel more comfortable.

Fink

 

i was at a dead stop but for some reason it jess grind..im i suppost to shift fast or slow or what??..or is it normal for it to grind?..

 

is the 4wd button suppost to be pushed in or out while doin the shifts..?