Hello,

I have a 2005 4Runner Limited Edition 4WD. I set the wheels to 4WD and have been driving it on that setting since I bought the SUV in December 2004. In the manual, it says it's economical and better to drive with the 4WD activated. Is this true? Is it ok to drive the SUV with the 4WD always activated?

Thank you!

 

it wont hurt anything to leave the 4wd engaged, but as for being economical, thats not true. Having it in 4wd means there is more labor being put on the engine, and when the engine is working harder, it uses more gas.

 

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I would not run around in 4WD full time except in an AWD vehicle. As you are sure to put stress and strain on the front end, unless it is wet and snowy where u live 24/7 365.

 

unless your truck is awd, driving around in 4wd causes excessive wear on you tires, it's horrible on mileage, and if you do a lot of city driving, your transmission, and your transfer case will run super hot. usually it is good to engage your 4wd about once a month for a few miles to keep your cv's and drivrshafts in use.

 

I was told that having it in 4 wheel drive all the time will ruin your 4wd the tires have to be able to slip which i can see cause when i put it in 4 wd on regular roads it starts grinding and thats not just my experience other people with 4 wd say it pinches the bar which will ruin it unless your on a straight away if you have it in 4wd it wont turn.

 

Uhhh, Yeah let's see, I wouldn't do that. Unless your vehicle is actually All Wheel Drive and not Four Wheel Drive. I bet your ride doesn't handle as well either for the above reasons. Here is how it works, a positive traction differential, which is really what a true 4WD front differential is, transmits power to both front tires at an equal rate. This has great advantages in real world 4WD situations. The only problem with positive traction is that when your vehicle goes around a curve, the wheel on the outside of the curve turns more revolutions than the one on the inside. This puts stress on the differential causing premature wear, it also seriously reduces the handling capabilities of the vehicle. It can cause a car with rear wheel drive positive traction to spin out much more readily on a rain slick curve, or even on a dry day at high speed. That is why with the mustangs etc, they have a locking positive rear end, you can back up a few feet and when you first punch it the rear end is locked in positive for a better jump but as soon as you let up on the juice and actually start driving it releases and is back to being a limited slip differential. A limited slip transmission always transmits power to the wheel with less resistance and lets the other sort of free wheel, but really they are back and forth constantly depending on the road. This gives a better road grip in rain etc. by keeping your tires from spinning. As soon as enough load is on one side to make it harder to turn than the other, the rear end just turns the other. Only problem with this is that if you back one wheel in a hole it will just spin.

That being said, it is best to use your equipment as designed. Go to the dealer AND a reputable repair shop in the area, it never hurts to ask, but not asking can hurt like hell. If you have to get out of your vehicle and lock the hubs you shouldn't drive that way always, but if the button on the dash says AWD then go for it but like everyone else I don't think it will help gas mileage. If it has a button for AWD AND 4WD then what 4WD actually does is lock the front hubs into positive traction like a regular 4WD and the AWD button is just what it says but it is limited slip AWD.

I hope that is not as confusing as it looks right now but that is what I would tell a customer. Unless I had the vehicle manual for his car in front of me, then I'd tell him what that said, 'cause you never know, lol.