Shifting into 4WD from Complete Stop

Hey everyone, I have a quick question:


Over the weekend I went camping, and had the 4Runner parked on a slight decline. Overnight a pretty big storm came and the ground was all mud by the time I woke up to leave.


Nothing happened, I put it into reverse and left without any issue but it made me wonder. If hypothetically the ground was so bad that backing out in 2WD wasn’t working - is there any way to switch into 4lo (or 4hi or turn any any of the off-road aids) to help get moving again?


This means getting into 4WD from a complete stop. Is this possible? I can’t see anything in the manual aside from the normal shift into 4hi (move slow, keep wheel straight, no wheel slip etc).


Is the general rule to just stay in 4WD as soon as you’re off pavement even if conditions are ok for 2WD?


To give more context, the road I came in on was fire service road (mostly dirt/gravel), but I was perfectly fine in 2WD. I stayed in 2WD cause of the amount of tight turns; it was pretty swervy and I had to do a pretty tight 120ish degree turn to get into the campsite.

The vehicle in question is an ORP.

 

Yes.You can get into 4H or 4L from a complete stop. I have done it multiple times. I think the owners manual even tells you that is how you “should” do it.

The only concern you may have is if you’re at a complete stop but you are not LEVEL when shifting into 4H or 4L. Other than that, you’re Golden Pony Boy!

 

Golden Pony Boy - is that a wrestler, or maybe one of the Avengers?

 

Nah man, it’s from The Outsiders. Remember?

 

You should be moving forward when shifting into 4wd. Let off the throttle a little to make the shift easier. Splines have to line up for the shift to complete.

Low range needs a complete stop or a slow crawl to shift while having the transmission in neutral.

I tend to just shift at the trailhead and leave it in 4wd or shift into 2wd to mess around. It’s perfectly fine to leave it in 4wd.

 

I plead ignorance.

 

The lever or dial can be used to initiate the shift whether the vehicle is moving or not. The shift may or may not occur right away. Or should I say “shifts”, because two things need to happen before the 4WD indicator glows steadily. First the transfer case has to shift from 2WD to 4WD, and then the ADD has to complete its operation to connect the passenger side half shaft to the front differential. When the driver initiates the shift, these things might happen right away if the splines are aligned, or else the vehicle might have to move forward or backwards for some distance, to, as Whppersnapper said, align the splines. It’s not the motion per se that aligns the splines, but an ever-so-slight difference in the rotation of the left and right front wheels, and the front and rear prop shafts. The splines are very fine (as opposed to coarse) so the difference in rotation only needs to be slight.

Shifting into low range is properly done with the vehicle stopped and the transmission in neutral.

 

I have managed no grinding while crawling slowly on my lever equipped Runner, knob equipped Tacoma or knob equipped 5 speed Ranger. Stopped is always good if you're not sure.

 

I think juuuuuust rolling is the best place to be to engage 4Lo, to allow the teeth to line up and engage. On dirt I let it stop and then barely rolling with transmission in N, then move the lever to 4Lo. the light always goes solid faster this way than do all that at a complete stand still.

 

Definitely always this...hopefully it doesn't sound like I don't do this.

 

Haha of course not, I imagine people who know to roll when engaging 4Lo know to shift to neutral first. Else that's a lesson one learns quickly if left in gear

 

Whatever you do , make sure to take it out of 4 hi when you go do a u turn! Right??

 

^On dirt? 4lo with locker is fine. Just let the tire drag.

 

Ok so I can keep it in 4lo or 4hi and make turns on gravel , even 10 point k turns ? Or should I be turning it back into 2wd and pants down like Austin powers when he gets his golf cart stuck? I'm serious with all the threads I see here about 4wd and when not to use.. how tight of a turn on sand/gravel/dirt is OK?

 

Any turn is okay on gravel sand and dirt. There are gray areas. Like when a granite slab crosses a trail. I’d be careful there.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGiQOCX9UbM&t=2s

 

I only put it in 4H when I’m stopped. I also only put it in 4H if the terrain requires it. But for just dirt roads or gravel I don’t engage 4H.

 

Just to be a party pooper, even then, with gravel and dirt, if it is a thin top layer that's loose but sitting on top of a more compacted aggregate underneath, the tires can have a lot of traction at low speeds once the knobs bite through the top layer. Definitely one of those "situation may vary" things.

There is a reason why land cruisers, even the LC250 based current model, come exclusively with full time 4wd using a lockable center diff.

 

It's fine on big slabs. The tires break traction and slip, even with 35s.

 

Excellent description. You shouldn't have to be moving to engage 4wd, however, sometimes spline alignment or lethargic actuators dictate otherwise. 99% of the time I engage my 4th and 5th generation's 4wd, while in park, without any hiccups.

 

This is the same thought I had. I mentioned it in another thread, but my thoughts were - surely people aren’t switching in and out of 4WD every time they hit a turn (talking about off pavement here). And surely there has to be off road situations where roads can get windy with switchbacks.

That’s what prompted me to start the thread. The turn I had to make this weekend was almost a u-turn. But once parked and the ground turned to mud overnight I started thinking, what if I have to switch into 4WD but don’t have much room to move. Or the wheels are slipping while I try to engage in 4WD (which I think is a big no no from what I read).

Thanks for the replies

 

Water level is very low this year, so when I retrieved my boat I had to back into the water farther then usual. The last guy that used the ramp spun his tires and tore up the gravel/dirt. For the first time I had to put my ORP into 4wd as I could feel the tires start breaking free. I pulled the lever back into 4 Hi and it smoothly shifted into 4wd and effortlessly pulled my little Whaler up the ramp. There was no slippage.

 

There are conditions where I switch in and out of 4WD. When I go up to th local mountains in winter the winding road can be partly covered in snow. The parts of the road that have seen lots of sun may be dry, and other parts will be snow/slush covered. In that case I am shifting between 2WD and 4wD.

 

Clean looking Whaler!

 

I tend to stay in 4wd when traveling gravel or on unpaved surfaces, regardless of whether I think I “need” it or not. That’s because of the potential that conditions may change unexpectedly, and when I need it, it might be in situations where a clean shift into 4wd could get complicated.

I guess I’d make an exception if I’m on a nice grass surface, and I need to do an austin powers 30 point turn. Then I’ll go into 2wd just to prevent tearing up the grass. Otherwise, it stays in 4wd, and I’ll leave it in 4wd when I’m parking/camping overnight.

 

@whippersnapper02 @Captain Spalding @FourBelugas always with the wisdom

 

Lies. I’m just here to hurt people. See signature.