[acal]

Looking at a 2004 auto w/ 4wd. Some questions about the 4wd....

- can I drop it into 4wd on dry pavement? The last 4wd I drove was my dad's 80s Bronco and he always told me you couldn't engage the 4wd till you were on dirt or snow - something about it being hard on the transfer case. Is that legit? Can I at least see if 4wd engages and drives before I buy the thing?

- would you tow in 4wd? I'm going to be occasionally pulling a boat up out of/into a lake (~4500 lbs, including trailer)

 

[XterraD4u]

If you are just going forward, it won't hurt to try out...and I use 4hi to pull boats out of the water all the time, helps gain traction, but I only using when off loading the boat and only going straight unless it's dirt

Darin
01 Xterra SE 4x4
COMING SOON:
Intake mod, timing belt, hoses, belts
Wish list:
PML, EFan conversion, shocks, 32" tires, and eventually UCA'S

 

[ripcuda]

Best to find a gravel lot or yard... then you can test 4x4 and do some turning and confirm it's working. You can shift into 4x4 hi/low on dry pavement... but I would only do it going straight. It's when you're turning that the driveline starts to bind due to the outside wheels needing to turn more than the inside wheels.

As for towing, like XterraD4u... I use 4Lo to back (straight) down the boat ramp to launch and retrieve my boat. Works great. But I would not tow down the road using 4x4... you don't need it. The tongue weight of the trailer is adding additional load on your rear tires... so RWD is all you need for normal towing.

Cheers!

 

[poppaX]

Best to find a gravel lot or yard... then you can test 4x4 and do some turning and confirm it's working. You can shift into 4x4 hi/low on dry pavement... but I would only do it going straight. It's when you're turning that the driveline starts to bind due to the outside wheels needing to turn more than the inside wheels.

As for towing, like XterraD4u... I use 4Lo to back (straight) down the boat ramp to launch and retrieve my boat. Works great. But I would not tow down the road using 4x4... you don't need it. The tongue weight of the trailer is adding additional load on your rear tires... so RWD is all you need for normal towing.

Cheers!

Yes what he said. You will feel a binding when turning in 4x4 on pavement. Good way to test out if its actually working though.

 

[TBass]

You should find a gravel area, have someone else drive it in full wheel lock left or right circles. Stand inside the circle and watch the inside front wheel rotate forward like a slow motion burnout. Won't hurt it but you should see it at least once.