How should a 4x4 behave at full lock?

Should it lurch forward and feel like it is pushing? Should the wheels be skipping and losing traction momentarily one at a time?

I just picked up a used 05 4x4 with 60k miles for a good deal. Completely stock other than FJ rims. The girl I bought it from said I'd had only been put into 4x a couple of times when she first bought it. I've had it for about a week and it drives great in 2x. When I put it in 4 hi or lo it feels fine other then when the wheels are at/near full lock. Then the whole thing feels like it is locked up and the tires will skip for a second one at a time front and back. It sort of feels like severe understeer on a front wheel drive car. Like it is pushing forward but not wanting to follow the direction the tires are pointing. Giving it gas feels like I am forcing it to do something It really doesn't want to do. It happens in reverse too. Flat ground, uphill, downhill doesn't matter.

"If I had to" park it In a tight parking garage while in 4x, I don't think I would be able to do it. It definitely needs new tires, but I can't imagine that would make it feel that way.

I've only had a 2x truck before so I have no idea if this is normal, but it definitely feels like something is wrong. Any ideas?

 

Normal.

 

That's normal, in 4x4 without the wheels slipping there will be drivetrain bind.

 

Are you doing this on pavement? If so, yes, it's going to act weird. Tacoma has a traditional part time 4WD system that does not allow any front-to-rear difference so there needs to be a little slip when turning not to bind the transfer case.

 

Yeah...don't use 4x4 on pavement that much, that's how you grenade a CV. The CV's wanna bind at full lock and turning in reverse

 

4x4 should only be engaged on loose ground. If you're using it on dry pavement, especially if you're making sharp turns, the driveline will bind and may be damaged to the point of failure.

 

From your decription it seems like your 4WD is working perfectly. My truck acts the same when operating on hard surfaces in 4WD or 4Low.

 

That's good. You shouldn't be parking in garages that have unpaved floors anyway. They are sketchy.

If you're going to mess with 4wd on pavement, at least do it when it's pouring rain. Or covered in snow.

 

Wow. I hit post and went to use the can. Six replies by the time I flushed!

Ok. Relieved it sounds normal. Yes, I was on a paved but worn road wit lots of loose asphalt. Won't be doing that again.

So if I was on loose soil/sand, it's ok to give it gas and "force" it's way through that?

Thanks for the awesome responses.

 

If you're on sand or loose gravel or whatever you shouldn't even feel that that much, the wheels are gonna skip through the dirt just fine, but on road your tires want to grip and bind the whole driveline up

 

Well it was OK until you started driving it in 4X4 on pavement. That is something you should NEVER do, especially when cornering. You can get away with it for short distances if you stay in a straight line but every time you do so you cause excessive wear on the drive line. Doing what you did could result in a sudden and complete failure. At the least the drive chain inside the transfer case has stretched somewhat which could cause problems in the future.

When cornering all 4 wheels are taking a different track and must be able to rotate at different speeds. The 2 on the inside have the least distance to travel and should be rotating much slower than the ones on the outside. When operating in 4X4 the transfer case tries to force all 4 wheels to turn at the same speed. What you were feeling was the inside wheels trying to slip. When operating in 4X4 on gravel, loose dirt, mud, snow, sand, grass, etc. the wheels can easily slip enough to not bind. But even if off road avoid 4X4 on hard packed dirt or rock where traction is good.

Many drivers today are used to All Wheel Drive (AWD) vehicles which allow power to go to all 4 wheels yet still turn at different speeds and is fine for use any time. True 4X4 is much better in harsh off road conditions; AWD is less capable in rough conditions.

 

Good lesson for you: always, ALWAYS take your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, etc. with you to the toilet when you TW.

Enjoy your 4x4!

 

Absolutely 100% agree with everyone that has giving you a answer.
First 4x4 I had at 20 years old I didn't understand how that all worked. That said I was messing around in front of my parents house and had the truck in 4hi. Left in 4hi went in to eat. Got a fire call (volunteer respond when paged) hopped in the truck ripped down the street to a hard left. Downshifted dumped the clutch which would normally break the rear tires loose and kick the ass end out and up the hill I would go...... In 4hi no slipping no kick out just strait into a chain link fence and some bushes. Not good.
That was on a Nissan Frontier before I new tacomas were awesome and before Tacoma world existed.

 

Great explanation!

 

Good info, I was wondering the same when I first got my truck.

Haven't offroaded much, but I also wondered the same when driving on boulders in 4wd. Like you might encounter in Moab or something.

Do people only stay in 4Lo the whole time while wheeling (where 4wd is needed) even in turns?

 

Normal....Don't let everyone upset you too much about 4wd on dry pavement. It isn't "good" for the truck, but low speed stuff isn't going to result in catastrophic failure in the next 2 feet. Avoid using 4wd on pavement when and where you can.

 

Slickrock is a tough one. For me it depends on how much I'm looking at, having a way to disengage 4WD on Hell's Revenge but keep low range is handy but Toyota eliminated that option with electric transfer case and lack of hub locks. In general I engage 4WD when I need it and leave it engaged the whole time. I also use low range probably more than average but I have a stick and try to avoid slipping the clutch as much as possible.

 

Yes....unless you're in wide open desert or on a fire road....The type of trails we have here in Midwest, you would be constantly shifting in and out of low if you didn't just leave it in low range.

 

Why force it... even off road in 4X4 on dirt/gravel make gradual wide turns when possible... hell, I've even experienced binding in a parking lot with 4WD engaged on dry hard packed snow.

From one of the links in my signature below...
The slowing effect caused by front wheels stresses all components between wheels and the transfer case. It causes mechanical components to bind instead of moving freely - this situation is called "axle binding" ,"driveline binding" or "driveline wind up". First indicators while driving is a hard steering feel and the vehicle displaying jerky movement. Shifting back to 2WD will become impossible (gears and levers are extremely forced together). Continued 4WD use on dry surfaces will cause the weakest links to break (U-Joints, axles, differential gears, transfer case gears and chains, bearings, drive shafts).
When starting from a standstill with sharply turned wheels: The need for higher rpm in the front will most likely prevent you from getting started at all. If you step on the gas really hard (plus slipping your clutch) you might get the vehicle moving with spinning rear wheels but stress on all driveline components will be dangerously high. Chance is that you will break something.

 

Anyone around 4WD for a while knows that feeling of being locked in 4WD because your drivetrain is wound up, unable to get that damn stick to push back into 2WD. You try everything, dumping the clutch in reverse, pushing with a foot, but the thing just won't budge.