rob_engineer

I know it is best to use your 4WD occasionally, like once per month to keep parts lubricated. The place I used to take my JKU is a gravel pit area that was just sealed shut - no trespassing. So, just how bad is using 4HI while on dry pavement, not making any severe turns. The Tundra I just bought says in the manual to drive 10 miles per month in 4HI. It makes no mention of whether that should be on gravel or paved roads. Clearly I'll have a hard time in coastal N.J. finding a place where I can routinely drive 10 miles per month in 4HI. In my JKU or Tundra.

ronjenx

If your Tundra's 4wd system is part time and without locking hubs like the JK...
I don't see the need to drive in 4wd to keep things lubricated. When in 2wd, everything is spinning just like it would in 4wd.
Don't put it into 4wd on dry pavement. There's a possibility the driveline will torque up and be difficult to get it back into 2wd.
if you must engage 4wd once in a while, go to a back road and drive slowly for a bit with the right side wheels on the dirt shoulder.

rob_engineer

My 2012 has been fantastic about going into and out of 4WD. Most of my recent use was to get more traction when pulling out some bushes. I always knew not to drive around in 4WD on dry pavements. Today I popped the owners manual CD into the computer. Sure enough, there is one sentence that states the 4HI should not be used on dry pavement. Now I'll have to bounce over to the Tundra forums and see what folks are saying about the mandate to drive 10 miles per month in 4HI.

tjkamp

About once a month I go the back way home, which is gravel, I run it in 4hi the whole time on gravel, every couple of months I stop on the way and go all the way into 4LO and run it up through the gears.

If you never engage 4WD on a part time system, eventually you will loose the ability to engage 4WD (I've seen it several times with friends and relatives vehicles that have never used their 4WD). It's not so much the using it as it is the engaging it. You're not going to hurt it if you put it in 4WD in you drive way of parking lot and roll back and forth a few times. If it did, any of us who ever go rock crawling would blow our transfer case every time. Just don't go driving around a bunch on pavement in 4WD, and be gentle with it, and all should be well.

resharp001

I don't think I've ever heard this before. What is the reason behind it? I guess I don't understand why it would become more difficult to engage over time if it's not used. It's not like things are not being lubed and are seizing up

tjkamp

After a bit of research, it doesn't appear to be as applicable to the JK as we don't have auto locking hubs, or any sort of a vacuum system that I am aware of. I know mine gets more difficult to engage the longer I go without using it, but maybe I'm just spreading outdated info only applicable to older vehicles again.

REBEL OFF ROAD

With a factory JK, nothing in the drive train is auto-locking, you don't have to worry about engaging 4WD to lube everything. Your front axle shafts, differential and drive shaft are always turning and thus being lubed. The only thing not engaged is the transfer case lever, meaning all of your parts are spinning, but not having torque applied to them. Think of it as if the components, when not in 4WD, are being driven by your tires on the road. When you put it in 4WD they are now being driven by the motor.

Hope this helps!

-Kyle @rebeloffroad