Now I have read that one should engage in 4 wheel drive once in awhile to keep the gears lubed, or something like that. If you have notice, this is my first 4x4. Anyways, while i had it in 4 high, i was trying to turn around to get out of the Walgreen's drive thru. While atempting to make the u-turn, I noticed my runner not wanting to drive while I had the wheels at full turn. My question is, is this normal? It seems that after a certain poit while turning, the front wheels decide that they don't want to go. I am planning on changing my front diff, transfer case, and rear diff fluids soon. Does anyone think the fluids may be a factor here? I have nearly 180K and no idea of service history, but my guess is it hasn't had any fluid chages besides the oil and antifreeze.

 

It's called ADD and it's not Attention Deficit Disorder

You runner has Automatically Disconnecting Differential in the front axle which causes the front drivetrain to "lock" (normal and good) but is not meant for high traction surfaces like pavement.

It's normal. Don't worry about it but you only need to engage 4wd and drive in a straight line a very small bit to circulate the fluids.

It's very late and it's all I can do to keep from misspelling this post so I'm sure I missed something.

 

yes, you should drive in 4 wheel drive at least 10 miles a month to keep the front wheel drive componets lubed.
BUT, why were you in 4High?? was it only to "keep the gears lubed" or were there road surfaces that required additional traction?? if not, then bad idea!
im sure someone will get into the technicallity of it, but i do not want to right now.
On to your other question of the oils being a problem: i think not. And not knowing the service history of the vehicle should give you all the reason more to change out all the oil. Just so you know where you stand. May I suggest Synthetics?! (I have Lucas Oil in everywhere it will fit in my truck... but synthetics are the way to go for sure)

 

Thanks Tanto and Rob, that's what I needed to know. As for why I was in 4 High, it was just so I can get the oil circulating. Like I said before, this i my first real 4x4, and I'm trying to learn more about it. Hopefully one day I will be able to venture out and actuall do a little off roading and actual put the 4 wheel drive to use.

 

kmchby76 :
what do you mean by "this i my first real 4x4" ?? either you drove pretend 4x4's before, or this is the first one that you have owned? or what? but nontheless welcome to the hobby/sport/pain in the neck!! haha
its taken me a long while but i have slowly converted all of my good friends to the 4x4 world, and they love it !!

 

Well actually I owned a K5 blazer for a brief moment. I never engaged it in 4wheel drive (actually I didn't even know how to get it into 4wheel drive). The transmission was failing when I got it and did fail. I had it rebuilt, 3 days later the transmision blew up. Towed it back to the same shop and was rebuilt again. 2 days later the transmission blew up again and the drive shaft came off. Finally the third time they fixed it, but at this point was not comfortable driving it. Le tmy brother in law use it until I gave him my S10. Well can time for smog and didn't meet CA's requirements, so I donated it to a school. So ad far as I'm concerned, I never really own a real 4x4. I can definately say I wish I would have gotten a 4runner back then!