herblady

I just bought the 2005 . First question: it seems obvious that if I drive it in the 2 wheel drive mode rather than 4x4 all the time that I would get better gas mileage.the salesman said it didn't much matter. What are your thoughts and experience in that arena?

BlackCat81

It's never in 2wd. It's full time all wheel drive, meaning there's never a situation where only the rear wheels are getting power.

herblady

Hmmmm. That's what I thought, but not how the salesman explained it. So I would either have it in 4 high for regular driving, and 4 low when we have snow and ice.right?

chitown40

That is correct. You are essentially in 4H all the time, but with a center differential so that you do not bind the driveline. You can lock the center differential and you will essentially be in a true 4wd mode much like a truck with a part-time transfer case engaged in 4H with the hubs locked.

4L would be the low range. I cannot recall if 4L automatically locks the center differential. On the 80 series cruisers that was the default behavior, but I think that the center differential is independent of the transfer case shifter on the GX.

Oh yeah, and never actually believe anything a car salesman says. They usually have no clue about any features other than the steering wheel, door locks, and gear shifter.

BlackCat81

It's essentially in 4 high right now. Depends on the situation, but I tend to not need to do anything for snow, unless if there's a ton of it and you're stuck. The truck is capable without needing to do anything. If you get stuck, lock the center differential, if that won't get you out, put it in 4 low and let the ATRAC system do its magic.

ALAN553

Changing the transfer case to LO is mostly for off roading, hi torque low speed, rarely needed for bad weather. If locking the diff when stuck in snow does not help, you are in "way over your heard"

BlackCat81

I tend to agree. The only time my truck has been in 4 low was rock crawling in Moab.

GXallday

4-lo is not for snow. It's for rock crawling especially uphill. For snow just use the diff lock button when needed. Don't overuse it to reduce risk of gear binding if you hit some dry patches. Only in deep snow. And NEVER listen to salesmen. They picked that profession for a reason.

mswtoyota

I agree.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

having a 4wd vehicle in 2wd mode like you can on a 4th gen v6 4runner does not save much gas. That is because evne though you are not driving the front wheels you are still carrying all the extra weight of the 4wd system. With the V8 toyota realized it didn't matter that much for mpg but it mattered alot for street manners with the v8 you dont really notice any loss of power and never worrying about having to switch to 4x4, so the v8 4runners and the gx470 is full time AWD... basically its dummy proof, most GX470 owners do not use the center lock switch or the low gears very often if at all.

chiph9

Agree with GXAllDay -- for snow, put snow tires on (the TPMS has two settings just for this - a summer set and a winter set) and just drive normally (for snow) as the GX is full time 4WD.

If you get stuck, lock the center differential and optionally put it in 4Lo to get unstuck. Once you get out, put it back in 4Hi and unlock the diff. And think about buying chains.

You NEVER want to drive on dry pavement with the center differential locked. It will cause driveline binding and you could break something really expensive.

Chip H.