cataphora

Hope all is well everyone. Somewhat of a new owner. 08 gx470 bought 4 months ago and my family and I absolutely love it!
Here in NYC, we had some snow yesterday. Nothing serious but I started to think if it was bad how would I engage 4wd. Looked on the forum but really didn't find my answer.
I'm thinking put the car in park or neutral, engage the 4wd to "H" and then shift into drive and go?

Thanks everyone

mrblister

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Rob6656

I thought the GX was full-time 4-wheel drive, like the Land Cruiser and LX?

cdew002

Our trucks are always in 4wd. You're either in 4 wheel high or 4 wheel low. High is for regular driving. Low is for lower speeds /crawling.

I wouldn't shift while your moving. Park or neutral.

cdew002

I would suggest that you go back and read the manual as well.

ALAN553

Reread manual, the truck is full time all wheel drive. Using the hi low is changing the gearing in the transfer case. LO is for rock crawling, off road etc. for the typical gx suburban owner, you will never need this. If you wish to lock the front axle there is a button on the console for for that. in my truck there is also instruction in the drivers sun visor as well.

cataphora

Thanks cdew. So let's say the weather is good, should we drive on 4wd neutral? Ever since I've owned the truck, it's been in the "H" position

cdew002

No problem. There are only two positions that our truck will work in - 4 high or 4 low. Unless you're getting off the pavement, I doubt you'll ever need to go to 4 low. There is no 2 wheel drive setting.

cataphora

So what is the "N" position for? When will I eve use that?

cdew002

Not sure what it's purpose is as far as you and I are concerned. I'll let someone more knowledgeable answer that one.

mrblister

[QUOTE=cataphora;8861837]So what is the "N" position for? When will I eve use that?[/QUOT





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cdew002

Please stop posting misinformation. This forum is to help people, not to mislead them.

The N stands for neutral.

cataphora

So should we have it in the normal mode when the weather is good and we're not scaling mountains?
What does everyone have it at right now?

IanB2

Lots of wrong info in here.

Hi/N/Low is the transfer case, hi is for normal, on road use. N is neutral, no gear selected in the transfer case (I can't think of a situation where you would want this, maybe flat towing?). Low is low range gearing, good for offroad conditions where speed is slow and you want a lot of control, engine braking, etc. Only shift the transfer case while stopped, I like to put the tranny in neutral to ensure no gear grinding.

These trucks are full time AWD meaning all 3 diffs are open, the center diff acts as a LSD in these situations. The button in front of the shifter locks the center diff and provides 4x4, sending equal power to the front and rear axles, 50/50. The CDL button can be used "on the fly", no issues there.

There is no way to lock the front or rear diffs on these trucks without adding aftermarket diff lockers. We do have ATRAC, which acts as an electronic LSD on the front and rear diffs by applying brakes to the spinning tires which redirects the power to the tire that isn't spinning, but you need to keep your foot in the gas and let the tires spin a bit for this to work, which seems counter-intuitive if you're not used to it.

cdew002

To clarify since we're clarifying, the GX is full time 4wd, not awd.

http://rubicon-trail.com/4WD101/difference_4WD_awd.html