How Do I Engage My 4-Wheel Drive?

I told you in my previous post that we took the truck out to Madison this afternoon because of the ice. Actually, what I thought was ice. The roads weren’t icy, per se, but I certainly thought they were, based on what I experienced trying to get the truck out of the back yard and out of the driveway onto the road. You remember I parked the truck in the back yard, right (last picture)?

Short story – after I let the truck warm up for a bit, I hopped in, put it in drive and tried to go forward. All I got was the spinning of the back wheels. I then turned the little switch on the dashboard to “4-Wheel High.” Nothing. The truck was still in 2-wheel drive. I then got out of the truck and turned the hubs to the “locked” position.

I got back in the truck, put it in drive and took off like a bat out of hell. 4-wheel drive kicks butt. I drove around the lawn, in the snow, bouncing over all the bumps and had a great time. I’m not sure you know how difficult it is to stop something like this once you start. Good thing Laura wasn’t in the truck. She gets into stuff like this and I can see her starting to drool.

After that, we left and once we were out on the road, I switched the hubs back to “auto.”

Later on this evening, I started to wonder how in the world I’m supposed to switch the transmission in this truck into 4-wheel drive. I thought it was “on-the-fly.” This means, as I’m driving, I’m able to simply turn the knob on the dash to 4-wheel drive and off we go. Why didn’t that happen today?

Just a few minutes ago, I decided to go out to the truck for a short experiment. First, I wanted to read the manual, which I did.

Then, I wanted to take a picture of the lights on the dash because they look so cool, which I did (still have to fill the tires with Maine air).

I wanted to see what would happen if I locked the hubs and kept the knob in 2-wheel drive mode inside the truck. With the hubs locked, would 4-wheel drive still be engaged, even if it’s set to 2-wheel drive mode inside? The answer is no. If the inside knob is set to 2-wheel drive, even if the hubs are locked, the truck drives in 2-wheel drive.

Then, with the hubs still locked, was I able to shift on the fly to 4-wheel drive? Yes, I was able to. I drove around the back yard again, this time in the dark and this time even faster than last time. I felt like I was on an ATV and am having difficulty, right now, holding myself back from doing it again.

Anyway, my concern is that I though this truck had on the fly shifting into 4-wheel drive, no matter if the hubs are locked or not. And it may. I just don’t think I’ve created the right conditions for that yet. The manual says that the truck needs to be moving to have it shift automatically into 4-wheel drive mode. I wasn’t. All I was doing was sitting still with the rear wheels spinning. Which brings me to my next point. The manual also says that you shouldn’t shift into 4-wheel drive with the rear wheels spinning. Whoops.

So it looks like I completed half an experiment. The next time I drive, I’ll complete the other half – shifting into 4-wheel drive with the truck moving – hubs unlocked. It’s just that it’s so much easier to test whether or not it’s in 4-wheel drive in the snow, when the wheels spin. Hmmm – I suppose I can try it in the back yard again and just get some speed to see what happens. I’ll let you know. In the meantime, you can read up on how to shift and all that stuff right here.