Activating 4WD to keep it working well?

[RAMMER80]

I remember my older Toyota said to drive in 4WD once a month for a few miles to keep the 4WD from having issues.

Does Ram recommend anything specific? Or at all? What do you guys do?

 

[kapinallinen2]

I remember my older Toyota said to drive in 4WD once a month for a few miles to keep the 4WD from having issues.

Does Ram recommend anything specific? Or at all? What do you guys do?

I shift to 4Hi for short distances every once in a while if it is raining, same thing with the rear locker.

 

[ocwill1]

Not sure if it matters, but I put mine in auto 4wd every time it rains..

 

[jonnygobig]

Once a week, like ocwill said, rain or mud high or auto give it some wheel spin.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Ha Ha, put it in 4W Auto and romp on it on wet pavement... "just to keep it all lubricated and such..."

 

[dajogejr]

4WD Auto in rain (and…soon snow…lol)
Don’t think it makes one bit of difference one way or the other.
I can’t recall reading anything anywhere it needs to be active any time ever to keep it working.
I can tell you.. in rain/slippery conditions, auto is excellent to have.
I may or may not have a bit of a heavy foot at stop lights/stop signs and in the rain… I may or may not spin the rear tires occasionally if I forget to put it in 4WD Auto.. LOL

 

[Eighty]

I may or may not have a bit of a heavy foot at stop lights/stop signs and in the rain… I may or may not spin the rear tires occasionally if I forget to put it in 4WD Auto.. LOL

This is why the TRX doesn’t even have a 2WD mode. 4-auto is the lowest you can go.
To be honest, I don’t see why everyone shouldn’t use 4-auto all the time. Unless it’s about the fuel economy.

 

[HSKR R/T]

This is why the TRX doesn’t even have a 2WD mode. 4-auto is the lowest you can go.
To be honest, I don’t see why everyone shouldn’t use 4-auto all the time. Unless it’s about the fuel economy.

Fuel economy, and there has been talk about the transfer case clutches getting worn faster in 4-auto

 

[Insanity]

4 auto when its wet out I ignored it till one day I was driving with some spirit and kept slipping and the traction control kept kicking in. Turned it on and was like oh thats how that works, reading about it in the owner's manual wasn't good enough.

 

[CalvinC]

70k miles on my 4A tcase, at least a 1/3rd of that in 4A.

Really only ever put it in 2wd on long warm-season trips where I know I’ll be settling in for miles on the highway.

No issues yet with the case.

Thought I had something a while back but turned out to be the front axle hubs. Don’t expect it to be related since they’re going to see the same number of rotations as in 2wd.

But then again, boosted launches are rude to all the parts.

 

[jonnygobig]

Ha Ha, put it in 4W Auto and romp on it on wet pavement... "just to keep it all lubricated and such..."

Yea, unnecessary but fun and exercises(stresses) the TC. Here is my version of wet payment…got a big Northwest swell and high tides tearing up our beach roads. Probably the polar ice caps I melted by romping on it…

 

[Darksteel165]

This is why the TRX doesn’t even have a 2WD mode. 4-auto is the lowest you can go.
To be honest, I don’t see why everyone shouldn’t use 4-auto all the time. Unless it’s about the fuel economy.

lots of people don't use it all the time because people online and even misinformed dealerships tell them it's bad for their truck because they have no idea how these transfer cases work.
You will lose a very slight unnoticeable mpg in theory and you do put more wear on your truck, but no more wear then you are putting on your back end in 2wd.

I keep my truck on 2wd and any rain or snow I toss it in 4auto, or if I know I'm going to be driving it like a spots car that day and don't wanna lose traction.

 

[HSKR R/T]

lots of people don't use it all the time because people online and even misinformed dealerships tell them it's bad for their truck because they have no idea how these transfer cases work.
You will lose a very slight unnoticeable mpg in theory and you do put more wear on your truck, but no more wear then you are putting on your back end in 2wd.

I keep my truck on 2wd and any rain or snow I toss it in 4auto, or if I know I'm going to be driving it like a spots car that day and don't wanna lose traction.

There is definitely noticeable fuel mileage difference. Was 1-2mpg difference on my truck, and when running at the track, 4-auto gave the slowest times.

 

[Darksteel165]

There is definitely noticeable fuel mileage difference. Was 1-2mpg difference on my truck, and when running at the track, 4-auto gave the slowest times.

No one else gets slower times using 4auto except for you. I also can't notice an loss of mpg with 4auto on the highway at all but that doesn't mean there isn't.

 

[kdoublep]

I use 4 auto when I'm driving spirited. Probably 25%. I use it wet and dry. I live in FL so no snow.

 

[BlueHemi1500]

I'm new to the Ram family/world, but I have had 4WD trucks for many years. I try to exercise my 4WD about 3-4 months on a gravel lot near my house. I use every setting and make several loops in various directions and turns to make sure all the gears in the system are all turning and lubricated. This has worked for me, but this is the first truck with the Auto 4WD setting, I will start using the Auto 4WD during the winter wet streets here. My Nused truck did not come with the manuals, so I had a suspicion as to its function in Auto 4WD.

BlueHemi1500

 

[HSKR R/T]

No one else gets slower times using 4auto except for you. I also can't notice an loss of mpg with 4auto on the highway at all but that doesn't mean there isn't.

How many other people go to the drag strip and race their 4wd Rams? I have well over 100 passes, both 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile. Ran every different configuration of 2wd, 4-auto, 4-hi, tow/haul on/off, Pulsar in stock/tow/economy/performance........ I'm a seasoned racer and know how to get the best times for my set up. 4-auto is the slowest option, other than spinning in 2wd. 1/4 mile races, start in 4-hi and switch to 2wd after shifting into 2nd gear.(good for an extra 1/10). 4-auto 2-tenths slower. There is 1/2 second difference between stock and performance with the Pulsar.

 

[Rick3478]

Shift forks and clutches develop wear ridges over time running in the same position. Motor commutators will oxidize. Gear and cam lubes will drain off due to gravity. It's a good idea to operate things once in awhile to redistribute all that stuff, and also verifies that it actually works. And if not, clues you in to visit the shop for repair, rather than be surprised when you needed it.

I also like to run the engine at high RPM once in awhile. Wear ridges build up near the tops of cylinders from the piston rings, and the connecting rods stretch and compress a bit more with RPM. So if I were to need full power in an emergency, I don't want it to be the first time the rings have encountered that particular bit of cylinder wall.

There's no redline on the tachometer, so it must be good at any speed up to 8,000, right?

 

[Scram1500]

My Nused truck did not come with the manual

BlueHemi1500

Download the pdf to your phone, great for quick reference as it has a search function

 

[BowDown]

No one else gets slower times using 4auto except for you. I also can't notice an loss of mpg with 4auto on the highway at all but that doesn't mean there isn't.

There's simply no way that true. You're using power to rotate an additional drive shaft, 2 additional wheels , an additional differential and 2 additional axles or half shafts. Its add rotational mass and no way it doesn't impact both performance and fuel mileage.
These trucks don't make enough power (producing excess wheel spin) to need 4auto at the track, the only benefit would be any gear reduction that may occur and that would be mitigated in the first 30' and a 2wd truck would be around you by 60'.

You're literally diverting power to rotate 250-300 lbs more mass and given rotational weight loss (unsprung weight) is a bigger hit to performance than sprung weight (100 lbs is = to about 10hp til about a mid 11 sec ET), you're giving up 25-30 fwhp to 2wd mode