4WD - Driving on the highway.

[Ace of Speights]

Hey, my lent her Explorer Sport to a friend yesterday and this friend made the mistake of turning on the 4WD. She drove up and down the highway a few times going approximately 80KM/h with it on. Would this have damaged the vehicle in any way?
Big thanks in advance!
Brian

 

[Elessar65]

Possibly, pavement driving with 4x4 on will create a lot of drive line binding and excessive wear. Does it feel like something is broke?

 

[Maniak]

Also, what year explorer and does it have automatic or manual hubs (or no hubs if is a newer model).

~Mark

 

[Elessar65]

Also, what year explorer and does it have automatic or manual hubs (or no hubs if is a newer model).

~Mark

If it has manual hubs, I am guessing that the person didn't get out and lock the hubs, then proceed to drive around in 4wd. That would not be an accident, lol. If the hubs weren't locked then you should be ok.

 

[Ace of Speights]

It's a 2000. I'm not sure what automatic/manual hubs are.. sorry I dont know a ton about cars. I just took it for a drive for the first time and it makes a squeeky sound now and I also heard a clunk sound in the back once. Also, when I put it in HIGH 4WD it says '4WD HIGH' on the dash.. when I put it on LOW it doesn't switch to '4WD LOW'
Thanks

 

[Maniak]

ahh.. a 2000 doesn't have hubs.. That throws out the posibility of not having them locked when in 4x4 (which means your not really in 4x4)...

I "think" the kind of 4wd you have can go to 4hi when moving but to go to 4x4 low you need to be stopped, in neutral with foot on the brake.

Other than that, I don't know much about the 2000 4wd systems.. I'll let someone else answer more about that..

~Mark

 

[Elessar65]

You can go into 4Hi from Auto any time up to 55mph. To switch to 4Lo you have to be in neutral with your foot on the brake (for an automatic), and it sometimes takes a couple seconds. I'm not sure if the squeaking would be related. I would think it would be a popping or a grinding noise if the driveline had been damaged. Hopefully your truck is fine. I am reasonably sure though that if something was broken you would definitely know it.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the transmissions & transfer cases section.