Towing while in 4 high?

XFORD · July 13, 2005

I did a dombout this past weekend. The campground that I was staying @ had some steep hills with a soft road bed. So while pulling up for the week end I put the truck in 4 high, just in case, but forgot to take it out of 4 high. then drove home 60 miles doing between 60 and 70 mph. The ? is will this dumb out of mine have hurt the TRAINY???

01z71 · July 13, 2005

You should be fine. I have done this numerous times. I have some land and use the 4WD then when I get home about 125 miles I'll discover that I forgot to take it out of 4HI. I would not worry about it at all.

Bart2500HD · July 13, 2005

I often tow in 4HI in the winter pulling snowmobiles and haven't had any trouble. You should be fine.

steve summers · July 13, 2005

I've done that a number of times on our 01 Yukon XL.

Wife puts it in 4Hi to pull the boat out and I don't notice until we've made the 50 mile trip home. The one thing I have noticed is that when I get out of the vehicle there is ALOT of heat coming out from under it.

c502cid · July 13, 2005

The straight line stuff is no problem. It is when you do a lot of turning that causes all the binding in a transfer case that has no slip available at the tires (like when you are on a snowy or muddy surface). I wouldn't go as far as so it's a no worry thing but if you weren't doing a ton of turning you should be ok. Your tires might have absorbed some of the abuse by slipping in turns.

71GMC_3/4T · July 13, 2005

I usually lock the doors when I put it in 4WD to remind me to take it back out of 4WD. This only works if I remember to lock the doors, and also if I remember why I locked them in the first place...

It would be nice if they had an indicator in the dash like the tow/haul mode. One little LED by a switch ain't enough. I'm thinking about changing the LED to a red one to see if that helps.

Trouttrooper · July 13, 2005

If you get the floor shift 4wd version there is a indicator light in the dash. If everything is "standardized" nowadays I wonder if the light is actually still there and just turned off. Might be able to find a way to turn it back on.

I agree, one tiny stupid light next to the 4wd buttons is not enough. I've forgotten myself a time or two.

cmadz71 · July 13, 2005

I use 4Lo when backing up to my trailer to hook the trailer up because I have a lot more control on the distance from the trailer. In 4hi or 2 hi, the truck will go a foot when I only need to back up an inch. I sometimes forget but I realize within a couple of feet or when I turn and feel the front wheels gripping. You should have no problems with towing in 4hi.

XFORD · July 13, 2005

The main thing that bothered me the most is that there was some oil dripping of the Trany Pan and some residew from there to the back of the truck. It seems to be running fine, no more oil dripping.