disclaimer: I know that the rav4 is not a real 4x4. I have very little knowledge of 4x4's. This is why I came here. I would like to find some patient person who will be kind enough to not flame, but dispense out some basic knowledge
Dear all:
My buddy just bought a Rav4. I helped him pick it out. Since I am currently unemployed, I have a lot of time and scanned through many ads and found a black on dark grey Rav4 1998 with only 99k miles. It is a manual drive (which, I think is the only way to go), and it has just had timing belt and water pump replaced. The price was unbelieveable @ 5700 dollars. The carfax report was clean and the car is clean and drives well.
Both he and I have never owned a 4X4 before. We were just wondering about the finer points of driving one. The guy who showed us the car taught us a little: to demonstrate the differential locking, he had us engage the 4x4 and then turn real tight circles. We felt the diff grinding in those turns. Was this really really bad for the differential when we did that repeatedly? Now that I think about it, I am hoping that we didn't put undue stress on the differential.
My buddy is going to park it at my house and I live on an air force base. I am hoping to take it out and use the 4x4 feature. I have some grass areas. I am hoping that on grass, I won't grind the differential. I just don't want to hurt the car. I am also going to try to find some ice and see the traction.
I know these are not very good questions I am asking. This is because I don't really know the questions to ask. Could someone just start at the beginning and dispense out some good knowledge on how we can get the most use and best fun out of the 4x4? I know this rav4 is not an outright offroad car, but I would like to take it to some terrain or some conditions where I can really appreciate the 4x4 features.
sincerely, thanx in advance.