# 4WD Shift on the Fly? And other questions



## louisd11 (Apr 4, 2007)

Hi I am very interested in buying a Nissan Frontier. Anyway I am looking into buying a 2002 Frontier Crew Cab with 4wd. Question's:
1. Now is it possible to shift into 4wd high and back to 2wd on-the-fly, meaning while in motion? If yes, what is the maximum speed?

2. Would I have to put the transmission into Neutral to put it into 4WD Low?

3. I live on a mountain in NJ and I was wondering which setting would be the best to get up the mountain, because I am tired of having to park my Toyota Avalon at the bottom of the mountain and walk 1.5 miles. Would maybe I use 4wd Hi with (1 in the transmission)? Or like 4wd Low with (2 in the transmission)?

4. I am interested in getting a truck without the supercharger, is it recommended to have a friend install it for me, or is their real no improvement?

5. I read that the acceleration is pretty sluggish anything else I can do to improve that?

Tell me what ya think and thankyou in advanced


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## pdxfj (Apr 7, 2006)

Greetings!

The last two trucks I have owned (currently '06 fronty, other was a '98 Dakota) both have/had shift on the fly 4wd. They say you can shift them into 4HI anywhere up to 60mph, but for my own piece of mind I keep it to under 40mph. With my fronty being a AT tranny, you have to be at a dead stop and put the truck into neutral in order to shift into 4low. It was the same on the Dakota but it was a manual tranny, with an actual lever instead of a switch. Remember you are switching the transfer case, not the transmission. 

From what others have said the earlier trucks with the 3.3? liter v6 were very under powered with out the supercharger.

If you have a very steep hill to climb, you could possibly get up it ok in 4wd but what about coming down? You'd need a very low geared 4low in order to crawl down the hill. That's one definite advantage my old Dakota had over the fronty.

I'm sure others can chime in. I don't know a whole lot about the earlier Frontiers, but there are plenty of people who own them on this board.

Hope my ramblings are somewhat useful. 

Edit:Actually in any vehicle with a transfer case and 4low you have to come to a complete stop to get it into 4low.


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## 2001frontiersc (Jun 4, 2006)

Shift on the fly is possible, but because of the automatic locking hubs, you want to keep the speed under 25mph, otherwise the hubs may not lock properly, and you will drive down the road going clackety clack clack clack. That being said, I've shifted on the fly up to 40mph or so without issue, but I only attempt it when it's necessary, otherwise I'll slow down.

I can't vouch for the n/a 3.3L, but 170hp stock isn't a lot. It's got plenty of low end torque, so normal driving shouldn't present a problem. But don't expect much in the way of fast acceleration.

Adding a supercharger to a vehicle not equipped with one would likely cost more than the truck is worth, and wouldn't be as reliable as the factory equipped 3.3L supercharged motor. While I find the power more than adequate in my '01 Frontier S/C, the gas mileage sucks and using 91 octane gets expensive... And in today's world, 210hp isn't all that much either. But the 248 ft-lb of torque is nice to have!

I'm not sure you'd need 4-low for any reason other than litterally getting *up* a mountain (off-road). For hilly roads up mountains, 4-hi in Drive should be just fine. 4-low in 1st gear is *low*. I just can't imagine living up that steep of hill, and having to use this gear to decend. 4-low should only be used for off-roading where max power and/or engine braking is needed. You can switch to 4-low in P or N.


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