The wife drives an 08 Aspen. It has the NV 244 GenII transfer case. I was reading in the owners manual that to shift from 4wd (the default AWD position) to either 4wd Lock or 4wd Low, you are supposed to slow down to 2-3 mph, shift the transmission into neutral, shift the transfer case to the desired 4wd position (Lock or Low), wait for the position indicator light to stop flashing, then shift the transmission back into drive. I can see this being the case for 4wd Low. But I guess I figured switching into 4wd Lock would be a shift-on-the-fly sort of thing since 4wd Lock is basically like traditional 4-Hi in other 4x4's. Am I reading this wrong in the owners manual? Do you really have to do this just to shift into 4wd Lock?

 

I have a 2007 Durango (NV244) and I can shift into 4hi while in drive without stopping. It may flash and wait to engage until both the axles are spinning at the same speeds. If you are slipping in AWD and try to switch to 4hi, it will wait until you gain traction and then engage,
FF

 

That's what I figured. What speeds can you do that at?

 

I have shifted into 4hi going 25 MPH. I would quess that if you stopped and then shifted it might be easier on the transfer case, but that is a bit hard when you are on a four lane highway. My wife's Tahoe has a very similiar transfer case, but hers has Auto, 2 wheel, AWD, 4hi and 4 Lo.

 

So on another forum, I read that you can shift into 4 Lock at up to 55 mph, much like 4 Hi in most traditional transfer cases. I would hope that if i'm doing 55mph, I should really need 4wd to begin with. It did snow here last night, and I tested it at 35 mph. Just let off the gas, turned the ****, waited for the light to stop blinking, and then back on the gas. Worked fine, very smooth shift. I wonder why the owners manual doesn't say anything about that, and in fact seems to imply the contrary.

 

Do you find that the AWD system on the Durango/Aspen does not suffice in the snow? I have a Hybrid Durango which only has AWD and not a selectable transfer case. The AWD seemed to do well in the snow in NY this past Christmas, though I think I only felt it engage once (or it only slammed into 4W under load once that I felt, other times was smooth).

 

I think the AWD is sufficient, and that's all my wife uses. But being that I am curious about these things, I like to try out the other options available to me. So that's how I came about pondering the wording I found in the owners manual. But ya, this is our second winter with the Aspen, and the standard AWD does everything we need for just regular daily driving. We are really happy with the Aspen overall.

 

My wife has switched her Durango into 4 Lock (hers only has the AWD or 4 Lock positions, no 4 Low) going 10-ish MPH before, no problems. Very smooth.

We have had to use the 4-lock here in our Durango's first winter... 6+ inches of snow will cause that, especially when it has all season tires and not all terrains.

 

I think your wife has the NV144 transfer case jasonw. I put mine into 4lock a couple times a year, but we got hammered last year with alot of snow. The AWD system is very good, but 4lock is on another level,
FF

 

Ya, we really haven't had a need for 4 Lock yet. If the snow is that bad, my wife stays home. I take my pickup out in any amount of snow, usually on purpose and for fun, but she doesn't share that same philosophy with the Aspen. From the little bit I tried 4 lock last night though, I could tell that it was probably better then the AWD. I think it locks the front and rear axles together, which for straight line traction is a very good thing.

We definetly need better tires on it. It still has the factory Goodyears, which are more of a highway tire then anything. Since it has the 20's too, there are not a lot of good selections for more aggressive tires. I have a set of 18" Aspen rims that I thought I might go to when these tires are done because the tire selection is so much better. Plus, we use the Aspen to tow the camper now, and sometimes we end up camping places that are a little off the beaten path. Low profile tires on 20" rims are not great when you are on a rock covered forest road. So i'll probably be putting the 18's on with some better tires soon.