Mitsubishi 3.2 diesel Elegance auto

[Rodone]

Hello all,
A pal of mine has one of these and has been informed that, when towing, the car should be used in 4 wheel drive. Anyone know the reason why??

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello all,
A pal of mine has one of these and has been informed that, when towing, the car should be used in 4 wheel drive. Anyone know the reason why??

Hello Rodone,

I have a suspicion that you haven't got the whole story, and there is probably more to the advice than you have passed on to us.

 

[Rodone]

Hello Prof,
Sorry but that is the whole story. What do you think is missing?

 

[Rodone]

Hello again Prof,
Just spoke to my pal ( he is in his van in Cornwall) and he tells me that the car is 12 years old, and there is a sticker on the drivers door that says ' use 4wd high ' when towing.. He has not had the car very long and is simply trying to find out why he needs to do this??

 

[seth1]

Think it states the same in the hand book to.Just what mitsubishi recommend.Maybe the rear end is a bit weak.

 

[Parksy]

Hello all,
A pal of mine has one of these and has been informed that, when towing, the car should be used in 4 wheel drive. Anyone know the reason why??

The vehicle that I use for towing is an elderly Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 TD with automatic transmission, and owners are advised via stickers (in Japanese ) to use 4wd for towing.
This apparently prevents the automatic gearbox and the transmission from overheating.
Personally I rarely select 4wd unless the road surface is slippery or greasy or if I'm towing a motorhome from a muddy campsite :lol: and I've never noticed any overheating of the transmission or automatic transmission fluid.
I replace the ATF every 12 months and keep transmission oil levels topped up.

 

[GStockton]

Rodone Mitisubishi say this because when towing say at 3tons plus car+caravan, all the engines power and torque is going to the road via the rear Differential. It is far easier on the transmission if half of this power is taken by the front Differential as well. Less chance of say breaking a halfshaft on the rear axle.

 

[DrZhivago]

GStockton has it right. It's good advice for any 4x4 with full time capability, even on plain road.

Compared with 2WD, 4WD spreads out the traction stress to all four wheels sothe differentials and drive shafts see only half (in round terms) of what the rear diff would if in 2WD. As (obvioulsy) the load is higher when towing, all the more reason to let the front diff and drive joints take some of the stress away from the rear diff and drive joints.

No point in having all that front diff mechanism spinning (as it always does anyway) without doing anything while the rear diff has to do all the work. For that reason I use 4WD all the time, towing or not.