I'm no sifu but i can tell you that you shouldn't simply switch to 4WD Hi, even less to 4WD Lo. We had previously debated on the use of 4WD on tarmac, you can try find the posts.

I do (albeit rarely) switch onto 4wd Hi while driving on highway that is very very wet during heavy rain, but i switch it back to 2wd once i exit the hwy as i don't want to damage my drive system while turning. If you did indeed drive all the way back to your home, I believe you would have made some turns while on 4WD. This is a big NO NO.

And never go into 4WD LO unless in mud or sandy off-road ya. If you are on-road and you want to switch back to 2WD, do it on a straight road, with your steering straight, and able to move forward, NOT after you have parked.

The funny sound you mentioned is likely to be your gear not being able to engage or disengage. The gear box is unlikely to be damaged by just one-off miscue, but don't make it a habit of engaging or disengaging once parked, and when steering is not straight.

Although some 4wd trucks can switch between 2wd and 4wd on the fly, which makes you wanna try switching while flying at 100km/h on a hwy; my humble advice is: Don't do it! If you feel you are losing traction on wet road, just drive slower. Your truck is very different from a car which has lower Centre-of-gravity and lighter chasis.

Go into some international 4wd sites and have a bit of a read on how to use the 4wd, they have loads of information there that will be helpful to new 4wd truck owners. Malaysian forums have limited threads on 4WD proper.

Cheers.

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Added on September 24, 2012, 2:04 am

Every 4WD thread in Malaysia is Silent. Unfortunately, even in LYN, people tend to post a bit here, post a bit on another thread, so comments which are already few are often spread out over other threads. This one is considered pretty active already.

Also, I guess those who buy trucks and visit the forum are usually city folks, who hardly venture into the jungle. And those who venture into the jungle all the time are obviously not city folks, and don't engage in forums.

And your question on favourite suspension is too vague. 4WD is not like car where you can change rims or tyre profile every 3 months. The variety of rims and tyres are few and far between in Malaysia, not to mention $$$$. It would be easier if you are more specific in asking this based on usage conditions, budget, and/or looks.

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Added on September 24, 2012, 2:24 am

Another vague question. What do you mean by going -ve offset good idea or not? How much -ve are you referring to? And what makes you want to consider -ve offset? What is it in your current setup you are not happy with? You need to be more specific if you want the right answer, otherwise the answers are going to be either all over the place, or maybe no one will even bother to feedback because no one can understand your question.

And what do you mean by 'should i go for AT tyres'??? Again, it depends why you are considering AT tyres. Do you go off-road? If yes, then what kind of terrain, and how often? Or maybe you just want aesthetics? Or is it because your neighbour have them on his truck?

AT is for people who do a little off-roading, maybe few times a year on existing logging tracks as an example. They are usually designed for 80% on-road and 20% off-road conditions. Depending on the size, make and model, they cost around RM400 to RM900 a piece. If your rims are 20+ inches, they probably cost more (if you can find them). Sime ATs are popular becos they are cheap. Some go for Bridgestone Dueler, a midrange type. Higher up the ladder, you can consider Coopers Discovery STT, BF Goodrich.....

AT is generally noisier than HT, mainly because of the grooves being further apart. They are also generally softer than HT tyres. MT is the noisiest, but works the best in off-road conditions, especially in mud where others will fail. If you only use on-road, this is not good idea unless you like the looks of it.

I'm not sure if this is what you want to know, but sure hope it helps.

Don't worry, Currently I'm driving Ford Ranger T6, previously drive Perodua viva