# 1996 Lexus LX450 disable front wheel drive

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-lexus-lx450-disable-front-wheel-drive/52743>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** lexus, wheels\
**Created:** [July 31, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-lexus-lx450-disable-front-wheel-drive/52743 "2010-07-31T14:23:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![billofdublin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@billofdublin](https://community.cartalk.com/u/billofdublin)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-lexus-lx450-disable-front-wheel-drive/52743/1 "2010-07-31T14:23:38Z")

</div>

Would it be possible to disengage or disable the front wheel drive on the LX450? Purpose: easier steering, gas mileage and tire wear.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-lexus-lx450-disable-front-wheel-drive/52743/2 "2010-07-31T16:27:19Z")

</div>

Anything is possible if you have sufficient cash reserves and a good enough mechanic.

That said, don’t do this.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-lexus-lx450-disable-front-wheel-drive/52743/3 "2010-07-31T18:20:24Z")

</div>

You might gain a little gas mileage, but not enough to make it worth it.

Make sure the steering is doing what it should. It may be malfunctioning.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-lexus-lx450-disable-front-wheel-drive/52743/4 "2010-07-31T21:18:00Z")

</div>

The four wheel drive is not much of a penalty on your vehicle. Tops 2MPG but usually only 1MPG. Hardly worth it.

If the steering is hard there is something wrong with your vehicle. I have owned 3 AWD vehicles and the steering difference is not different. Also tire wear does not increase with AWD again unless something is wrong.

On two sets of high perfomance tires I got 50k miles out them on two different AWD Subaru’s.