2004 Toyota Higlander 4 wd question

Does this car have a front differential and a transfer case or are they different names for the same thing?

They’re two different things. You have a front differential, a center diff, and a rear diff. You don’t have what I would call a transfer case, which is on 4wd vehicles based off rwd trucks and SUVs, which usually includes the gearing needed for a low range. There is an extra set of gears in your transmission to take the power and send it to the rear axle.

The Highlander which is AWD has a trans-axle like a Camry.

Go to the interactive url below. It explains 4wd/awd systems pretty well.

http://www.majormedia2.com/4WDSimplifiedv5/4WD.html