We had a deeper discussion with the instructors at assault on this topic, it’s not so much jumping in 4WD itself is the risk. The big issue is being on the throttle or brakes during landing. Through the chat we had:At Raptor Assault they specifically tell you NOT to jump in 4WD because of the strain it does to components
1)when done right 4wd not that much different in stress than 2wd
2) when it’s done wrong in 4wd it’s dramatically worse for the drivetrain than 2wd because the front and rear wheels will be spinning different speeds as the vehicle lands but not free to equalize as one set of wheels will be under load
3) they expect some of the drivers to mess up and stay on the throttle or brake while landing so 2wd is to protect the vehicles
4) they debunked “wanting to prevent too much speed at takeoff” he said they would move the start line forward to reach the target takeoff speed range if they let ppl jump in 4wd