CLUTCH CONTROL DEVICE FOR 4-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLE

To achieve a balance between ensuring four-wheel drive performance, on the one hand, and energy conservation performance, on the other, when there is a request to engage the dog clutch. The system for transmitting drive force to the left and right rear wheels (19, 20) comprises a dog clutch (8) and an electronically controlled coupling (16); a 4WD control unit (34) is provided, which carries out the control of starting the engagement of the dog clutch (8), which is in a disengaged state, after placing the dog clutch (8) in a rotationally synchronized state by engaging the electronically controlled coupling (16) and increasing the output rotation thereof, when there is a request to engage the dog clutch (8). In this clutch control device for a four-wheel drive vehicle, the 4WD control unit (34) sets the engagement start timing of the electronically controlled coupling (16) when a transition is made to the "connected, four-wheel drive mode" to an earlier timing compared to when a transition is made to the "standby two-wheel drive mode," when there is a request to engage the dog clutch (8) while in a state in which the "disconnected, two-wheel drive mode" is selected.