OK to pay off 401k loan after filing?

[tdawg]

I have just been laid off and have an outstanding 401k loan. I am going to be filing ch 7 in the next couple weeks. I am going to be exempting somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000 in cash (using the fed. homestead exemption - my house is under water). I'm assuming if I paid off my $4k 401k loan before filing that would be bad since it would be a preferential payment. However, what if I pay it off after filing ch 7 with the cash that I exempted? I really don't want it to come out of my 401k and have to pay taxes on it.