A-Trac is for real

Steep stuff is exactly what low range is for. Might be able to do that stuff in high range, but low range has more control and is easier on the vehicle. Whenever I'm off road I spend more time in low range than in high.

 

I agree, I do employ low range sometimes, especially with steep decents to allow engine braking. I just can’t get use to the violent sounding down hill assist.

 

Were you already spun out when you engaged it?

 

Same! I tried it a couple times just to see how it worked, but the noise is so terrible that I won't use it unless absolutely necessary. Haven't used it since. Low range, first gear, and careful use of the brakes has got me down. Some pretty steep stuff so far.

Oh, I'll tell you about how I tried out my ATrac. I was on a flat trail with a bank on one side, I turned into the bank, so my passenger front was climbing the bank. I just wanted to see how far I could get it to flex. I got to a certain point where I had climbed the bank far enough that my driver front and passenger rear were unloaded, and those were the wheels that wanted to spin and that stopped my forward progress. I turned on ATRAC, and gently applied steady throttle. ATRAC did its thing, and the 4R started to climb further up the bank. It had applied brakes to the spinning wheels allowing wheels that had traction to get power.

As someone that's owned a few 4x4s with open diffs and no traction control at all, this is super impressive. Open diffs are just so miserable, under certain situations they can really hamper your progress. When I was a kid I got my '70s Chevy pickup stuck in the snow. Passenger side was buried in a 4 ft deep snow bank, the tires were pretty much off the ground. Driver side tires were on clean pavement. Couldn't go anywhere, passenger tires spun, driver side tires sat there doing nothing thanks to open diffs. I hated them so much, but I couldn't afford locking differentials, and there weren't a lot of options at the time.

 

A-Trac rocks, I haven't felt the need to use my locker. Now I regret why I didn't buy an SR5. A-Trac is all I need for my kind of wheeling.

 

I have owned Toyota 4 wheel drive vehicles my whole life. I started out buying the models with lockers and it was good. Then I purchased trucks with lockers and A-trac after Toyota started adding the new technology. My current 4 runner I realized I don’t need lockers so I purchased a SR5, it gets me everywhere I used to go with lockers and saved money.

There are videos out there on the interweb showing Toyota trucks using atrac going up against vehicles with lockers and atrac wins every time.

 

Thoughts on ATRAC in the mud? Wound up deep in soft, gluey crap today and was making basically no progress until I used the magic button.

 

I thought ATRAC would be counterproductive in mud, because you need some wheel spin?

 

It seems to be able to decide how much to slow down the faster spinning wheel almost as if it isn't full stop on the wheel with no traction. At least that has been my experience.

 

I dunno, I'm absolutely here to learn.

Felt I was pretty quickly sinking to the frame in the wet ruts with before engaging.

 

Sometime you just sink in muck. That's when you need a recovery system.

 

Agreed. I guess if you can dig down to a more firm bottom, ATRAC would help.

My first instinct for mud would be locker engaged, necessitating low range, and all other electronic traction aids off. Get that wheel speed up!

Edit: it's so interesting, there are so many unique scenarios where these traction aids can be a lifesaver, or hindrance, or just not help at all. I had sworn up and down that MTS was just a gimmick, until I saw a video demonstrating the differences between each setting in certain scenarios. Really is impressive with they can do with electronic traction control. I've been watching a lot of Land Rover videos lately too, and what the Land Rover traction control can do is super impressive as well. I do believe it was Land Rover that actually pioneered this technology on the Disco 2.

 

Not this land rover

 

There's a lot to be said for the driver mod. But hey, at least he got up there.

 

In his defence he had no lockers and took it with like zero momentum.