SR5 4x4 dial vs TRD 4x4 lever

Is the lever really that much better than the dial? They both use an actuator right?

 

The dial uses an electronic actuator. The lever is a lever. The electronic actuator is known to fail on the transfercase. Both types have an electronic actuator on the front differential. However the front differential actuator is able to be bypassed/deleted.

 

Both have an electronic actuator in the front axle that needs to engage.

However it’s up to you how you want the transfer case to be engaged.

I would prefer the lever personally all-else-equal since it’s more engaging and I can engage/disengage 4WD near instantly rather than waiting for the actuator that the dial uses.

But I got the dial because I wanted a recent SR5 model specifically and didn’t really care for the extra Off-Road trim features. I wouldn’t fault anyone for going for the dial since it’s more compact and doesn’t require any yanking.

 

TRD 4x4 lever do not have a electronic actuator for the transfer case but to really be in 4WD the front axle needs to be engaged by its electronic actuator.

If both these systems don't get exercised you will not have 4wd.

In my eyes SR5 4x4 dial have a slight advantage of engaging speed limit is little higher and so much easy to engage and disengage especially for a lady driver.

Also second hand experience my friends wife accidentally shifting to 4L with TRD lever at highway speed thinking she is shifting back to 2H. SR5 electronic dial might have more safety mechanism not to engage I assume.

 

One less potential failure point with the lever plus it looks cool.

 

The TC actuator is much more expensive and difficult to replace should it go bad (requires splitting the case). The differential disconnect actuator is cheaper and potentially a DIY job.

 

And what's wrong with yanking??

 

I prefer to yank. Giggidy

 

Didn't take long for the misogyny to show up.

 

Maybe I’m not understanding.

a. I thought failure of the transfer case actuator was relatively rare.

b. What’s this about bypassing the differential actuator?

 

Plenty of documented cases of the tcase actuator failing. Not sure what to tell you there.

You can electronically bypass it by jumping some pins or remove it all together and replace the add axle tube with a full time awd axle tube from a FJ. You can also convert to manual hubs if you don't want to take the fuel economy hit from constantly spinning the front diff.

 

Interesting.

 

Nothing! I can just see some drivers preferring a low-effort twist of the wrist and letting the electronics worry about it.

 

The lever is only better than the dial because it comes with a locking rear diff.

 

here's mechanic explanation (around 5:10) - How does Toyota 4WD System works and why is it reliable? (youtube.com)

I personally prefer lever, but I think that dial will work just as fine, probably 5th gen is the last one to have lever.

 

The lever is for men, the dial.... not so much

 

They both have an ADD actuator on the front diff. The dial has another actuator on the T-case. The ADD actuator is far more failure prone because it's lower in the vehicle and more susceptible to water ingress. The T-case actuator is known to develop leaks at the shift shaft seals at high miles. So lever is slightly more reliable than dial, but not by much.

Absence of T-case actuator provides more room to reroute the low-hanging exhaust crossover pipe, though on the 4R it isn't t a big advantage, because fuel tank still hangs low.

That's the wife's problem. The lever takes an L-shaped path from 4H to 4L and goes through N. Meanwhile going for 4H to 2H is a simple 2" movement of the lever forward.

 

Mostly aesthetics, but then I do like Gen5’s and I also like rear lockers, so…

Moot debate as of August anyway, when Toyota installed the last levers we’ll ever see on a 4R. It’ll be pretty cool 10+ years from now if you have one. In the meantime, you can officially file this discussion in the same folder with manually locking hubs…

 

How do I convert to manual hubs???

 

Can't tell if this is a g5

https://youtu.be/TZ2sOfVrnhU?feature=shared

 

Misogyny? That's quite the stretch. There have been actual posts about women trading in their OR/Pro's due to difficulty shifting the manual t-case. Perhaps the internet is not the place for you lol.

 

Early Tacomas circa 1995.5-1996 had manual hubs on some trims.

On Tacoma World, a vendor selling pressed wheel bearing hub assys at one time sold manual hub kits based on early Tacoma parts, but eventually stopped. Reason was he had to rely on aftermarket hubs and CV stub axle shafts which didn't fit nicely. He was taking the brunt of the complaints on parts he kitted/resold but didn't manufacture.

 

Are there aftermarket manual hubs available for 5th Gen 4r's?