Why have a locker with 4x4? and **snow**

I am about to buy an 09' taco 4x4 tomorrow and i can't decide between off road or sport. What I am wondering is...

* Which will better for the snow? (I am moving to Alaska)

* Why is a locker necessary, isn't that the point of 4x4, if one wheel is off the ground or loses traction you still have 3 left?

I plan on doing a bit of off-roading, but only to get to ski mountains or camp grounds etc. I am more concerned with performance in ALOT of snow, what are your opinions?

 

i have the sport and just got in from playing in the snow with it lol and it blew me away with how it handled... i have never driven a off road with the locker but im here to rep the sports!

 

I'm sure others will know more than me but here is my 2 cents. Having a locker or not will have no affect on how your trucks handles in the snow. The only time a locker would help is if you were to end up in a snow bank or ditch. The locker on the offroad is on a manual stitch and will only function under 10 or 15 mph. If you're not doing serious offroading then the limited slip diff in the sport should be fine.

 

That's good to hear because the dealership has one sport and one off road that meet my needs and the sport has the color I want!

 

i would go with the sport, i have the 09 sport and i love it, and with the lsd it works just fine and really helps when you lose traction

 

I am also wondering...I know how the LSD works and i understand the 09' off road has both LSD and locker. But if I find myself in a tough situation with one wheel spinning, would I really need a locker, or could I just put it in 4x4 and the front wheels would pull me out?

 

4x4 power any of the four wheels but not a the same time from what i understand the power frm the engine follows the path of least resistance so if you have two wheels on ice those two wheels will spin and the other two wont with a locker the rear wheels will spin at the same speed when its engaged even if one is slippin the other will pull u out check utube there are a few vid out there that show this really well

 

excellent I really appreciate the help guys.

 

i have never felt like i needed the locker... with my lsd i have getten out of everything with no peoblem just put it in 4 and cral on out...its a pretty true lsd so its really hard to get just one wheel to brake loose... thats just in my experances lol

 

i dont know about the lockers on trucks but it should be like the same princible on quads and in ice/snow a quad with a rear diff is a lot easyer to control but one with a strate axle is easyer to put into a drift but harder to stop the slide so i would conclude the lsd would be easyer to control then the locker... dose that make any sence or am i flat wrong haha

 

it makes sense to me, I think this is going to come down to whether I like white or silver because I think I will be happy with either package

 

i love me silver

it sounds like they both will work for you its just hood scoop and paint maching now

 

its all about the magnetic gray haha

 

I would opt for the locker out of a personal perference for being totally in control of what the truck is doing. A limited-slip will work fine for most situatuions, especially if you don't plan to put your truck through its paces.

Toyota builds a hell of a truck, and any of them will be more than capable for off-roading, so it's up to you.

Our Chevy Suburban has a limited-slip differential and I will tell you that we have that thing in places where no vehicle should have been.

 

I would recommend an off-road, just for the fact that a LSD will screw you 9 times out of 10 on ice, one wheel peel is much better for snow and ice IMO. Just today in the snow my LSD put me in the ditch. When both wheels spin, truck goes sideways. Just my .02, plus when your stuck the locker helps a bunch more.

 

Man you guys make this a tough decision, if only they had the off road in silver. Do you guys feel the sport is a noticeably more comfortable ride? I have test driven both, but not back to back. And since I am going to be driving from Connecticut to Anchorage a comfortable ride would be nice.

 

Drive them 'back to back' tomorrow.

 

I have the locker and really wish I had the LSD. I don't like the one wheelie peelie... I dont see why the LSD is not as good as the locker... well the locker would be better for heavy offroading I guess, but not for everyday use IMO.

Just last night I had to drive through a ditch to park in a friends yard. My friend was the DD and went to drive through it leaving and went at an angle where the drivers side rear tire went in the air. Since I didn't have LSD that one tire started spinning and the front right tire started spinning too because the grass was wet. Of course once I locked the diff it came right out, but why not just have the LSD and it will always distribute power to both tires.

Seems like it just saves a "step" to me. not having to put it in 4lo and press a button.

Guess Im just lazy

 

im in ny and have been waiting for delivery of my 09 dbl cab off road since nov10 i can t wait for this thing to show up i call the dealer every couple days i just got put in a f catigory its killing me knowin that i have prob 2 more weeks of drivin my 01 pathfinder but i wanted my first new truck to have just what i wanted so dont get what they have get what u want