No VSC, DAC or A-TRAC - Available after the fact??

Alright… maybe a dumb question, but I don’t know…so Im asking anyways My ’07 TRD Sport (bought used w/ Automatic tranny) did not come with VSC, DAC or by the looks of it, any other Traction control related wizardry. The three buttons down by the mirror adjust are all blank as is the button where the RR Diff lock would be located.

My question is twofold: A- Are these options able to be installed after the fact without too much trouble? And B – Does one actually need them? Winters are a P.I.T.A. here and one of the reasons I wanted a Tacoma was to make driving in crap conditions more doable/enjoyable.
Im new to these trucks so I don’t know too much about them or the 4wd systems. I have driven a manual version, but year newer and it had all of the above mentioned options….is that because it was ordered with those options or maybe it is because it is a manual and the automatics have it all inside the box?

Like I said…maybe a dumb question….but Im learning

 

All Tacomas have the wiring there, but not the actual equipment on the truck to make them work. There have already been a few posts about this very question before.

 

Short answer is no

 

I thought as much. Too bad really....not too bothered about the DAC stuff but I would have liked a Traction control system. But your right...less bells and whistles means less to go wrong

 

You're not missing much

 

I dunno....the A-TRAC system in L4 sounds like it could come in handy once in while. Guess I'll just have to compensate with pure driving ability

 

IIRC A-TRAC is just ABS trying to impersonate a locker....

 

if im not mistaken the A-TRAC only comes on the Off-Roads

 

Which is what I have...but it's an '07. I may be mistaken but '09 and later TRD models come standard with all of this stuff where before that they were optional extras...obviously the guy who bought it new thought they were tinsle and opted out

 

It seems as if you have a "Sport" and the "Offroad" is different than that. It was the model that came with A TRAC and the locker, and the traction control. Your sport does not have the Atrac/locker though.

 

Ah....I see. My mistake. I thought "TRD Sport" was the off road. Don't think I've seen too many "Off Road" TRD's up here....or maybe I just haven't noticed them. Thanks for setting me straight.

 

This

ATRAC is only on 09+ TRD Offroad 4x4 models

 

Where are you ?

 

The orig owner was a smart guy and you're lucky!

 

I have same year similar truck. (Original Owner) Opted not to buy any Traction control and 6 New England winters later I still stand by my choice. Make sure Limited Slip is workign correctly in the back and you going to be fine.
Less things to replace, and less things going berserk in the middle of the snow storm.

 

LOL! Good point,

 

Oh yeah...fogot to put that info up. Im in Ottawa....funny though, as I was driving home I noticed not one...but two "Off- Road" TRD's ...lol.

 

In Canada , you can only get the TRD Offroad in an Access Cab , in the US it's available in a Doublecab Shortbed

 

To be honest when I had my 09 TRD sport I got in the truck every day and turned off the VSC/TRAC as soon as I started it up in the driveway. To do this you just have to be at a complete stop, hold down the VSC button for 5 seconds till the little truck symbols with slippery road pops up in the dash, good to go. You have to do this every time you shut it off and back on again. I ran with them off because if they were on, pulling out onto a busy snow covered street the system would cut throttle when it felt the tires slip, then I'd be stuck creeping along at 5km/h out into the busy street waiting for the traction control to F off so I can continue accelerating. With the system turned off, I just slid a little sideways, counter-steered, gave it some more throttle, and was going with traffic in 2 seconds. The traction control turned on and activating almost got me rear ended or t-boned a few times when I forgot to turn it off. Also I like to kick the truck around in snow and that's not possible with the electronics turned on.

So really your not missing much for daily driving. The only time I turned the stuff back on was when I was on the highway going too fast for the conditions and I didn't want the rear of the truck to pass me unexpectedly. The system worked very well in this scenario.

As far as A-Trac goes, I have it on my 09 TRD Offroad, but I've never used it yet since I've only had the truck a few weeks and never left pavement yet. A-Trac is supposed to help you if you are in real slippery situations like snow, mud, loose sand, and especially rocky steep hills. I've seen videos of it working and it appeared to work well, for what it's worth.

I would imagine installing it on your truck would mean purchasing an expensive controller module from toyota and a few switches, plus installation. But that would be just a guess.

Hope this helps you decide weather you want to pursue the system further...