2 low mod

Just wanted to say thanks for this reply. I too was trying to do the 2low mod and the only write up I could find was to add a switch to a white/blk wire. When I got there, like you, I too did not have that same wire at the trans control relay. But because of your comment I was able to figure it out, so thanks!

 

grey wire mod = righteous donut button... lol

Pre-runners have this option, but IMO, only because it's a crutch for not having 4x4 to maximize what little traction they have.

An open diff 4x4 is going to have more traction than a locked 2wd in most situations.

IMO, this is a "cool" mod and easy to do, but the utility is fairly limited to throwing tire smoke.

Same for low range 2wd. I just can't see a situation where I'd need low range without 4wd. Traffic I guess, but I have an auto, lol... But even back when I had a 5spd 5 lug, I never caught myself wishing for lower gears to crawl in traffic.

To each their own...

 

Any situation where more torque is nice, but 4wd is unnecessary or unwanted. Trying to maneuver slowly off-road, coming down steep hills, climbing steep hills, trying to tow a boat out of a tight boat ramp where steering is required, trying to back up a boat uphill on pavement. There’s plenty of situations where extra torque is nice but 4wd is unnecessary or hinders what you want to do because of steering bind.

 

I've done pretty much all that routinely, and never had a problem in 4x4. Pickup trucks don't really need all that much torque, what they need is traction. And because pickups don't have any weight over the rear wheels (especially wet wheels while dragging a boat out), all that extra torque is just converted to wheel-spin unless you have the front wheels driving as well.

 

So I have the push button 4wd stick and I always wondered if I slam it up into 4 low without engaging the button does it just reduce my gearing ratio or does it also engage the 4wd.

 

It engages 4WD, bypassing the button, hence the hack.

Well worth while in certain slow speed trail conditions, not so much if you don't see or understand those conditions.

 

Totally see the advantages of this. I was thinking the other day i should find a way to do this

 

Most of what trucks do requires torque. The more it has and lower rpm it peaks at, the better. That’s why Diesel engines are so sought after.

You obviously don’t tow or trail ride much. Having low gearing to back a trailer uphill in a tight spot on pavement is nice to use 2L for the extra torque, and there’s some situations off-road that the front steering binds up in 4L. I wanted 2L because the way my truck is geared, at an idle in 2H, it moves way too fast off-road. It’s a nice crawl speed in 2L

 

If you have the push button 4wd, this mod is easy for you. Underneath the truck up on the transfer case, there will be I believe a blue plug thatplugs into the transfer case. All you have to do is unplug it. That will allow you to switch the transfer case to low range, and as long as you don’t press the 4wd button, it’ll be in 2Low. If you press the 4wd button, then it’ll be in 4Low.

Like here https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2low-mod-push-button-4wd.162032/

 

Awesome thanks man!

 

Opening a beer bottle requires torque, too.

But my point wasn't that trucks (specifically our little Tacomas) don't need ANY torque, just that in the situations where your tires are breaking loose, what you need MORE of, is traction. Changing the gearing doesn't change the friction coefficient.

Ahh yes, because I have a different opinion, I must be inexperienced and not go wheelin or tow things.

Look, I know you're trying to educate me and are telling me all these situations where this mod would be useful, but I've been in those situations, and I still don't find it all that necessary. It's obvious we have different driving styles, or at least different gearing, and that's cool.

I'm just offering an alternative position, so maybe the OP (or others) can make the most informed decision possible.

 

This isn’t a mod for traction. If our tires are breaking loose, obviously 4wd is better. This a mod to get more torque or controlled speed for certain instances, and to be able to steer at the same time.

Backing any kind of weight uphill while needing to turn on hard ground, torque and steering are needed. 2L accomplishes both.

 

Like I said, I never had a problem with lack or torque when towing or wheeling. It was a loss of traction that I would have a problem with. Hence my preference for 4wd rather than low range 2wd.

 

I am root

 

Sorry to necro but it's relevant.

From what I can find in other posts (and my own PDF manual) it doesn't seem like red/blue is the correct wire to switch, since that's an ADD limit switch signal. Are we sure this isn't just preventing the 4wd indicator from coming on because the ADD motor is continually hunting for the limit switch? Could be dangerous if true.

Seems like I should switch white/black from pin 7 (t-case switch ground, I think-- prevent the "4wd engaged" signal) or white/back from pin 2 (relay ground, I think-- disable the ADD motor relay entirely).

Trying to figure out how to de-pin this connector, so I'll figure it out soon enough and report back. But if anyone can give me a sanity check...

@Dirty Pool
@2000GTacoma
@drr

 

Full disclosure I am not versed in this thread or the Grey wire mod, but I recently developed my own "manual ADD" switch, for which a journey indeed did pertake. Most importantly imo, the ADD limit switch depictions are misnomers; they are normally closed until the travel completes then they are open.

I do have full control of the transfer case via J-shift and lock/unlock of the ADD via latched switch (eg, 2Lo 4Lo, whatever I want).

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-add-actuator-ecu.850553/page-2#post-30565413

 

TL;DR: don't use blue/red as suggested earlier. Might work but might be bad. Use the white/black wire that runs to pin 7.

Interesting. Although I'm not sure NO/NC makes a difference in this scenario (adding a toggle switch inline with a limit switch via the blue/red wire on pin 5).

It seems to me that in the best case, the user earlier in this thread is tricking it into doing nothing by triggering a fault condition: both limit switches activated/open at once, relay module does nothing because this is normally supposed to be impossible.

In the worst case, if the wrong limit switch was interrupted, wiring it like this could theoretically cause the motor to activate for the entire time that the t-case is in 4wd. Limit switch is disabled via toggle switch, motor doesn't know that it hasn't reached the end, keeps trying to drive the ADD. Here the 4wd indicator wouldn't illuminate but it actually would be in 4wd with the diff engaged.

After checking the diagrams and testing myself, I think the ttora post linked earlier (and what Dirty Pool was essentially suggesting in post #10) has outlined the best way to do this-- add a toggle switch to the white/black wire that runs into pin 7 of the "transmission" control relay.

I had an illuminated switch so I wired the 12v coming from the t-case 4wd switch to power the LED, so the switch lights up when the ADD is active. Would probably make more sense if that was inverted so you don't forget you're in low range, but oh well. Happy enough with how it came out.

4-low immediately after shifting the t-case:

4-low after rolling forward:

2-low after toggling the switch:

 

I would agree doing a DPDT toggle switch is by far the easiest way of taking manual control of the ADD. You just have to hold it long enough (generally 1-2 seconds) to get full engagement. But since you don't have that feedback from the limit switches, if you have an issue with the motor or wiring, you could cause damage (my assumption anyway, idk exactly how the fork mechanically engages).

 

I don’t care to have full manual control over the actuator since my ADD was in good working order to begin with. I can’t see any reason I’d want to manually drive the motor or disregard the limit switches.

Switching the [correct] wire with a SPST as outlined above just selectively disables the “tcase is in 4wd” signal, so the rest of the ADD mechanism manages itself as if it were being shifted in and out of 4wd regardless of the actual tcase shift position. Unless it’s actually in 2wd in which case it does nothing.

 

I see now