OTT tune on 4hi and 4lo

I feel that this topic has not been talked about much.

Has anyone actually use the tune in 4x4. My personal experience with the tune on med/spicy I felt that in 4hi the throttle was too touchy trying to go over obstacles. It was actually harder to manage due to the fact that when I press down on accelerator it doesn't actually move slowly but will actually jump forward when more pressure is applied.

I was trying to control the throttle trying to feather it going over a rock but it seemed like it wasn't enough pressure to move the truck so when I applied a little more pressure and the whole truck lurch forward abruptly making it difficult to control. That was not what I wanted.

I did enjoyed this flavor med/spicy for daily dribing, but for what I do I felt that in 4x4 it had too much throttle. BTW I have a doublecab auto, longbed, roofrack, skidplate, sliders and other gears.

Anyone else have this experience?

 

I added the lite/medium OTT tune a few months ago and use 4 Hi as needed on the fly in mixed weather conditions, no issues to me affecting drivability when on snow and slush. I don’t use 4 Low normally, but have tested it out on a trail to include driving over some downed small trees without a noticeable problem. But I must say, as I usually stick to pavement, it’s difficult to judge normal feel for off roading using low to move over rocks. After adapting to driving with the tune, no issues for me mostly on pavement.

 

Slightly confused here. Title says 4Hi and 4Lo, but you only actually mention 4Hi in the post.

If the post content is accurate and you were trying to feather it over an obstacle you were are going slow enough you should be in 4Lo instead of 4Hi. I can't speak toward the interaction with the tune, but the lower gearing should have at least helped with the lurching. How much it would help would be hard to say.

Just the general rule that if you are using 4x4 under 20 MPH 4Lo is the way to go to keep temps down, regardless of the tune on the truck.

 

At the time I didn't switch over to 4lo as I felt was not needed it was just a few rock on the path that I just had to get over. I should have switched over to 4lo but the obstacle I was on was not necessary.

 

What model do you have and what other modifications do you have?

 

I'm currently on mid/spicy. In 4 hi it will take more gas pedal, in 4low the same obstacle will usually take less gas pedal to get moving regardless of the tune. It's really more of a hi vs low than the tune. In low gear the torque comes in sooner so it requires less pedal normally. Now as for the tune pedal feel that is something you'll have to get used too. Is the obstacle close? It would be cool to go back and do it again with as similar a line as you can in 4low so you can feel the difference. I'm geared with 5.29 and the difference for me is huge, everything is much easier in low gear. The right way to say that is it feels like it's easier on the truck.

Just to be clear if the obstacle is hard enough you'll be hammering down in 4low also. I don't want to make it seem like 4low is magic. What I'm talking about is more the obstacles I am assuming you're talking about. There's also a-lot at play here like gearing, line choice, tire size, air, clearance and driver.

 

Was it mild/spicy or med/spicy that you got? I'm curious what lift or tires and gear/equipment do you have that you chose your throttle settings.

I honestly like the med/spicy due to the fact I felt my truck was heavy as mentioned on first post. I do have bigger tires and also air downed, I should have switched to 4lo to see feel the difference. I was on 4hi and just had to pass the rocks that was on the path. I didn't even think to switch over to 4lo but thanks for the input I need to retest in 4lo to see how it actually feels.

 

The obstacle isn't what necessitates the 4Lo selection in this case, but the speed is. 4Lo will lock up the TC and keep trans temps lower. Now, I'm not certain it applies the same to a Taco, but over on Tundras.com there were people who were over heating their transmissions going up inclines at slow speed in 4Hi. Going slow in 4Hi makes it run hot, so Lo should be used instead.

If you go test it in 4Lo and don't have the same issues with surging, then the tune is no issue because at slow speeds it should have been in Lo to start with.

 

I appreciate the feedback I will continue to test out the tune in 4hi and 4lo to see the differences.

 

Be sure to let us know your findings on it. I'm sure this is something many getting a tune don't consider, so your testing and information would be a great benefit to the community.

 

Will definitely try to give back feedbacks on my experience when I'm out again. This is also the reason why I started this thread due to the fact not many individuals actually use the tune for 4x4 offroading but just 2wd mostly for daily drivability.

Anyone else who have experience please chime in.

 

I’ve got a 2017 Sport with Bilstein adjustable shocks lifted 1.5 and 265/75/16 tires, no real added weight.

 

With your setting was it enough for everything you do? Was the lite setting enough to push your truck to where it didn't feel heavy?

 

I have used mine in 4hi, both on trail and in heavy snow weather on the roads. I didn't notice any difference in how it drove.

I do, however, have an issue where it randomly has zero throttle input for the first 5% or so of pedal travel when pressing lightly, which might be the same thing you saw. You press the pedal, nothing happens, you press a little more, nothing happens, then suddenly kicks in at whatever percentage the pedal is at. It's not all the time, usually when it happens its light input leaving a stop sign or when getting back on the gas after a slow roll entry into the driveway. After finding a couple other threads here it seems others have had the same issue. I've been trying to contact my tuner about it but I've received no response.

 

The Anderson Engineering intake manifold spacer might help too. Moves torque lower down in the RPM range and helps in pretty much all conditions. Definitely worth the money. And really helps with heavy towing.
Another Anderson Spacer thread, install notes, subjective testing. Long post | Tacoma World

 

What you explain is probably what I was experiencing. I thought I was applying enough pressure for the truck to move and when it didn't do anything I reapplied more pressure and that's when it all of a sudden it moves just as how you explained it. I wonder if it's the tune that causes this because I don't recall it happening on stock tune.

 

Where are you located? How long ago was your tune installed? Have you contacted your tuner or OTT?

 

In this particular situation 4-low would've alleviated the lurching. If you were on a harder obstacle and got similar lurching on 4-low, then smooth it out with left-foot braking.

You can also add a pedal controller like Ultimate 9 and use one of the eco mode settings for technical trails. That's what I do.

 

For all of you saying its not the tune, it is absolutely the tune. Anyone with a PID viewer can see that from a stop your pedal input vs throttle angle do not change at a linear rate and its not translating to smooth natural acceleration from a stop without you consciously moving the pedal VERY slowly which is unnatural and counter to the way a nice daily-driver operates. These tunes make it very jumpy often having a few 2%-4% of pedal movement translate to the throttle jumping from 5-12 degrees or more over that tiny movement. Nice on the highway but not around town or offroad crawling regardless of 4Hi or 4Lo.

 

Why would you be in 4hi when going over obstacles?