Offroading in an '09 with ALSD

has anybody done any serious offroading with the 09's new Auto LSD?
not necessarily SERIOUS, but enough to loose traction and get the back/front end spinning?
I mean.. i would think the Auto LSD would almost be better than a mechanical LSD because it'll be there to help no matter what, not like a mechanical that needs a minimum amount of traction to work.
any experience?

 

auto lsd is sweet, but I just use my e brake as my auto lsd.

 

i thought so. At first i was pretty skeptical about this Auto LSD thing. Until i joined this board i was under the impression that any toyota 4x4 had a rear locker/mechanical LSD (heh you can probably guess how let down i was when i learned the 09's were COMPLETELY OPEN). after some research though i'm pretty confident that the auto lsd will work pretty awesome in the rough . i'm to scared to do anything with my truck right now cause i still have the crap oem dunlops...
as soon as i get the cash for my hankooks i'll be trying this out for myself

 

Ive used it its cool but if I start slipping I go right to the locker and turn on the A-trac. A-Trac cool if there some traction to be had When I sunk my truck in the mud it didnt even turn on cuz both tires were slipping.

 

yeha no locker here lol otherwise i would just use that

 

Even though my brother does not have an 09 he did some serious off-roading with his 08 with just LSD...he was getting through some really tough trails as well. Learning to Off-Road with just the LSD and no locker helped my brother out quite a bit! But you only get so far with it...he eventually upgraded to a full on ARB to conquer some of the more harder terrain the LSD could not do...

 

Sounds like the story of my life.

 

That's what I'm hoping for.. A few years down the road anyways

 

I have gone through some pretty nasty mud in my 09. Its great. I have been spinning my tires and kicked on the auto lsd and have been able to pull out of it with alittle maneuvering. but it works great. Just make sure you turn off VSC that will screw you up in a heart beat if u start sliding in mud or something.

 

yes! VSC has nearly killed me (not literally) quite a few times
nothing worse then trying to get unstuck only to have your engine derate out of the blue

 

yeah. VSC= bad news for offroading.

 

Guy that says the VSC si bad either haven't really tried one or did not disengage it or used it properly.

the auto LSD is awesome. FJs have it since '07 and it works very well (even better if rear is locked but still)

I have seriously offroaded mine and I'm not even at the first Service hehe

The auto LSD is really impressive, albeit not a locker... I was able to make it up hills one shot - with a spare front tire i.e. no front traction - where 4x4 open diffs would take multiple tries and locked ones did not all make it one shot.

You can see hundreds of pictures there. My '09 is the grey double cab long bed

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebeachboy/sets/72157620195885189/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebeachboy/sets/72157620269099155/

donT' let anyone with a TRD O-R fool you thinking VSC is crap and the '09 is not capable.

 

oh and I plan on getting a locker, but I have yet to get towed of somewhere or up something because of my LSD.

so for now I'm VERY happy with my '09

 

i said that VSC is crap when trying to offroad bc all it does is apply brakes to a predetermined tire as you slide. i have a SR5 with auto LSD. VSC does nothing for you while offroading but stop you from sliding and killing your momentum. And both of those you need while offroading with a 2WD truck.

 

i find vsc to be very intrusive when trying to do any kind of off roading... i havent gotten into anything heavy yet, but i can't see it helping off road at all heh
cant wait to get rid of my dunflops and try out some half decent trails

 

I got stuck in some snow last winter, about 12" worth... since I didn't have a clue about how to use my e-LSD, I ended up digging a lot. Can't wait until I can try again after a year on TW

 

Let me know when you replace them... you're only an hour or so away, I'll come and give it a shot too.

 

Sorry for being naive but I believe my 2009 Double Cab TRD Sport 4x4 has both VSC and LSD...correct?

What is the VSC?

Can you turn the VSC off while you off-road but still have the LSD?

Is there somewhere I can go to find out definitions of all these options?

 

Give this a try, more of a review, but has the basic "what's on and off"... the manual is somewhat confusing to many people, myself included, but you should look that up too.

 

^ awesome - thanks! That give me a better idea. So if I want to do donuts in my truck (on snow/ice), I need to hold down the VSC button for 5 seconds?

That is important to know once winter gets here. I like to play in the large parking lot at work!