2017 TRD OFF ROAD Rear Locker

I'm sure this was covered but didn't find anything for 3rd Gen. Brand new truck less than 1000 miles and I was on a hill (about 30 degrees) and i could not get the locker to engage... the stupid light just flashed off and on. Lucky the ATRAC (I have 6 speed manual) pulled me up with no problem. Once i was on flat ground it engaged with no problem. Any tips or ideas because when I need the locker I will probably be on a hill.

 

Put it on first next time

 

When in doubt, lock it out

 

As a brand new truck, everything is still tight and not broken in yet. As you use it more and get more miles on it, it should go in no problem. I had the same issue at first.

 

Drive a few feet with the wheels turned while the button is flashing . The rear diff has to be turning the axle shafts at different speeds to get the locker in the right orientation . When you loose traction one wheel would spin and align it.

 

A-TRAC for the win. Locker only for emergency. You will likely never need it with A-TRAC which 'locks' all four and not just the back two. That said, as the above post says, turn your tires to one side and inch forward and the locker will then engage.

 

So the brakes stopping a wheel from spinning and allowing power to be transferred to the other wheel is now a locker front and rear? I guess tons of regular street cars driving around with a brake biased traction control are basically lockers then too?

Tyler

 

My locker wouldn’t engage either when I was stuck in mud, so frustrating. Reading through some post on here turning the steering helps as well as bumping the truck from D and R.

 

splines were probably not aligned in the diff to allow it to lock. Sometimes you have to do a quick S shaped turn to get the wheels to rotate into the proper position.

 

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Brakes are not stopping, but matching rotation to balance the power to both wheels. A locker uses a gear in the diff to do that. The difference is the A-TRAC is 'smart' and only applies brakes when traction is lost and releases so steering is unrestricted. It is truly an amazing system and so under appreciated or misunderstood.

A-TRAC is far more powerful than traction control found on other vehicles.

 

In repeated tests, I found only turning to one direction was needed, not S pattern driving. Just creep forward after steering wheel is turned to one side.

 

I wanted to get familiar with how the knobs and buttons work on my new 17 before I needed them.

Rolled backward down my driveway a bit to give me room to engage things if need be.

4hi went right in, no issues. Tested 4 times, all good.

4lo just beeped and blinked no matter how many times I tried that day. Had to leave for an appointment.

Next day went out and found that if I push on the brake, and then shift into 1st, 4lo drops right in every time. At this point the rear locker would engage without issue.

I plan to take it up to the rock quarry where there is usually a big pile of crushes gravel to play on. Will revisit the 4lo and 4lo with rear locker on different slope angles.

 

"Active-TRAC (A-TRAC) is the system for off-road 4WD vehicles. This system consists of independent four wheel brake control system and engine torque control system."

http://www.sae.org/technical/papers/2000-01-1636

I don't have ATRAC on my Taco, I have MTS and Crawl control. If ATRAC and crawl control involve turning and braking all 4 wheels independently, wouldn't your locker defeat the purpose of those systems? So maybe it didn't lock because you were using ATRAC? I'm trying to understand. I haven't used MTS/CC or my locker and I'm not sure the ATRAC difference. So I don't know.

 

MTS is adjustable A-TRAC, as best as I am able to describe it. The rear locker is only if MTS/Crawl doesn't get you through. When the rear is locked, the A-TRAC works only on the front wheels when speed is under 3 mph, ie. just if needed. Without the rear locked, A-TRAC is active at any speed in low range if you get spin or traction loss. Basically if you about to get stuck the system keeps you going.

 

I was trying 1st to reverse cause I have a manual lol

 

The Toyota Elockers have been like this since the 90's, it's not really a recovery device, more of a prevention device.

 

The A-TRAC pulled me over some stuff that really amazed me... it is definitely bad ass.

 

Ok, so if I think I'm gonna need it make sure I get it engaged before I'm in a situation. That makes sense thank you.

 

ATRAC would still work on the front while the rear would be completly locked... if I read my manual correctly lol.