throttle not responsive on hill climb

hey guys i have a 3rd gen taco off road 4x4 manual trans and i was having trouble making it up a fairly steep hill, somewhat lose dirt. it felt like the throttle was cutting out no matter how much gas i was giving it. i tried it in 4 hi and got to the point where it felt like it was stalling so i tried again in 4 lo in first gear and still felt like it was still struggling. not 100% sure what i had on or off traction control wise but other trucks where making it up just fine. wondering if anyone else has had this issue? saw another thread but it didn't quite hit the head on the nail for me.

 

Welcome to TW

 

What size tires? I have 275 70 R17 and I struggle a bit too going up hills. Have not Re-geared mine yet and I also have 2.5” lift.

 

265 70 r17 ko2's

 

Sounds like traction control cutting power

 

I had that issue with the stock trd off-road tires. Switched to geolanders 255/85/16 and it’s good now. Are your tires mud or all terrain?

 

Traction control is limiting wheel slip via braking and engine cut and thus arresting the wheel speed you may need. Hit the traction control button for autoLSD or hold it for 3 seconds at a stop for trac off. Both will stop the traction control from utilizing engine cut and trac off will not allow braking intervention either.

 

4lo should have been fine, but in 2hi and 4hi make sure you turn off VSC/TRAC with the long push if you want to have fun.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-traction-control-modes-explained.530695/

 

throttle body needs to be cleaned

 

tires are all terrain. truck has 200 miles so its not the throttle body. i was guessing traction control like everyone said, but wondering does using 4 lo and the rear locker turn all the traction control off?

 

This.

 

I didn’t notice at first that you have an OR. In 4lo you have the off-road traction control (ATRAC). It won’t cut the throttle but it will use the brakes to stop wheel spin. This is generally a good thing. In fact, I’ve never found a reason to disable ATRAC. There isn’t anything better than 4lo with the rear locker and ATRAC enabled (in stock form).

 

use high octane gasoline

 

@tacomike94

Read this . . .

3rd Gen Traction Control Modes Explained

 

Are you in 4hi when going uphills?

 

Just to be clear - were the tires breaking loose when the throttle felt like it was being cut (with an amber warning flashing on the dash), or did you not even get to the point of breaking traction?
I've had two 3rd gen M/Ts, and in some situations the throttle can feel completely dead until you reach a certain RPM.
For example, I don't like to rev the piss out of it when taking off on a steep incline. I let the clutch out to the bite point, foot off brake and feed some gas, then feather the clutch as little as possible to get moving. Often this means the RPM drops to a point somewhere between idle and 800 RPM. Now, with 4.30 diffs and our 1st gear ratio, there shouldn't be too much of an issue getting moving. But, you can get deep into the throttle and the engine just balks at you, slowly chugging until some magic rpm is reached - at which point the truck wants to take off. This dead pedal feel is absolutely artificial, as we have learned via vF tune. There are specific throttle limits in place with the stock calibration, including 2H 1st gear, 4H 1st gear, 4lo 1st gear, and reverse. There are other factors within the calibration at play as well, if you want to know more visit the vF tuning thread.
This is not bench racing, I've run the truck with these calibration changes and it makes a big difference in the situation above. Is it a stump puller? No, more like what you'd expect from a small gas V6.

Take it or leave it, just another data point.