'23 TRD-OR 4x4: 4Lo Herky Jerky in Crawl Low?

As the title says. I've got a 2023 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road with 4WD.
I have never needed to put it in Multi Terrain Select or Crawl Mode so I rarely do. When I do, it's on days like today where I'm playing with it and trying to figure out what it does.

I stopped on a sandy gravel road.
Flipped it into 4Lo.
Drove about 25 feet.
Stopped again and put it into crawl mode.
It was in the medium speed. ..|..

Brakes and solenoids clicked and whirled like Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and we were off.

I bumped it up to the next speed and the truck responded. ...|.
I bumped it up again and the truck responded. We were in the highest crawl speed. ....|

Took'er to a full stop and dialed it back to Crawl Slow. |....
Lurch and Brake Lurch and Brake Lurch and Brake. It was progressively picking up more lurch and harder brake each cycle. I applied brakes and stopped it. Let off the brake and it did it again cycling between full lurch and full brake.

Da heck is this setting for? Am I using it right? Does it need more resistance? to apply correctly?

 

I believe it was fooling itself... I think you are right. Needed more resistance so it could decide what to do. I'm not certain - just going from what I've seen. (I have a manual gearbox, so I do not deal with it directly.)

I believe most people forgo using CC - it is embarrassingly loud. I always cringe when I see it in 'action'.

 

That be low speed crawl control, it sounds like the thing is coming apart! I use CC on occasion, but never on the lowest setting.

 

Low Speed Crawl Control - One and a Half Stars.
Would not drive it again.

 

Ehh, it does what it’s designed to do,, just noisy doing it, as it uses the ABS system.

 

I am interested in OP's question as well. I think I understand what the MTS does and when/how to use it (basically a fancier version of the A-TRAC setting I had in my second gen - that was so useful to get un-stuck in snow/sand/mud), but I too was playing around with the CC on a mild grassy hill once and was pretty alarmed by the racket and lurching. Chitty Chitt Bang Bang is a great description haha! I am sure it is doing what it is designed to do, just not sure I fully understand how to use it. Some day maybe I'll find myself in a more challenging off-road setting and I'd like to know how to use it. Following!

 

I found the 2 lower speeds are really only usable on steep hills. Point it up something steep in the slowest position and it works fine, it crawls surprisingly slow. The first couple times I tried crawl control the wife thought the truck was self destructing, jerky as hell in the lower speeds.

 

Crawl control is basically cruise control for off-road, with added bonus of ABS magic for traction.

IIRC you don't want to just use it for anything that isn't "oh shit this is very slippery/stuck/steep"

For offroading I pretty much live in 4hi (turn all traction control off, 5 second hold on traction button while stopped to do this), sometimes 4lo, rarely use the locker, and rarer yet do I use CC.

I have used CC to go up or down steep things and it's quite useful for that. I've never put myself in a situation where I needed CC to escape from.

 

I can't emphasize this enough though...

You REALLY need to disable all the traction control if you plan on going off-road or in deeper off road snow, otherwise you will get "fake stuck."

To do this, stop the vehicle, press and hold the traction control button (have the swerving vehicle picture) for 5 seconds. Watch the speedo, you will see indicators change once you are disabled. Single press switches modes, 5 second hold actually disables.

W.o it being disabled I would spin a tire and get artificial power cut to the wheels on snow trails. Disabled, no issues at all.

 

Agreed on all of that 110%!!!
I'm in 4Hi 99% of the time.
Occasionally in 4Lo, but rare.
Haven't needed Locker, MTS, or Crawl Control yet.

I learned how to 4wd in 2wd Manual trucks back in the 80's and 90's so you had to be REALLY smart about what you did. The only thing we had automatic was the automatic ditch finder that would put you in a ditch if you weren't careful. When I stepped up to 4wd, that was a HUGE improvement for me. I always wanted the fancy gizmos and traction stuffs. Now that I have them, can't think of a time or place that I will ever need them. But and however.... In the interest of growing my mind, I take them out and try them every so often. Trying to teach an old dog new tech. It usually ends up with someone needing to get off my lawn. LOL!

 

A lot of the tech is really for the road, and it is quite nice.

ATRAC is cool tech, but not for 4x4s well... You have 4x4.

Just having a locker does quite a bit. Crawl control is awesome, it's just niche. And most people won't put themselves in a situation to use it intentionally.

For me, it's best use is for going up or down hills or slippery parts. Or for the beach.

In those instances it's magic, otherwise just 4x4 and a locker is more than enough

 

I have a manual and almost always use 4lo hardly use 4hi I'm just wondering why you use 4 hi most of the time. It seems like you are putting a lot of strain on the torque converter and transmission

 

I have found no reason to disable a-trac. It does not intervene with the throttle or try to limit yaw like trac/vsc does in 2hi/4hi. It is also much more aggressive than TRAC found on non-OR-Pro trims. I have gotten a lot more use out of it than my rear locker. I just leave it at on and don’t worry about it interfering with steering. I think it is under appreciated by many on this forum.

I’m assuming I would feel the same about MTS if I had an automatic transmission.

 

Maybe the difference in terrain ad driving? I'm mostly on graded dirt highways. Some "primitive roads" that are not maintained. But out here the dirt is pretty stable for road purposes. Technically I could do most of it in 2WD. Usually when I get to where I'm going there's a green 1993 Honda Accord that beat me to it sitting there.

 

Ok that makes sense. I was just wondering.

 

CC is only needed when you are really stuck, but it is good to exercise it every once awhile, as well as your rear locker.

Even if I haven't used (4hi) in awhile, I'll throw it on while driving in a rain storm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TClCqnEeiGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKb8jrTbeMk

 

^^ Great Vid's. Thank you!