4 X 2...?

technically most 4x4 tacoma's only ever have 2 wheels pulling when in 4lo or 4hi.. Sad truth huh, even the OR and Pro guys only get 3 wheels pulling max when locked.. it's a damn shame, paying all that money for 4x4 for only 2 wheels to pull at a time.

 

It's not just a Tacoma thing. That's how all manufacturers design their 4wd systems unless they install lockers, which TRD OR and TRD Pro have. The only other midsized truck that has a front locker is that Colorado version of the TRD Pro.

 

i didn't mean it negatively towards tacoma, it's just that we are on a tacoma forum..

I mean there's only like 4 vehicles you can get factory F/R lockers i think add to the list; Raptor, Wrangler, Colorado, Mercedes G Wagon?? and only the first 3 I named are affordable by most standards.

 

Tomorrow we'll discuss the Oldsmobile 4-4-2

 

6x6

 

I think the Power Wagon has them also. Older Land Cruisers do too. Not 100% sure on any other ones.

 

yes I know the 80 series was the last of the solid axle locked F/R, did the IFS 100 series and on have lockers. also I forgot about the power wagon.

So that would make 5 that are currently being made still.

 

Even a limited slip axle won't give you 100 % traction to both wheels

Try this next time with your limited slip rear ....

With a floor jack lift up one side of the rear axle so that tire is completely off the ground

Next get in your truck and start it up then put it in gear and see how far your truck will move

You'll notice the wheel off the ground is spinning but the tire on the ground is not moving !!! . yep that's a limited slip axle , guaranteed to get you stuck along the trail somewhere

 

Does the power shift between the two front wheels and then on the two back wheels? I'm probably not asking this correctly.

 

Well are we talking about true limited slip, or tacoma limited slip or should I say fancy braking.

Limited slips are meant for street use, their not good offroad I already knew that. You can mess with the clutches some though. There's a guy on instagram with a cut fender miata with 31's and he's messed with the washers in the LS and has it hook up more and easier.

 

Theoretically a 4x4 with open differentials is a 4x2. A 4x4 with open differentials and a center differential is a 4x1.

 

I want to say yes but I could be wrong

 

Any limited slip axle yes available for 4x4's

I used to belong to CA4WDC and did safety inspections on jeeps and other 4x4's at some of the events they had that wanted to go on trails requiring lockers only . the floor jack test weeded out the limited slip equipped 4x4's

 

I had a Eaton limited slip in the rear axle of my old 69 FJ40 Land Cruiser with a sbc . I kept getting stuck on easy rock piles and sliced. . I then swapped out for a Detroit locker and it was so much easier to drive off road

 

It's gonna take me a while to wrap my head around this...

I read some stuff about 4x4's on the Jeep site and I thought I understood it all then.

My spec sheet says:
4WDemand: part time 4x4 sys w/2 speed and electronically controlled transfer case

Then it says Automatic Limited-slip differential.

I'm not 100% sure what it all means. Is this what is being described above?

 

Read up and google how differentials work. When in 2 wheel drive, one wheel is getting most of the power, if not all. When you activate 4 wheel drive, it engages the front differential.

"4WDemand: part time 4x4 sys w/2 speed and electronically controlled transfer case" just means that you can shift from 2wd to 4wd "on the fly"/while driving. Part time means you can engage it whenever you want. 2 speed references 4wd Hi and 4wd Lo. Electronically controlled means you don't have to use an old fashioned lever like on older 4wd vehicles.

 

Thank you for the info. I'm going to tear up google with more searches with the info you just provided. That helps me alot.

Also, is the 4x4 that came on my truck one of those things that will go out quicker or more frequently than anything else? I remember when I bought my last truck in 2001, I purposely stayed away from 4x4 trucks because back then this feature had a bad reputation for going out and/or maintaining. Has the current Taco 4x4 configuration gotten more reliable? I almost really didn't want it, but it came with it anyway and I'm kinda glad I have it...but now I'm not sure.

 

I think 4wd enthusiasts try to stay with a manual/lever type transfer case so they don't have to worry about the electric motors failing. Honestly with Tacomas I wouldn't worry about it at all. HOWEVER, I'm really sorry to say that there are a couple threads on here that have had their 3rd gen transfer cases get stuck in 4lo or something stupid like that and they had to be replaced by the dealer. Probably freak incidents though.

 

All this talk about axles ,t/cases and gearing makes me miss my old jeep that had a SM420 4spd with 7.20 1rst gear , Atlas t/case with 3.50 low range gearing and high pinion Dana 44's with 5.38's

Overall low range gearing was 136.1:1 , this made for fun rock crawling