A-TRAC/TRAC/AUTO LSD Explained (Easy to understand, I hope!)

meh..all i know from experience in wheeling in the snow(same principle applies to yucky mud, sand, loose gravel blah blah blah) is that you need momentum momentum momentum. my last big snow wheeling adventure in Big Bear had us cutting through fresh snow(breaking trail)on the fire roads that we were on.

here's my buddy's rig with a LS1 on 37's so you know there was plenty of horse power but we still had to stop and shovel snow.. no way a vehicle with ATRAC would be able to cut through the snow as it would prevent the wheel speed that is needed..



me

 

Then know with the rear locked, the A-TRAC is only active to 3 mph (or basically if your truck stops moving using the rear locker, the A-TRAC will 'wake up' and give you the near-locking, limited slip on the front tires. To help you continue.

If you had the A-TRAC on, but the rear diff. was NOT locked... then A-TRAC will limit slip to nearly the same as a locker, but on all four tires. No speed limit, but as you are in low range you won't be doing anything too fast.

Sure, I understand in snow you might need wildly spinning tires to grab fresh bites and plow ahead... So open differentials in standard L4 mode (or VSC OFF in H4) or the rear locked in L4 will give you unrestricted wheel spin.

Isn't it great to have so many traction options (9) with the Off Road 4WD! What a great truck!

 

It is so easy to do, why not just see which way you like it. Try it in the NORMAL (TRAC ON) mode... which is limited slip and no engine regulation in H4. If you want less traction and the tires to slip and spin and maybe get stuck, then stop moving the truck and press and hold down the VSC OFF button for a few seconds... Lights will come on telling you VSC is OFF. Now, you are like all pre TRAC Toyotas with open differentials.. ie. one tire in front and one tire in the rear with the least traction getting the most power... totally useless IMO.

As for sand... in all my years of deep sand driving, including my 2001 and 2005 Tacomas, to not bog down and get stuck you had to deflate the tires to under 20 psi (depending on the type of sand and climate).

The first time I took my 2010 (with TRAC) onto the sand, the truck didn't bog down or get stuck! Just to see if it wasn't just a freak condition, I turned OFF the TRAC and tried to drive with open differentials (VSC OFF MODE)... The truck bogged in and got stuck!!! LOL. TRAC was like night and day improvement in off road ability and sand driving.

I got out of being stuck by going to L4 and using A-TRAC for the first time in sand... and I drove the truck out of the stuck (without getting out to clear away the sand) and then went back to H4 (TRAC ON) and continued to drive about... at 32 psi!

On another trip to the same coast, I was heavily loaded and the weather was near 100º, and in that case I did need to deflate to 15 psi to continue driving in the deep sand.

So, try it the easy way first, then go to Plan B or Plan C to keep moving!

 

You're welcome Sean.

Whippersnapper: TRAC limits wheel speed on the tire(s) that have no traction (ie. spinning them doesn't move you). In H2 with AUTO LSD ON, or H4 there is no engine output regulation. A spinning tire in sand only serves to bury your truck. If you stop moving, then you need to lower the air pressure. Now if the sand isn't deep, or you are in snow and want to spin to solid ground then turn off TRAC. Now you can spin one tire in front and one in the back all you want. I prefer all wheels with traction working and not the two with the least traction working.

 

VSC sucks on snow from my experience as does ABS

 

ATRAC thread will never stop until it kills you all.

 

"9 modes of traction"? really? no wonder there's confusion and charts and the ATRAC gospels under the new testament of davidk

 

I heard A trac is bad for your brakes in the long run

 

honeslty i don't see that happening...


but i can see how one can assume how that would be possible with how jerky it makes the tires spin while in ATRAC mode

 

nice link! i have to go through stuff like a few times a week at my dealership..it's how we stay certified lol

 

Yes Christian, I have been all through that link over a year ago, and it is exactly that very poor explanation of the 4WD and TRACTION CONTROLS (which is a training tool for salesmen) that 'requires' people here on TW to give better explanations and also to learn why the Off Road TRD is a world away from the Sport and others in STOCK TRACTION ABILITY.

If that is your source for how to use TRAC and A-TRAC then I see why you got stuck...

 

dude

 

give one example with me saying anything bad about the ability of ATRAC..i have stated in the past that ATRAC works well in easy to moderate conditions in which it was designed for..sheesh

 

exit stage left.. im out of here lol