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

Admittedly took me a min to get that. LOL. Ouch.

 

Skewp bitches!!!!!!!! WOW!!! I guess according to David K I have a TRD Sport now!!!! LOL!!!!


I can see why you are do opposed to a front locker, with A-Trac, it does all the work for you. With a front locker, you might be forced to put your beer down on a trail and disengage the front locker when going around a turn. We wouldnt want you to put your beer down now would be?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtlOegpRu6s

 

Wait. Are you trying to show/prove that aftermarket lockers provide more traction "in a straight line" than ATRAC?

Are you aware nobody disputes that?

All joking aside, I have not read every single post on this thread but has anyone ever said ATRAC was better than lockers in every possible limited traction scenario?

I appreciate the passion people have for the money they have pumped into their vehicles but thats not what this thread was started for.

I can go to the jeep dealer tomorrow and pick up a bone stock rubicon and make all of your tacomas look silly.

This whole thread is about apples an oranges hopefully somebody gets that.
We put money into our vehicles to make them more capable so to try and argue that vehicle A which is stock is less capable than vehicle B which has had $4500 dollars of lockers and gears installed is, well, retarded.

Anyway enough already. ATRAC is better than not having ATRAC and if ATRAC isnt quite enough go dump a bunch of money into lockers, although I would argue if you need anything more than ATRAC you should have bought a jeep because your just throwing good money after bad on trying to turn a tacoma into a rock crawler.

I appreciate having a multipurpose vehicle but I recognize that's what it is, If I wanted a pure rock crawler I wouldn't have bought a Tacoma and I certainly wouldnt waste money on putting a front locker in a vehicle that is marginal at best on extreme trails. Silly Tacoma owners, shoulda bought a jeep if you wanted to rock crawl.

 

Ya, whats with all the Heep love?

 

I threw the jeep out there as it is the gold standard in Rock crawling and when your talking lockers front and rear, thats what your talking about, rock crawling (plus I have owned 3 of them). Of course I realize other vehicles can be used for rock crawling I am really speaking about 05+ vehicles and I am not looking to debate jeep vs any other vehicle (but it is the most capable out of the box bottom line.)

As I stated I appreciate the multipurpose capabilities I have with my tacoma it does many things better than a jeep or any other vehicle thats why I have it. I also recognize its shortcomings and a front locker wont overcome some of those.

What I don't understand is (and I have to side with David K here) the comparison of stock to modified. Of course modified is going to be better, you can say that about anything you have done to your truck from suspension upgrades, tires, armor etc... It just comes down to money.

One can say ATRAC sucks, in comparison to lockers, thats fine but one can't say ATRAC sucks in comparison to open diffs thats just simply not true. ATRAC has got me everywhere my locked friends have gone, without exception. Now at some point on some trail someplace, that run of luck might run out and I accept that but it hasn't yet so that tells me ATRAC is not all bad.

 

Still too much Heep love, and it has already been decided that we are now talking about ice cream/cake/cupcakes. Or in my case Frozen Dessert.

 

I don't want to put words in or take words out of David K's mouth, so David correct me if I'm wrong but when he likens ATRAC to lockers I think all he is trying to say is ATRAC is Toyota's answer for limited traction scenarios which offers the user enhanced capabilities over open diff's.

ATRAC does "lock" just not in the same way a "locker" would. I could be wrong but I think David recognizes a front locker as superior he is just saying front lockers are not a factory option and depending on the trails you do ATRAC will probably suit the average to above average offroader quite well, without the added expense of adding a front locker.

Some would argue the expense of a TRD OR Vs. a sport and that the money saved could go towards lockers, I think if you honestly feel the addition of a front locker over ATRAC is absolutely necessary then that would be a good decision for you.

 

meh..if you ever go to The Hammers during the normal season you will see that Toyota is the golden ticket. i would say the ratio is 5 to 1.

so, does this mean that you won't be going to The Hammers with us to do some wheeling and to compare our traction devices

 

Ok.... My one-wheel drive has you all beat. No locker, ATRAC, lift kit, or winch....




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Jesse

 

05+ tacomas is the norm for the hammers?

Did I say something that gave you the impression I changed my mind? I have wanted to go there to wheel for a long time just have never been able to get the trip planned out, something always seemed to cause a conflict.

It always makes it easier to go with someone who already knows the trails so I'm in provided scheduling wise it works out.

 

Right thats why I was specific when I said 05+ and out of the box. Once you start dumping money into something all bets are off. And by Golden Standard I mean that you will see far more jeeps on rock crawling trails than you will everything else. If thats not true in Johnson Valley then I guess its an anomaly.

I just came back from Big Bear a few weeks back and I could have counted the number of Toyotas besides mine on one hand. Thats been my experience everyplace I have gone. Of ALL my friends who wheel I am the only one with a Toyota.

I think part of the reason for that is you just dont need to put as much money into a jeep as you do a tacoma to do the same things. Again just to be clear I'm talking about vehicles 05 and newer.

I'm not bashing the Tacoma I like my truck I just have the apparently unique ability to recognize not only its pluses but also its minuses.

In any debate you need to clarify what exactly your debating, that is where all of this fails. To many liberties are being taken with what the other person has stated.

 

Wow lol

 

Big bear isn't considered a rock crawling venue. Great trails up there that I have done in my taco when it was stock and with no sliders either. Only trail I didn't do stock was holcomb creek because it was not open at the time that my taco was stock. Bringing a rock crawler to big bear is a waste of time especially since most rock crawlers are not street legal and the big bear trail system does not allow OHV green stickered vehicles.

 

I wasnt saying Big Bear was a rock crawling venue, just pointing out the disparity in Toyotas and Jeeps I typically see.

I am not including non-street legal vehicles of any type in this, there is just no place for them in this discussion. When I say 05+ I'm trying to keep the discussion somewhat focused as not many of us here are Shannon Campbell or maybe I'm wrong.

 

Ok..my stock tacoma as it were is stronger all around then a stock jeep. Minus the Rubicon model which is badass straight from the factory. Stock 2nd halfshafts are as strong as a front d40 . Stock jeeps don't come in a d40. And that's just one example. But now that we have strayed of the original arugement about ATRAC vs. front locker should we invite a newer jeep with us to the hammers?

 

Absolutely, several will be coming with me.