Inclinometer- 3rd Gen non-offroad

So last vehicle I owned was an Audi. Which meant the computer from Vw through the Audi family was shared through out all models. Meaning features from some cars could be activated by means of 'Vag-com' communication software others that did not. Example VW eos had window roll up on key fob, meaning my Audi could have window roll up, once activated.

So long worded so far, but can we with 3rd gens non trd offroad simply roll into toyota and have the Trd Inclinometer activated. Failing that buy the sensor the offroad has that we don't and go from there.

Not interested in you should've bought an Offroad comments because in Canada from some dumb reason they don't sell double cab TrdORs here.

 

That would be great if it is that simple!

 

Sub'd

 

bumping this oldie but fwiw, i'm going to ask my dealer if its possible to display the inclinometer on my trd-s.

 

I think you might be disappointed with it. It kinda seems to be crap. It's a very small scale and it has hash marks in 10-degree increments... so 3 hash marks. It doesn't seem very accurate and sometimes the needle doesn't even move at all on gentler slopes. I guess you could theoretically use it to see if you're approaching 30-degrees on slopes, but it's not nearly as useful as I thought it might be.

 

thanks for the info.

 

I would agree that it has limited usefulness. I don't find myself using it anyway. When I'm off-road, I have the tire pressure screen up so I can identify a wounded tire and take action even before I get the TPS alarm.

I think it would be fun to take pictures of it when you are on some funky slope, but I never think of it at the time.

There have been a few Toyota cases of switch activated features that just needed a switch added (I think ATRAC on the FJ Cruiser was that way), but I would think that reprogramming the instrument panel to display different contents would be a bit more complicated. The options are different on the OR because you have MTS and CRAWL and I wonder if it would flip out if that hardware wasn't in place (the OR has different wheel speed sensors for instance). Not sure if you have a 4x4, so that could make a difference.

Oh yeah, every time you go to that screen, there's a lawyer warning you have to click-through. Which is EXACTLY the extra step I want to deal with when I'm concerned enough to pull up the inclinometer.

Also, I'm sure there's an app that would give you the same feature (admittedly not as integrated). There's the old-school gravity powered units like I had back in the day.

TL;DR: Probably not worth the effort and/or not possible within practical amounts of spending. But despite all the words I wrote, I really don't know.

Good Luck.

 

This pretty well sums it up. I had the inclinometer in an '85 (out of a 4Runner) and I was so stoked to get in installed thinking it would be incredibly useful. Turns out paying full attention to the trail (and spotter if you have one) is far, far more important. Aside from the first few days after taking delivery of my '16 I don't think I've brought up the inclinometer once.

TPMS with individual pressures on the other hand is a god damn treat. Being able to look down to see that intentionally underinflated tires haven't become unintentionally excessively underinflated is a huge benefit in off roading.

 

This pretty much sums it up. It's not worth much. If it had a numerical readout that told you what degree you were at, it would be much more useful.

 

Amen Brother!

The only thing better would be if they included tire temperature (it is my understanding that most TPMS sensors also send out (presumably internal air) temperature). But yes, it's great and I wish this was on every car we own. I find it accurate within 1 psi of my digital tire gauge.