Tacoma vs ZR2 - Do we need a front locker?

Are they at least legit on the Bison? I was watching a youtube review (for the Bison) where the driver landed pretty hard on them twice, but it was impossible to see if they were frame or body mounted.

 

Very bad-ass indeed. What bumper is that?

 

Do not know with the Bison

 

Brute force fab

 

And so descends a thread into the off topic.

I does look badass though, hopefully I get there eventually.

 

I have a couple times on the stock tires, when you're right at the edge of traction it helps a ton. Mind you, I'm in a Manual, so I've got A-TRAC which isn't quite as good as MTS/CC

 

In my experience, anywhere a taco tends to get stuck, a front locker doesn't help. So, yeah, mostly.

 

[QUOTE="US Marine, post: 20185511, member: 182227] Also a locker gives you 100% traction to ea wheel
[/QUOTE]

I’m all for a front locker if I get 400% traction.

 

I would get it, Had a 2013 JKUR and twice the front locker allowed me get out of something that the rear locker did not. I have been in places where the Lexus traction control just wasn't enough. I know the new systems from Toyota are better, but I would still like a front locker. Also I do not rock crawl, this is just being way off the beaten path

 

In a perfect world TRD Pro would have standard front locker to compete with Chevrolet ZR2 and Jeep Rubicons. But it would need a completely redesigned front end to accommodate a solid axle...with the inevitable risk of Death Wobble...and Toyota is obviously not willing to go there.

PS1 - I owned eight Wranglers with the standard front solid axle and never experienced Death Wobble.

PS2 - many non-Rubicon Jeep owners opt to add a TrueTrac LSD to the front axle and swear by it. It’d be nice to have that option on Tacomas.

 

Excellent point, I forgot the entire front independent suspension would need to be changed to a solid axle for a front locker.

 

Supposedly an FRS torsen drops in, but that will require more research I think to make sure everything is kosher.

Except the Chevy is an IFS, with a locker.

 

Quality tires > front locker

 

That's the rule regardless, because you can put good tires on both trucks.

 

I think Toyota looks at the cost of developing a front locker for the front of the Tacoma, looks at the figures, and can’t justify it.

Tacoma is a North America product only. The rest of the world gets Hilux. Mexico is the only market where Toyota offers Tacoma and Hilux side-by-side: Tacoma is positioned as the cushy lifestyle truck; Hilux as the tough everyday work truck.

Personally, I like the looks of Tacoma better; current Hilux looks dorky. But Hilux comes with an enviable global reputation for durability and is available with a Diesel.

Until Toyota is able to fit Tacoma into its global development plans, it is going to find it difficult to justify spending money on one-offs like adding front lockers, a rear slider like Tundra’s, and what not.

Toyota just announced that next Tacoma and Tundra will be sharing the same platform. Both trucks combined represent 400,000 units per year. Perhaps this will persuade Toyota to invest in developing more state-of-the-art features for these trucks.

 

I agree with the cost assessment, but the idea that a front locker is a solid axle only item is silly. Realistically, Toyota decided to cheap out on the 3rd gen, and do as little re engineering as possible to the already old 2nd gen platform. It is still the best seller in the NA market in midsize trucks, so no need to reinvent the wheel. Toyota looked at the numbers and made the obvious conclusions: It's not broke, don't bother fixing things that aren't broke (fuel economy/engine change aside).

 

Nope. My front and rear LSDs are enough for me.

 

Developing a locker for an IFS sounds very expensive. And knowing Toyota, they won’t drop a locker that they don’t know is going to last as long as the rest of the truck. That’s a tall order.

 

Developing a locker for an IFS is (relatively) easy, they're effectively identical to a locker for a solid axle, because a differential is still just a differential. Toyota's issue is that the rest of the front end needs to be beefed up to handle the stresses a front locker creates, while maintaining the level of long-term durability the truck is known for. The axles and CV's on this platform of vehicles weren't ever designed with that kind of duty in mind. The issue isn't necessarily IFS, just that redesigning ANY front end to accommodate the extra stresses is engineering effort being spent mid-cycle on a tiny portion of their userbase, with a fairly rapidly upcoming redesign on the horizon. My prediction for Gen 4 is that because the Tundra and Tacoma (plus possibly the Sequoia and 4Runner) will share a platform for the next gen relatively soon, they'll put in the effort to engineer for a front locker in the Tacoma in TRD Pro trim (essentially using "1/2 Ton" duty parts on the "1/4 Ton" Tacoma) for that platform/generation. It doesn't make sense to do it now by any means when a total platform re-engineer is already underway.