TRACTION CONTROL IS THE DEVIL!

traction control is the devil. seriously, it tried to wreck my truck numerous times. this last time i really wanted to just burn it. tacoma traction control engineers should be shot.

vehicle: 11' AC SR5 w/ billy 1.75, tsb spring, 16x8 w/265/75 duratrac, 30k miles

me: long time SCCA racer with many race wins/championships. i can wheel a vehicle pretty darn well...

road: typical "S" turn, negative camber both ways due to road crown. speed limit 30.

scenario: while navigating the road, wet or dry with traction control enabled, mid corner, constant throttle or coasting at speeds 25~30, no tire squeal, no drama. without warning, the traction control would start beeping and the abs would cycle and push the truck wide. finally it calms down and i regain control. scared the sh!t outta me every times it happens. truck always pushes wide when the abs cycles, even while holding a constant arc.

so, you think i should just go slower? yeah, i guess that i could put in in 4low and granny it around. must be a slick corner, right? not really.

there was little traffic this morning, so i went back and forth a bunch of times to test. i tried it with the first stage of traction control disabled. same thing. truck gets wonky with beeping/abs.

i disable traction by stopping the truck and holding the button down for 5 sec. i go through the corner same speed. nothing. i spin around and do it again, going 10 mph faster. nothing. i spin around and go even faster, with a hint of understeer, still no drama. same throttle input, same steering angle, same everything, just with the button disabled.

ok, now i am perplexed. i enable traction control again with a restart, and go through at 25 mph, same line, and the truck freaks out again.

it is downright dangerous. i could see if i was going 50mph, truck sliding and the traction control "trying" to protect me from myself. i could picture my wife driving in the same scenario, truck freaks out and she applies too much steering angle and shoots to the inside and hits a guardrail when traction control hands back control... not cool.

anyone else have this issue? or is my truck possessed?

 

Mine does that to. I hate it myself. It ruins the fun haha

 

Had TC in the Tundra's, all 3, now in the '12 Tacoma. This system is more dangerous then good. Sucks on road, sucks off road, just plain sucks. I'v had Toyotas for like 20 years now, if they keep this bullshit system I'll never buy another.

 

You may need to have the traction control calibrated. Sometimes after lifting the trucks, the pitch and yaw sensors get screwy and the traction control does not work correctly. There is a way to do it on your own if you have the little plugin tool. Its explained on this site somewhere. Otherwise I think the dealership can do it. It's definitely something to look into because as you have experienced the traction control out of whack is dangerous.

 

Here is one such thread on the subject with the 'how to' to fix it.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/183928-traction-control-issues-after-lift.html

 

Is there a way to disable it or anything like semi permanently or something? Kind of like the abs mod, rig it to a toggle switch? I mean, I know hold it in for 5 sec ect. but another way to where i could flip a switch and it'd be gone. Anyone have any idea haha

 

There is a pdf file in the first post of this thread that outlines the recalibration procedure

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/showthread.php?p=691254#post691254

That may or may not work

To have it conpletely off , you can do an ABS disable switch

 

Sweet. So I can do the abs mod and I'm traction control free. I knew that's how it worked but I didn't know if there was anything else there with it. Thanks Oz

 

You probably should report this to the government. Here is a link.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

 

make sure your truck is perfectly level when u re calibrate it

 

wut

" hi I lifted my truck and now the VSC system that was calibrated for the stock geometry doesn't work properly "

?

 

^^This!

I was thinking the same thing. Mine still sits on the "Stock" TRD suspension and I've only seen mine go off while in the snow. Not the engineers fault if you lifted it. Don't get me wrong... There is nothing wrong with lifting your truck you just can't blame Toyota for something that you have changed and now your truck isn't calibrated for that change. JMO

 

i had the tsb springs put in, and it was sky6high in the back, so i put the billy in and it was nearly the same rake it was before. i had the truck new and put that springs in very early, so most of it's life it was mini lifted.

i will look into the reset procedure. i will update with the results.

 

abs/trac kill switch FTMFWMF!

 

I hate traction control, abs & all electronic devices that are designed to help us drive our trucks. Please, let me drive my truck myself.

 

You have to remember it is designed for the 99% of retards on the road that do not know how to drive in emergency situations.

Some people just have the correct natural response to a slide out and if you are one of those people then the TC/ABS/VSC will just fuck you up.

They are really good systems for most people that are stupid drivers and just brake harder in these instances.

Me personally I don't have a problem with the systems they work great for me because I know this and adjust my driving to suit them.

 

I smell lawsuit... they didn't mention anything about that in my owners manual!

 

So , you are calling yourself one of the 99% of drivers that are retards ?

Legit

 

I can't disable my system on my 13'... Ill have to read some threads because I hate that MF POS Trac control!!!! I'm fine with ABS, but I f-ing hate when my truck tries to drive itself! I can't even spin my truck around in 2' of snow...