which wheels pull and when

Hello,
I am new all the way around--to the Taco and this fine forum.
I have a 2014 4 cyl-auto 4x4. Mine is base extended cab. I do not have the electronic lock rear. In plain words can some of you guys tell me which wheels pull and what is really going on 4wheel drive ways in 4h and 4 low. I do have a button on the left side panel that has a icon of a vehicle slipping. I have no idea what that is all about------ and when-- but more of a concern to me is that I do not have electronics applying and brake to any wheel for any reason. That is bad on brake components and not what I want
thanks a lot if you can help
don mallard

 

Well, I have all the electronic gismos, guess mine might be a little different than what you have.

 

Go for a spin in the snow or mud, get it stuck if you really want to know, and watch the wheels spin. I have the mechanical lsd in the rear, and have been playing in the recent snow, so I know the lsd still works after 10 years. The taco gets around fine, but not like the farm truck, its got close to 3000 lbs on my truck.

 

ok

in part time 4wd (which is what tacos have)

all 4 wheels spin if they all have equal traction

power is always 50/50 front and back, so if grip equals, 25% per wheel

if the fronts are turned in any way, one will have more traction than the other mostly likely

front and back as pairs
if one wheel has more slip than the other, that wheel will spin more the one with grip.
grippy wheel will not want to turn (look on youtube for an old school video on how differentials work)


now, most of the time grip is not going to be perfectly equal, so in reality one wheel up front
will choose to spin, one wheel in back will choose to spin

----
if you have a locking diff, obviously two wheels in back are locked together with
50% total power, and one wheel up front spinning the other 50% power

if you have electronic controls like a-trac, the computer will brake any wheel that
is spinning more than it's opposite wheel, forcing the open diff to transfer
torque to the grippier, slower spinning wheel...mechanical limited slip
differentials with mechanical clutches do the same thing, it works out to 50/50 front and back
and 25/25 between a pair of wheels, give or take the moments when some slip needs to
occur so atrac can activate or a mechanical clutch can activate between the wheels

so, not traction controls at all, you usually get one front wheel and one back wheel that may spin
with atrac, it fixes that problem
with mechanical lsd, it fixes that problem
with a locker, it fixes the problem in the rear
if you have a front locker too, you have a tough time steering but it will take an act of god to make you get stuck


on a stock taco turd, best you can get is: pretty damn excellent

locked rear axle,
and atrac working the front doing lsd duty. you ain't gettin stuck easily

----------------------
now, 4hi and 4lo are identical*, you just get lower gears in 4lo

4lo is so you can go much slower in the chunder and creep over things
and not slam into shit...also for hauling heavy things short distance like
getting another vehicle unstuck, or pulling a boat out of water...etc

and

*with tacoma, only in 4lo does it allow locking rear diff or atrac to engage

in 4hi, it is open-diff 4wd with traction control (not same as atrac)

 

OP the button you mentioned will cancel the electronic gizmos if you hold it in for a few seconds while at a complete stop. If it's just briefly pushed, the truck will engage the electronic Limited Slip differential instead of other traction control "tools". The E- (auto) LSD uses the brakes to apply power across the axle.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...-controls-trac-auto-lsd-trac-rear-locker.html

You'll have to do the yellow wire mod if you want auto LSD in 4lo. It'll take you 30 seconds to complete.

I've noticed that in general, I have power to the passenger side rear and driver side front as the default.

 

Thank you guys so much!
don

 

Welcome to the world, Brutha. Be safe out there.