Seems like your best options as other people have said is driving habits, tires & awd transfer case swap.


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Lets tackle the loose nut behind the wheel aspect (meant in fun jest). This stuff is all common sense to me, but I learned it somewhere....

The first thing to know and understand is that you have a limited supply of traction. You can use it for changing speed (gas or brakes) or turning. Outside environments change that supply up and down, obviously you have less on ice than on warm and dry pavement. If you're Turning, lay off the gas (or brakes), do only 1 input at a time and do that input Smoothly (don't romp on a pedal or jerk the wheel).

You're in Phoenix by your user name and location? Okay, so the next thing to tackle is that arid locations tend to suffer from more road buildup of dripped fluids. Stops and intersections leading from those stops are the worst. Add in a little rain and those places become Extremely slick until there's enough rain to wash it away. If you're slipping in Those locations, then it's simply not enough traction (see above). This happens everywhere, but down here in Georgia where it rains a good bit there just isn't as much buildup before it's all washed away.

Everything I know about traction comes from riding motorcycles where you have worse consequences from losing traction. The best training aide I found was riding in the dirt, where it was easier to find the limits of traction without the terrible downsides. For you, maybe find out if there's a race track or drift club that has a skid pad where you can do the same.

Hands down, the BEST money I have Ever spent has been on rider/driver training (have some AutoX and did a few trackdays in my Porshce 944 before) ~ I can't recommend taking driver training classes enough. I don't care who you are, what you drive orr what you Think you know, you will learn something (so long as you don't go in with the attitude that you couldn't possibly learn anything new).


Beyond that, tires. Tires worn near the end of their life (most have a Tread Wear Indicator/TWI that are a visual guide) perform worse. Check the DOT date code if you don't know their age. Over 5 years and they're past their prime, over 10 and they're a hazard. Some tires absolutely suck in the rain too (Yoko Geolanders were like that for me). You can drive around these issues a bit by simply slowing down.

I have really been wanting to take some driving lessons as I'm quite poor in driving cars with oversteer, like our 4Runners have. It would definitely help in me being more confident on the road. As it is right now, I feel at times if I press the accelerator I'm loosing a wild beast that will rampage out of control. What kind of classes did you take, and what was the price?

I can also confirm that road build-up is a serious issue here in CA too. We go 6 months between the wet season with not a single drop of rain. Add in over 35 million vehicles on the road and it's a mess come October/November when the storms begin. Very treacherous and was the cause of 2 of my donut episodes. One was on a road that went from asphalt to brick to asphalt and traction was a bit of a problem.

Lol, the 4runner? A wild beast that will rampage out of control? Are we talking about the same vehicle? Mine is more like a geriatric gerbil, it'll eventually get moving.

As for the courses I've taken, they were all in association with Summit Point raceway in WV. For a number of years I was living on pennies but interested in track racing so I got involved with corner-working (front row seats, free admission, usually free food and the drivers/riders were pretty free with their drink in the evenings). I'd do any event I was free for, and a number of those were track days with teaching where our "pay" was some training at the end of the day.

Wait, then I had the Porsche 944 in Atlanta, and did a couple track days at Road Atlanta with the Porsche Club. AutoX was mostly with friends (I'm a mechanic, so more trading my time/skills for them to loan me a car for some runs and a little training).

Finding someone local is simply doing some digging. Find a racetrack, look for their calendar of events and then start contacting those who are doing things and find out what they do. Ask if they know of anyone else who might have a skidpad or do wet road driver training. Prices will be different now than when I did things, and be different east coast vs west... There may even be some drivers (racers) out there who offer training one on one that you can find through the various classifieds (might need to do a "looking for" ad to find them).

For those who want to drive in the snow, the only school I know of in this country is based out of Steamboat Springs, in CO.

Even with the locker engaged, I really have to coax it into a slide on wet roads. It's certainly not a situation where I'm living in fear of the gas pedal on rainy days. Sometimes, it has a little trouble going, one wheel will spin, but it's pretty much never fishtailing.

I'd be taking a critical look at your tires. They may be aged out, even if they have plenty of tread left. Once the rubber gets old it gets harder, and loses a significant amount of grip. This is most evident in the wet, where they turn into ice skates. What's the date code on them? How does the rubber feel?

In the mid to late 90’s I raced a 93 ZX7R Ninja at Summit. Fun times.


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I should mention that my 4Runner isn't normal. I'm at 326 WHP, or around 375-400 HP at the crank. If I press the skinny pedal too hard the tires move but the 4Runner doesn't.

I think the closest road track to me would be Sonoma Raceway, but I agree that would be kinda pricey. I'll take a look and see if there's any small time places near me that might offer classes. Thanks for the tips & info!

Best of luck