2014 ATRAC question

[FrontRange4Runner]

What is most ideal for beach driving? I'm using 4 hi and terrain select for sand (only option available in 4hi). I've turned off VSC a few times and there is definitely less intervention when side sliding a bit, but either way truck drives similarly through the sand. Any thoughts?

IMHO 4HI with in sand mode would be ideal. If you don't like the VSC intervening then just turn it off - its designed to help people from sliding off the road or going out of control. If your just driving around the beach, it should not be needed. Don't forget, airing down will help with traction and if you get stuck, use Crawl to try and get unstuck. There are some pretty cool videos floating around the net of vehicles self recovering with Crawl.

 

[Canazes9]

What is most ideal for beach driving? I'm using 4 hi and terrain select for sand (only option available in 4hi). I've turned off VSC a few times and there is definitely less intervention when side sliding a bit, but either way truck drives similarly through the sand. Any thoughts?

Airing down is the most critical thing for driving in the sand. I don't have any of the TE crawl control features on my wife's SR5 or my Tacomas. I have driven in 4hi w/ TRAC on w/ no problems, but when I need max traction 4lo ATRAC works the best - seems to work even better than locking the rear on my Tacoma in sand...






David

 

[Yotta]

When I turn off VSC, which turns off TRAC...

As far as I know you can turn off VSC and leave TRAC on if you want to.

 

[LI4runner]

IMHO 4HI with in sand mode would be ideal. If you don't like the VSC intervening then just turn it off - its designed to help people from sliding off the road or going out of control. If your just driving around the beach, it should not be needed. Don't forget, airing down will help with traction and if you get stuck, use Crawl to try and get unstuck. There are some pretty cool videos floating around the net of vehicles self recovering with Crawl.

I use Staun deflators, great item. In addition to the bigger footprint, the engine has to work so much less when deflating for the beach. Someone tested fluid temps when not airing down and trucks run really hot with all the work they have to do on sand. My dad overheated his 4wd system on his Hemi GC cause he didn't feel like airing down...which became a bit of an issue. I basically tractor pulled his truck for a mile to more stable ground.

 

[bruskie24]

This info has been very helpful.

Have you guys found that TRAC is capable enough in 2wd? I've come from SUVs with limited slip in the rear axles (Chevy Tahoe) and they were pretty capable in 2wd. In just average snow/slick conditions is there a big difference? I know tires are an important consideration, and I've also done some searching on the site, but opinions vary.

 

[Quentin]

This info has been very helpful.

Have you guys found that TRAC is capable enough in 2wd? I've come from SUVs with limited slip in the rear axles (Chevy Tahoe) and they were pretty capable in 2wd. In just average snow/slick conditions is there a big difference? I know tires are an important consideration, and I've also done some searching on the site, but opinions vary.

In the Allegheny Mountains of WV, I generally drive in 2WD with the traction control ON all the time. Rain, snow, etc. 2WD. When I'm seeing the traction control light coming on a ton, I move over to 4WD. I'm still in the regular traction control. I've not needed to turn off traction control to spin myself out of anything at this point. The truck is very capable in just 2WD and 4H.

I do like leaving it in 2WD, turning the TRAC and VSC off, and doing a little dorifto in the parking lot when we get a light snow fall. But I'm also a child in a 31 year old body. So, there's that.

Just for clarity, I figure I'll post all the different modes for the part time 4WD systems. Most of these apply to the Limited, too. (on the limited, what I'm calling H2 in the SR5 is H4 in the Limited, H4 on the SR5 is equivalent to H4L in the Limited.)

H2 Trac ON VSC ON (normal driving)
H2 Trac OFF VSC ON (press and release traction control button)
H2 Trac OFF VSC OFF (press and hold traction control button for 3 seconds)
H4 Trac ON VSC ON (shifted into H4)
H4 Trac OFF VSC ON (shifted into H4, press and release traction control button)
H4 Trac OFF VSC OFF (shifted into H4, press and hold traction control button for 3 seconds)
L4 Trac OFF VSC OFF ATRAC OFF (shifted into L4, Trac and VSC automatically turned off)
L4 Trac OFF VSC OFF ATRAC ON (shifted into L4, Trac and VSC automatically turned off, pressed ATRAC button)