I feel your pain.
I have owned, a 2006 4R sport 4WD, and then traded it for a 2010 TE.
The 2006 did this and I had it worked on by the dealer several times. I had upgraded the tires to one size larger (can't remember the sizes) but no lift. Net, they really never got it fixed and it continued to be an issue up to the day I traded it in. I had at least 3 attempts done on the zero calibration.
On my 2010 TE, same issue, once again made worse after I upgraded to Toyo MT's. This time I stayed in the same tire size, made no lift. Net same problem and about as bad. Like you I could almost anticipate where and when it would kick on on certain roads. Nice feature on the TE is you can just turn it off, which I do at certain times. I want to do a lift, but no one I have spoken to seems to know how to do it on TE without screwing up the KDSS. I have yet to find any shop in my area (Arkansas) that has done it on a TE with KDSS and the system works.
On my TE I have had (2) zero point calibrations. The 2nd one did seem to help, but it still happens occasionally. It's almost like a tolerance builds up and once the system kicks in, it's much easier to set it off.
I also feel that the 3 ply tires may be causing some of the problems since I am sure they don't handle the same way that the stock (worthless) Dunlops do. The Dunlops have a huge amount of sidewall flex, you can easily test this yourself on a unmounted tire. The 3 ply sidewalls are considerably stiffer, but I feel you should be able to re-set the system to allow for any tire combination. I don't feel the stock tires on on a TE will go too far on any moderate off roading adventure, and tend to be one of the first thing replaced.
I am sure the system is important, however after two totally different generations 4R's and both having basically the same issue, I have to wonder. Pretty sure it's not me, I am not an aggressive driver.
What is funny, the one time I really had to make a extreme move as a deer ran out right in front of me and really swerved, hard, the system did not kick in.
Still love the truck and for now I just turn it off when it starts to kick in a lot. Like you point out, you tend to take your hands off the wheel as it's a shocker when it kicks in. I still tend to do this, which makes me wonder how safe the design is anyway as taking hands off the wheel is never a great idea.
Your post reminds me I need to follow up once again with my local dealer as my next step was to replace the same part they are looking to replace on yours. As for the dealer never hearing about this, (that's par for the course).
Hope they get yours working.
Paul
