Climbing loose rock and VSC engaging.

[matphat]

I was up testing the limits of my build. 08' Runner v8 with 2"/1" OME with BFG KO2 32s.

I was climbing Jenny Creek in CO, and going up through the rock garden when my VSC light kicked on, and I could feel it dropping the power, and what I'm assuming was the brakes engaging anti-lock?

This was specifically with the Runner engaged in 4Low, center locked, and VSC off. At least that's what the indicator lights were saying. It FELT like it was in low, and everything else seemed to be fine.

I was under the impression that VSC wouldn't engage at all with this set up. Am I missing something?

Please forgive my silly new guy questions. Just trying to learn!

 

[Inv4drZm]

I think it was probably ATRAC engaging. I went up a slight incline of very loose rocks in a trail in Colorado and had a hard time keeping up with two FJ's. The FJ's just locked their rear diffs and turned off ATRAC and didn't have much of a problem. As far as I know, I can't turn off ATRAC in my T4R so it really bogged me down from its constant braking of the spinning wheels.

 

[Darwalk]

Yep, ATRAC....It takes some getting used to, but it works very well if you let it. don't over-throttle, let it slip around a little, and it should get you out of a majority of situations. I have also used it in conjunction with feathering the E Brake for worse situations. It is fun seeing what these 4Rs can do!

 

[techno]

Locking the center diff will turn VSC off automatically, but ATRAC stays on until you manually turn it off. Press and hold the trac off button until the trac light comes on (the car with skid marks). With the traction control light on, the system is off. Toyota engineers were drinking heavily when they decided how to make the controls and indicator lights for this system, it's very confusing.
This is what the dash lights should look like when trac is off.

 

[CXS]

Yep, ATRAC....It takes some getting used to, but it works very well if you let it. don't over-throttle, let it slip around a little, and it should get you out of a majority of situations.

Agreed, keep it under 2k and it works pretty well.

 

[Inv4drZm]

Locking the center diff will turn VSC off automatically, but ATRAC stays on until you manually turn it off. Press and hold the trac off button until the trac light comes on (the car with skid marks). With the traction control light on, the system is off. Toyota engineers were drinking heavily when they decided how to make the controls and indicator lights for this system, it's very confusing.
This is what the dash lights should look like when trac is off.

The Trac-off button is only in a select few 4runners from the factory. 2008 and 2009 maybe? Wish mine had it but I'm sure there is a way to add it yourself.

 

[techno]

Yes, 08 and 09. There are lots of threads referencing mods to add it to prior years. Luckily the op has an 08

 

[matphat]

So, I gave the dash a solid once over after reading up a bit more and I'm pretty sure there is no ATRAC off button on the 2008 v8 4Runner. Sadly.

Thanks for the input all!

 

[techno]

So, I gave the dash a solid once over after reading up a bit more and I'm pretty sure there is no ATRAC off button on the 2008 v8 4Runner. Sadly.

Thanks for the input all!

It's the button with the car and skids marks pic on it.

 

[matphat]

It's the button with the car and skids marks pic on it.

Oh, I was under the impression that this button is for VSC.

 

[techno]

It is, but it's also for atrac off if you push and hold for 3 seconds.
It's all in the owners manual if you have one. But like I said, it confusing at first and not well designed in my opinion.

 

[matphat]

Awesome. Thanks! I actually finally found all that information and wow, is it confusing.

So, it's tap the button to turn off VSC and hold the button to turn off TRAC.

 

[robaroni]

It is, but it's also for atrac off if you push and hold for 3 seconds.
It's all in the owners manual if you have one. But like I said, it confusing at first and not well designed in my opinion.

Thanks for the explanation. I've read through that section a couple times and still didn't totally understand what the button did.