Impressed With ATRAC....

[08t4rlimited]

So long story short...instead of backing out with a trailer (and 500lbs go-kart) down a long driveway, I figured I would just make a u-turn as the snow was only about 4 inches deep.

The second I pulled ahead, off the "road" my tires sank into a drift of snow about 8"-10" and into a ditch. I tried several attempts to back out, with no luck.

I then said, f$&@ it (actually I thought it, nobody else there to express my unhappiness in myself with). My plan was to forge forward and try to get enough momentum to go through it. I was nervous as I had the trailer in tow, with very small tires...

As I pulled ahead the back of the truck sank in the snow....and the vehicle stopped dead, all four tires buried.

I tried "rocking" it from Drive to Reverse but was too nervous to really open it up since I had the trailer.

Right before I said "f@$& it" again and planned to jump out of the car, drive the kart off the trailer and dig out the snow, I heard the familiar ticks/clunks of ATRAC kicking in.--I had previously not given it enough gas (due to my concerns of slamming the go-kart around on the trailer)

I have read many posts were people were saying how great ATRAC was and comparing it to the older rear-locked 4r, I was skeptical, and thought others were just rationalizing why their 4runners is the best.

Anyway, I pushed on the gas some more and although the tires weren't spinning the truck started creeping through the snow...I was in shock. I couldn't for the life of me get traction, let alone get the truck moving and ATRAC had no problem creeping me and the trailer through the snow.

I have been recently considering a rear air locker, but this incident has me thinking.

Anyway, I was extremely impressed and have no doubt many other vehicles (without ATRAC or something similar) would have been stuck.

If you haven't had real world experience with ATRAC, you should...especially before wasting money on lockers (ok, not wasting money, but u know what I mean).

That's my story....

(I will add this just so others don't feel the need to..."Cool story bro.")

 

[YotaDriver]

I've only had the traction control come on one time in my rig, but it was under somewhat similar circumstances. I was towing a Uhaul trailer from Boston up to New Hampshire and my move coincided with a freak bizzard in October. I was going up a long, steep, winding road when I lost momentum, got some wheel slip, and came to a stop. There was no way I could back down so I thought I was screwed, but then all these lights came on in the dash, there was some beeping, and I heard the same clicks and buzzes you described. Throttle response was basically zero because the system was handling that, but it did somehow gain enough traction to pull me up that hill at about 3 mph. I agree, the system is pretty impressive.

 

[me_rikey]

I laugh every time my Jeep owning co-workers try to talk up their rigs against my 4th gen. While I'll give them hands-down that they have a vastly large amount of after market parts at better prices, our rigs are just simply better. Heck one co-worker just bought a brand new JK .. does it have any lockers? No, it's not a rubicon.. Does it have an ATRAC style system? No it does not. According to him; however, it has a DAC set-up.

Great story, and just another reason that our runners are really top-notch rigs.