Snow Wheeling

C

CXS

Senior Member
I'm looking for some insight into the 4th gen and wheeling in the snow. I've gone to a 4Runner after many years of wheeling my old school Land Cruiser with manual everything. Now I'm trying to adjust to all the features of the Runner.

I went out with some friends last weekend and found the anti-skid function seemed to work against me. When hitting deeper snow and bogging down it seemed to kill power to keep me from sliding when I needed more power. I found the best thing I could do is lock the Cdl, drop it to low and hammer the throttle.

I love the truck and the functions for driving on pavement but spend a lot of time off-road and could use the wisdom of the experiened snow wheelers here.

TIA!
 
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Geez, 211 views and nobody has insight to share?

Maybe I should add something about T4R bling...
 
CXS said:
I went out with some friends last weekend and found the anti-skid function seemed to work against me. When hitting deeper snow and bogging down it seemed to kill power to keep me from sliding when I needed more power. I found the best thing I could do is lock the Cdl, drop it to low and hammer the throttle.
Click to expand...

I think you pretty much already figured it out. Read the complaints thread and the traction control is a common theme. Putting it in low and locking the center diff is the only real solution I've heard.
 
CXS said:
I'm looking for some insight into the 4th gen and wheeling in the snow. I've gone to a 4Runner after many years of wheeling my old school Land Cruiser with manual everything. Now I'm trying to adjust to all the features of the Runner.

I went out with some friends last weekend and found the anti-skid function seemed to work against me. When hitting deeper snow and bogging down it seemed to kill power to keep me from sliding when I needed more power. I found the best thing I could do is lock the Cdl, drop it to low and hammer the throttle.

I love the truck and the functions for driving on pavement but spend a lot of time off-road and could use the wisdom of the experiened snow wheelers here.

TIA!
Click to expand...

Yeah, lock the center diff for sure to turn off the dethrottling, but I usually prefer 1st or 2nd hi over low range in the snow. The brake traction control allows more wheel spin in hi range (all else being equal). Hammering the throttle allowed you to bypass some of the brake traction control intervention (ATRAC). Give it a try in 1st or 2nd hi and see what you think.
 
I have your answer!!!

I had this same issue/concern and after some digging on the forums I found a FANTASTIC DIY for installing a "VSC OFF" switch which you can use to turn off traction control without having to lock the center differential, here's the info:

Installation Instructions:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/perfo...rs-more/41357-vsc-off-atrac-mod-complete.html

Advantages/Disadvantages:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/43334-can-you-turn-off-vsc-3.html#post361595

Shouldn't take you very long, even if you're not very mechanically inclined. It works flawlessly for me, I use it all the time!

PS_I bought a "cheap" switch from Autozone but there is a Toyota OEM switch that was put into the 08's that you can find and order online if you're really into that stock look. Hope this helps!!!
 
Thanks TT, I've been reading that thread and trying to grasp the concept but it sure looks good. Like I said, going from an old school Land Cruiser to a T4R demands some re-learning! :D

From what I've read it looks like it will work on my '05 V8 without any problems.
 
I just went through the same thing and was like WTF when it started beeping and braked when I was 'testing' the traction in the snow. I grew up driving a 93 saturn in wisconsin and loved the e-brake slide. Just bought the 4runner last march.

As I take it with my 03' I will need to lock the center diff to deactivate the ATRAC 'brake and beep'. This is all I want because when sliding in the snow with people in the runner it started beeping and we were like :wtf: ....

Thanks for the info!
 
Yikes, now that I've started finding stuff about this mod I'm getting excited. Now to figure out what is best for an '05 Limted. I have a New Years Day run coming up and sure hope to have it done bybthen because there's probably going to be plenty of snow!
 
CXS said:
Yikes, now that I've started finding stuff about this mod I'm getting excited. Now to figure out what is best for an '05 Limted. I have a New Years Day run coming up and sure hope to have it done bybthen because there's probably going to be plenty of snow!
Click to expand...

Just lock the center diff then.
 
JB. said:
Are you trying to accomplish something other than getting maximum traction off-road in the snow?
Click to expand...

That's all for now JB, not much else do do on the trails in CO being winter and all. Basically I'm trying to learn the best way to wheel the Runner rather than it deciding what it wants to do. Like I mentioned in my opening post I'm new to this truck after wheeling an old Land Cruiser that didn't have all these traction aids that are working against me when traction is needed most on the trail.
 
CXS said:
That's all for now JB, not much else do do on the trails in CO being winter and all. Basically I'm trying to learn the best way to wheel the Runner rather than it deciding what it wants to do. Like I mentioned in my opening post I'm new to this truck after wheeling an old Land Cruiser that didn't have all these traction aids that are working against me when traction is needed most on the trail.
Click to expand...

Ok, then you'll want to start with the center diff locked. That turns off VSC but not ATRAC just like the VSC OFF mod above, but with the diff locked you'll have maximum traction capability. From there you could go so far as to pull a plug in the engine compartment and disable all ABS functions so ATRAC wouldn't work at all, but I doubt you'd find that an improvement.

My recommendation is still center diff locked, 1st (or more) high.
 
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okay, maybe I'm just confused by all these new computerized systems. The main issue that I'm encountering is the power being cut when I need it the most. I recognize that I may be doing something wrong due to my lack of experience but I'm used to using finesse on the trail rather than hammering the skinny pedal.

Edit: Locking the center diff turns off VSC. Doh! I know I treid this but guess I need more time wheeling before doing anything.
 
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CXS said:
Edit: Locking the center diff turns off VSC.
Click to expand...

Right.

Now, the only thing that could stop momentum would be brake pulsing from ATRAC. ATRAC is variably aggressive. 1. It's more aggressive in low range 2. It's more aggressive at lower rpms......so least action would be hi range, hi revs. If you're wondering what constitutes hi and low revs, use 2000 as a dividing line. YMMV.

Btw, when you encounter an obstacle that requires a traditional, low speed, maximum traction approach, 4th gen ATRAC is at it's peak of effectiveness if the wheels are rotating at least a little and the rpms are low. At that point, when you hear the wheels slipping and ATRAC making it's racket, resist the urge to give more throttle and just hold steady.
 
JB. said:
Right.

Now, the only thing that could stop momentum would be brake pulsing from ATRAC. ATRAC is variably aggressive. 1. It's more aggressive in low range 2. It's more aggressive at lower rpms......so least action would be hi range, hi revs. If you're wondering what constitutes hi and low revs, use 2000 as a dividing line. YMMV.

Btw, when you encounter an obstacle that requires a traditional, low speed, maximum traction approach, 4th gen ATRAC is at it's peak of effectiveness if the wheels are rotating at least a little and the rpms are low. At that point, when you hear the wheels slipping and ATRAC making it's racket, resist the urge to give more throttle and just hold steady.
Click to expand...

would it then be more logical to kill both VSC and ATRAC (via a wired kill switch) when mudding and snow wheeling (ripping around and sliding).?
 
Ryco4R said:
would it then be more logical to kill both VSC and ATRAC (via a wired kill switch) when mudding and snow wheeling (ripping around and sliding).?
Click to expand...

Maybe. It can be tested easily enough by pulling the big plug in front of the brake fluid res to disable all ABS functions. Personally, I think using the hi, lo and rev info makes it unneccesary but I'd love to hear about some experimentation using that tactic.
 
JB. said:
when you hear the wheels slipping and ATRAC making it's racket, resist the urge to give more throttle and just hold steady.
Click to expand...

Thanks again JB, I think it's making sense to me now and can say for certain the ATRAC noise is something I'll have to adjust to. I'm sure that the first (and only) time I had it in the snow that all that noise kind of freaked me out and I'm sure I reacted to it some way.

On the 1st I'll do some experimenting with your suggestions in mind and don't see much sense in adding a switch to do something that's done automatically when locking the center dif. Looks like 1st high, CDL and around 2000rpm is my starting place.
 
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