Sometimes I think about selling
- Thread starter Falls
- Start date
As my admitted fault and me not explaining it , I just told her to let the truck do its own thing. She's not used to that ( old as she maybe ....lol ) (54) . She will not drive aggressive to where I would be worried about spinning out or loosing control, plus she was going so slow because she couldn't get the truck to move. To much throttle with the VSC on .... very possible.
When I'm not just crusing along of going into a deep snow situation ( like crossing a medium area where the plows have but up at least a foot of snow ) I personally would not go into it with out hitting the magic button to lock.
Sometime its hard for us old folks to get used to something to take control of our vehicle , when in turn we've driven and handled it in out 4x4's for years , even without "anti-lock" brakes . Fist thing my dad taught me was to keep my distance and learn wow to gently pump the brakes when driving in snow. ICE/BLACK ICE/ICE STORM, ...... no matter what you drive , its only a prayer that can save that.
I don't know if any of you old timers remember this thread but a guy here got a new 4th gen. He was complaining about how he got stuck trying to go over a 5" snow pile backing out of driveway and the power kept shutting the vehicle down. Similar situation.
No doubt this 4R is quite a different 4wd system than I ever had before but I understand the in's and out's having so many 4wd's over the years. I personally am out in every snow we get playing and wheeling in it since I was a youngster. I love it . Every time I get a new truck we go out in a storm and test it's limits , get the feel of it , go to an empty parking lot and go nuts for a while, yes its damn fun , but also think is a must and every one should do it and learn.
Here is another example: the Lexus that parallel parks itself , when I saw that I was like WTF is that , people cant even do that themselves , and learn how to do it properly.......c'mon people learn to fricken drive or don't do it at all. It your that fricken lame that you cant park your own car stay off the road.
BACK UP CAMERA's: A great wonderful feature and if it saves one child's life or anyone's for that matter it's worth it weight in gold !! Never had them when I was a kid , my parents kept track of where I was , taught me things to avoid and not to do , smacked me when I didn't and people driving were not in such a hurry they could not pay attention to their surroundings. BUT like I said If it save one child's life its worth it.
It seems like everyone has to rely on everything except their own responsibilities .
Rant over.........
As heated as this got I still love my 4R family......Awwwww :bigok:
When I'm not just crusing along of going into a deep snow situation ( like crossing a medium area where the plows have but up at least a foot of snow ) I personally would not go into it with out hitting the magic button to lock.
Sometime its hard for us old folks to get used to something to take control of our vehicle , when in turn we've driven and handled it in out 4x4's for years , even without "anti-lock" brakes . Fist thing my dad taught me was to keep my distance and learn wow to gently pump the brakes when driving in snow. ICE/BLACK ICE/ICE STORM, ...... no matter what you drive , its only a prayer that can save that.
I don't know if any of you old timers remember this thread but a guy here got a new 4th gen. He was complaining about how he got stuck trying to go over a 5" snow pile backing out of driveway and the power kept shutting the vehicle down. Similar situation.
No doubt this 4R is quite a different 4wd system than I ever had before but I understand the in's and out's having so many 4wd's over the years. I personally am out in every snow we get playing and wheeling in it since I was a youngster. I love it . Every time I get a new truck we go out in a storm and test it's limits , get the feel of it , go to an empty parking lot and go nuts for a while, yes its damn fun , but also think is a must and every one should do it and learn.
Here is another example: the Lexus that parallel parks itself , when I saw that I was like WTF is that , people cant even do that themselves , and learn how to do it properly.......c'mon people learn to fricken drive or don't do it at all. It your that fricken lame that you cant park your own car stay off the road.
BACK UP CAMERA's: A great wonderful feature and if it saves one child's life or anyone's for that matter it's worth it weight in gold !! Never had them when I was a kid , my parents kept track of where I was , taught me things to avoid and not to do , smacked me when I didn't and people driving were not in such a hurry they could not pay attention to their surroundings. BUT like I said If it save one child's life its worth it.
It seems like everyone has to rely on everything except their own responsibilities .
Rant over.........
As heated as this got I still love my 4R family......Awwwww :bigok:
Last edited:
Falls said:
I'll be 55 in two weeks so perhaps some will consider me 'not young'.
: I have trouble with an override taking control of a system in the 4Runner and there have been a few occasions that it has occurred.
Personally, I'd prefer to have the option of a switch as my 2007 V8 has none.
The 4Runner IMHO is a well designed vehicle but as with many new designs, is overloaded with sensors and gadgets 'to help' us drive.
Personally, I don't know if it's a help or a hindrance.
Climb14er said:I'll be 55 in two weeks so perhaps some will consider me 'not young'.
I have trouble with an override taking control of a system in the 4Runner and there have been a few occasions that it has occurred.
Personally, I'd prefer to have the option of a switch as my 2007 V8 has none.
The 4Runner IMHO is a well designed vehicle but as with many new designs, is overloaded with sensors and gadgets 'to help' us drive.
Personally, I don't know if it's a help or a hindrance.
My point exactly
swimmer2361
New member
Im probably gonna go to the stealer tomorrow and see if they can drop a VSC off switch in my 04. Its a real pain offroad.
gizmopt2002
New member
I'm not gonna comment about the safety debate, but I will say I have installed my own switch. Unfortunately us V6 owners have to suffice to a ghetto switch. I call it ghetto because it 1) turns off VSC, ATRAC and ABS and 2) To turn all that back on, you must restart the car. To me this isn't a problem. I may only be 17, but I'm the one that taught my mom to drive in the snow with VSC off and on and to "be one with the car". I flip the switch when I want to some fun stuff in 2WD. You would be amazed how the V6 can spin those Revo's, I would post up a pic if anybody wanted. As for the V8 owner's, you already have to connection for it. Pop out one of the blanks to the right of the Center Diff. switch, you'll see a blue plug wrapped in off white/yellowish foam. That is a VSC off switch per Toyota's electrical diagrams.
I recommend stopping at your local dealer Falls, and ask for a switch from that same year as yours, only in 2WD. Should work. If it doesn't, that why they have a return policy. And if it does, return it and order it online from partznet for cheaper.
Also, I much prefer VSC off ALL the time. I can control how much I can spin the tires.
I recommend stopping at your local dealer Falls, and ask for a switch from that same year as yours, only in 2WD. Should work. If it doesn't, that why they have a return policy.
And if it does, return it and order it online from partznet for cheaper.Also, I much prefer VSC off ALL the time. I can control how much I can spin the tires.
gizmopt2002
New member
swimmer2361 said:
Don't count on it. They usually will say "It's not compatible" or "It won't work"
Koz said:
I am well aware of how the system works , and again like I stated above , I do that often ( every snow ) and she is with sometimes but because I go hog wild in those places she prefers not to be ....lol.
What confuses you on what I don't think works the way it should ? I think it works fine it just can be a hazard in the below situation described. It works wonderful when driving on roads , hiways , ect. but being in this situation and trying to pull out on a road or whatever (unlocked) what works ?
The VSC is a great thing when in CERTAIN situations as well as the ATRAC which I honestly like better than and lockers or LS's that I've had.
Let me ask you this ( please correct me if I'm wrong ) If you are sitting in a medium area of the hiway with 10+ inches of soft snow from the snow plows , you are crossing the medium , but are sitting there waiting for traffic to pass so you can pull out. (You have a V8 full time 4x4 like I do so were talking apples to apples.) You then want to pull out onto the hiway , granted there are other vehicles on the road and you not in a big hurry nor in this weather do you want too dart out in front of anyone . Unless your diff. is locked how can you get the truck moving ? You will need to get the truck moving and not just creeping along 1/2" at a time. Will it cut your power ?
I think this is a great 4wd , and a safe one too. We do a lot of snow wheeling here in the deep snow when the storms hit and I can't believe the stuff it goes through with the ATRAC..... it amazes me.
BTW, the paring lots or undeveloped subdivision roads ( a lot of those here ) are a blast in the snow. But have to be locked or if its deep I cant go and wont let me slide around a have an ear to ear grin on my face.
Thai
Elite Member
Falls said:
My G500 has ESP (= VSC). It is actually quite sensitive, more so than the VSC on my old '02 4runner. When i drove in Colorado snowstorm in '04 in the G, I found that if i were to accelerate slowly initially, then i can avoid the sudden tire slip (from turning onto highway from median). Once i am heading in the right direction (and more stable), i can then be more aggressive with the throttle and accelerate faster to avoid on-coming traffic. Of course, this does require you to plan ahead and not cut anyone off.
Even before VSC, i would have done the same thing. You start off slowly to avoid that initial throttle-induced tire slip. Then, once you have momentum, you can then be more aggressive with the throttle.
brad6841
New member
I have never been in that exact situation, in my 4Runner, but I have been in situations similar to that in my 4Runner, Truck and Sequoia.
The situation I always bring to mind when talking about traction control systems is this......
Your on an on ramp that was partially cleaned and your rear tires are sitting in snow, maybe about a 3 or 4 foot patch of it, so it is enough to engage the traction control but if it would allow wheel spin you could power through it. You have an opening in traffic and you go for it, you hit the gas and here's what happens in the various vehicles......
Truck - drivers side wheel spins, locker locks the rear axle, both wheels spin, throw snow, dig to pavement and with a small 'chirp' I'm off and safely merging into traffic
Sequoia - vehicle begins to buzz, I cuss, more buzzing with no forward progress. More cussing until you finally let off the gas and try to scoot up until your wheels are on dry pavement so this won't happen again. Car behind you wondering what kind of idiot you are.
4Runner - a bit the same as the Sequoia, but it may give you a little more wheel spin, but not enough to safely pull out into traffic. In both Toyota cases your left cussing and waiting for your next chance to pull out into traffic.
I personally believe I'm going to do what gizmopt2002 did and install a one time off switch to just disengage the VSC. I would just unplug the wiring harness by the master cylinder, but I like having ABS and ATRAC. What color is the VSC wire again....
:bigok:
The situation I always bring to mind when talking about traction control systems is this......
Your on an on ramp that was partially cleaned and your rear tires are sitting in snow, maybe about a 3 or 4 foot patch of it, so it is enough to engage the traction control but if it would allow wheel spin you could power through it. You have an opening in traffic and you go for it, you hit the gas and here's what happens in the various vehicles......
Truck - drivers side wheel spins, locker locks the rear axle, both wheels spin, throw snow, dig to pavement and with a small 'chirp' I'm off and safely merging into traffic
Sequoia - vehicle begins to buzz, I cuss, more buzzing with no forward progress. More cussing until you finally let off the gas and try to scoot up until your wheels are on dry pavement so this won't happen again. Car behind you wondering what kind of idiot you are.
4Runner - a bit the same as the Sequoia, but it may give you a little more wheel spin, but not enough to safely pull out into traffic. In both Toyota cases your left cussing and waiting for your next chance to pull out into traffic.
I personally believe I'm going to do what gizmopt2002 did and install a one time off switch to just disengage the VSC. I would just unplug the wiring harness by the master cylinder, but I like having ABS and ATRAC. What color is the VSC wire again....
:bigok:
Camprunner
New member
Last year I got a real chance to try my 4runner in deep snow. I was driving on a main road in 4hi dif locked and pulled off onto this heavy snow covered road with a big hill that I knew would not be plowed. I then came to a stop half way up the hill and pushed the go pedal to the floor and I just sat there with my 4runner not wanting to move at all 
WTF! and this is with some real good A/T tires. I wanted so bad to have a switch to disengage my VSC I know with wheel spin I could have made it up the hill I have done it in other 4x4's many a time.
WTF! and this is with some real good A/T tires. I wanted so bad to have a switch to disengage my VSC I know with wheel spin I could have made it up the hill I have done it in other 4x4's many a time.
Koz
New member
Most all ABS/VSC systems will be a problem when you need to take-off fast with poor traction (tire spin). The only thing that can be done is either pull away slowly or disengage if possible. Luckily on the 4Runner it is very hard to spin the tires, even in the rain. On snow, it is a different story. As long as there is snow on the ground you can lock the center diff. I've never had this problem because I don't expect to blast away when there is snow on the ground. I've had problems when I try to stop quickly while traveling on a bumpy road and want to turn. Example; when exiting some highways onto a regular street (90 degree turn) from highway speeds, braking hard and hitting some mild bumps, the ABS kicks in (releasing the brakes) and it almost makes me overshoot the turn. It seems that if a tire leaves the ground when braking, the ABS automatically kicks in. Even with the quirks in these systems they are still worth having and may save your life!
Koz
Koz
Baba Booey
New member
Camprunner said:Last year I got a real chance to try my 4runner in deep snow. I was driving on a main road in 4hi dif locked and pulled off onto this heavy snow covered road with a big hill that I knew would not be plowed. I then came to a stop half way up the hill and pushed the go pedal to the floor and I just sat there with my 4runner not wanting to move at all
Correct me if I'm wrong. I thought that the VSC (i.e. electronic stability program) is automatically turned off when the center diff is locked. If so, the VSC should not have been the problem.
The ATRAC (i.e. ABS traction control) may have prevented your wheels from spinning, but it should've directed some power somewhere. In addition, I thougt that the ATRAC would be overpowered and the wheels would spin if you applied heavy throttle.
What am I missing? I have a hard time believeing that these 4WD 4Runners won't go in the snow. I've never had that problem.
Camprunner
New member
Baba Booey said:
Slip of the mouse I ment ATRAC .......... I was told that with heavy throttle it would overpower it but in this case I had no luck??
I will give it another go this year.
brad6841
New member
Koz said:
Yes I've had this happen to me.....especially in my truck (HD with rear leaves, doesn't like bumps :bash: )
And yes ABS is great, even with this flaw, but auto manufactures have had how many years to perfect ABS. I remember people saying that the first ABS systems seem to work worse than non ABS braking systems. It takes a while to work out all the flaws....and with all the flaws that seem to be in traction control systems, I'd rather not have them.....
