Traction Control

[2010 4runner]

Last night had the 2010 SR5 out in the snow a little bit. The traction control was on and when the vehicle would start to spin and slide around the traction control light would flash on the dash and a vibration like the ABS brakes were on and then the truck would be fine. When I got home and read the manual thats what it says it should do. How excally is this traction control working I guess I thought it would do like my Chevy truck with locking differential and kick in and never really notice it, whats with all the vibration is it actually kicking power to the front wheels?

 

[4Funnr]

Last night had the 2010 SR5 out in the snow a little bit. The traction control was on and when the vehicle would start to spin and slide around the traction control light would flash on the dash and a vibration like the ABS brakes were on and then the truck would be fine. When I got home and read the manual thats what it says it should do. How excally is this traction control working I guess I thought it would do like my Chevy truck with locking differential and kick in and never really notice it, whats with all the vibration is it actually kicking power to the front wheels?

Uhm, no dood. Just, no.

VSC and TRAC will cut power and actuate the brakes to prevent a rollover and wheel slip/slide. That's it. VSC and TRAC do not adjust power to the wheels differentially; they can cut the throttle and control the brakes at each wheel differentially.

If you want to lock your differential, pull over, shift into 4Lo, then push the locking rear diff button. But I'm pretty sure SR5 = no locking rear diff.

 

[adrift]

Uhm, no dood. Just, no.

VSC and TRAC will cut power and actuate the brakes to prevent a rollover and wheel slip/slide. That's it. VSC and TRAC do not adjust power to the wheels differentially; they can cut the throttle and control the brakes at each wheel differentially.

If you want to lock your differential, pull over, shift into 4Lo, then push the locking rear diff button. But I'm pretty sure SR5 = no locking rear diff.

I'll will add to this that there is also a beeping alarm that goes off too.

 

[bpwilton]

Traction control (TRAC) and Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) are always on in 2HI and 4HI. They monitor for wheel slip, sliding, etc., and cut throttle and apply brakes to compensate. Think of it this way: you are at a stoplight on a snowy/icy street, light turns green, you hit the accelerator to go. Without any traction contol, the wheels will spin, but with Toyota TRAC, the compter sees this wheel spin, reduces throttle, and you slowly, smoothly accelerate forward.

Now, if you shift to 4LO, TRAC and VSC automatically turn off (since you are probably doing more serious 4 wheel driving and don't want the computers fighting your wheel slip). In 4LO, you can now push A-TRAC to turn on Active Traction and this will act as an puesdo electronic differential lock. Instead of mechanically locking the rear differential as you do with a traditional locker, with A-TRAC if the computer sees one wheel is spinning, it will use the ABS to brake that wheel, thus transfering power to the other wheel. A-TRAC does not cut throttle like TRAC/VSC.

 

[bpwilton]

Check out these Toyota videos on YouTube for the highlights of A-TRAC and VSC.

A-TRAC: YouTube - 2010 Toyota 4Runner: Active Trac (A-TRAC)
VSC: YouTube - 2010 Toyota 4Runner: Vehicle Stability Control (VSC)