Rear Diff Issue (2 Viewers)

[eternalwarrior]

ATRAC is very capable, if you air down and have good tires. I've gotten my GX stuck once and had ATRAC problems, when not airing down and sliding off into a mudhole. When aired down to 15-20 psi it works very well for most light/moderate wheeling and has taken everything I've thrown at it, including some nasty mudholes.

That being said it's still a reactive system (activates after slippage has already occurred). Where it can have problems is in diagonal spin, where you get 1 front wheel and 1 back wheel in a low-traction situation. It can take if a few seconds to "figure things out" while you are in a precarious spot. I've gotten my rig in this kind of spot maybe 2X since having it. It can also be confounding in snow by not allowing wheelspin unless you really punch the throttle.

I'm planning F&R lockers in my rig and an 8.2 upgrade. Yes, it's overkill, but I want to future-proof it. If you aren't going to do heavy off-roading/overland, you'll be just fine with good tires, a compressor to air back up, and ATRAC with no locker.

This is extremely helpful insight, thanks man!

That's exactly where I feel myself landing. Since I don't plan on pushing this rig beyond some casual overlanding AND we plan on putting real money into a Tacoma one day, I think I actually am lucking out with the ATRAC since it does give me some pretty sweet capability without having to replace my rear diff with a locking one.

If I were leaning into this rig as my primary wheeler and long term investment I think I'd almost certainly go for lockers and the 8.2 upgrade since I'm facing a rear diff replacement anyway. But since I'm not planning on this guy being a major investment I think I'll be well suited making sure the rear diff actually is shot (and not a u-joint as BKG pointed out in my other thread), and if it is definitely shot as I suspect, just doing a stock/open replacement rebuild from East Coast Gear Supply.

The issues you're describing around ATRAC are exactly the sort I've seen references to, and I'm pretty sure I'll be OK with the level of use I'm planning. Really helpful hearing about your experiences with it. I saw a couple references to ABSOLUTELY ALWAYS AIRING DOWN, so I'll just plan on following that advice

 

[eternalwarrior]

@eternalwarrior whats your intended off-roading goals with this rig? Tire size?

Medium rock crawling => get rear locker.

Big tires 34s or 35s, consider regearing as well.


If your goal is to run 33s max and do some mild rock crawling, then you’ll be good with stock gears and no rear locker.

@HomersCanyonero awesome, yes, this is exactly where I expect to be with this rig. Mild crawling (at the absolute most, possibly no true crawling at all) - if anything I'll be encountering mud a lot more than climbs. And almost certainly 33s max. I don't plan on putting much money into lift and or wheel upgrades on this guy.