A few off road questions

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

Also, are you selecting HL (high range Locked) for the beach? The push button on the dash is for the rear diff lock.


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Careful mate, not true in my 150 at least. There is a 4wd range selector knob, it selects between high and low range. There is also a centre differential lock button which activates the centre diff lock, it has to be manually activated in both high and low range.

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

oops... I've been looking at Prado's and Fortuners and got the dials mixed up...

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Yep, just realised I got my Fortuner controls and Prado controls mixed up...

Careful mate, not true in my 150 at least. There is a 4wd range selector knob, it selects between high and low range. There is also a centre differential lock button which activates the centre diff lock, it has to be manually activated in both high and low range.

[Prone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prone]

Careful mate, not true in my 150 at least. There is a 4wd range selector knob, it selects between high and low range. There is also a centre differential lock button which activates the centre diff lock, it has to be manually activated in both high and low range.

Agree with AussieAndy.

Also the centre diff is a Torsen style LSD according to the Toyota blurb for my 150, I believe this is still true for the later models. I suspect this may be a reason that it is possible to use low range without the compulsory locking of the centre diff. Very good for manoeuvering trailers on the front lawn.

Cheers
Prone

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Jeez, now even I'm confused

The Prado should be driven very similarly to any other 4by.
Offroad, you can or should lock the centre. That locks front to rear only.
So instead of having 3 diffs your are down to 2, front & rear.
Your traction control will limit the diff on those when one side moves more than the other.

The difference to a pootrol is, it obviously drives a shite load better all the time, the flip side for offroading can be the ifs limited travel.
So expect to lift a front wheel sooner than a pootrol.
When the pootrols front wheel is unloaded, or eventually lifted, it's spins, it has no drive at the front, if the rear is not pushing, it's all over.
The Prado, whether its front wheel is unloaded or lifted, as soon as it spins, the brakes are applied by the traction control.
Then the drive is over to the opposite side & up you go.
If you have any trouble getting anywhere in a traction control Prado it's either extreme or driver error.
Add rear diff locks, adjustable suspension, bfg all terrains, you should be going most places with ease.

Naturally wet conditions & lack of traction will stop any vehicle without 40" claws.
Perhaps get out with some of the local crew up there, good way to learn some tricks & meet great crew too.

[JohnC80 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JohnC80]

Seems that everyone runs the centre lock differently. Some lock, some don't. Manual says don't.

Traction control is turned off when going off road. This was advice from reading this forum. I left it on a few times and all it did was dig the car deep into the sand.

I'm not talking about easy beach driving either. In the wk I spent at kinkuna I saw many Patrols (not pootrols), cruisers, dual cabs etc bogged.

[Hally Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hally]

Seems that everyone runs the centre lock differently. Some lock, some don't. Manual says don't.

Traction control is turned off when going off road. This was advice from reading this forum. I left it on a few times and all it did was dig the car deep into the sand.

I'm not talking about easy beach driving either. In the wk I spent at kinkuna I saw many Patrols (not pootrols), cruisers, dual cabs etc bogged.

I have found with the prado that soft stuff(ie sand) turn off traction and speed is the key but when it comes to places with hard ground and bits of traction leave it turned on because when a wheel or 2 is lifted it drives you through and can be done a slow pace to stop damage.
After owning a d40 navara and 2 Gu patrols (1 ute 1 wagon) from factory the prado is the best at most terrains.

[JohnC80 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JohnC80]

Awesome info Hally regarding the traction control. Thanks.

[spike69 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close spike69]

Thanks spike will give it a go.

Just read the manual again. Basically says centre diff lock only if you believe you will get stuck without it. I found the diff lock worse.

Also what is LL etc. my control has H4 which it drives in all the time and L4.

Thanks again.

Sorry John my bad, I was talking about a 120 series like mine - HL = high range locked diff, LL = low range locked diff. I gather its different on the newer models. still the principles of when/whether to lock the diffs are the same.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Driving in Kinkuna when it's soft I lock the centre diff, traction control and stability control off and tyres down to 24psi. Auto box in manual 2. Then putt along using the torque. Don't bog in, don't spin and don't throw everyone around. Easy peasy.

Fatbike is 4psi front, 6psi rear 1st or 2nd and don't stop peddling! Watch out for the black snakes and the not occasional brown.

PS: #1 son has a Pooey ute. 4.2iTD and nothing stock. Until it was locked both ends it couldn't go where the 150 went. Now he has 37" play tyres and it is a different story though even with Stratos seats and 2t of dynamat I would still rather be in the Prado for any trip over 3 or 4 seconds...

[raydes Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close raydes]

As I put before ,I have the centre diff lock on when off road, why wait till you get stuck ?. If you lift a front , or rear wheel ,one wheel spins and the car stops,, ALL drive goes to the spinning wheel. Just tried it .. I jacked up one rear wheel. put it in drive and the car just sits there with the rear wheel spinning, will not go anywhere with out the centre diff locked to get some drive to the front.

[Fred63 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fred63]

OK one of the questions here seems to be "To Lock or Not to Lock" Center diff.

Mid Novemeber last year i was out on a club training day and there was 2 of us in 150 facelift Prado's
Mine Auto the other one manual.
At the last challenge for the day we had a sandstone step with loose rocks and gravel at the top and bottom of the step.

As there was a bit of tight maneuvering to get the line i needed i left the Center diff unlocked Selected L4 left it in Drive.
I got up it without a problem.
The other Prado used the Center Diff lock and also got up no problem.
So from that experience there was little difference in performance.

FYI i am still running stock height with BFG all terrains the other Prado on the day was also stock height running copper ST's
The only time i use the diff lock is on steep rocky / slippery accents and descents.
This works for me.
On the next day out to the same place there was a Patrol and and 100 Series both had all the gear.
As in the post above by MJ they both needed there lockers on the same step on the second attempt.

[chappy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chappy]

I lock the centre diff when I head offroad,I'll give it a go without the centre diff locked next time out.

[Drift Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drift]

I leave it unlocked on mild tracks and tend to lock it when I think there's a chance of cocking a leg or on soft boggy sand. I've had a play over the same tracks with and without and the only time it really made a noticeable difference was when two opposing wheels (FR/RL) had bugger all traction. Aside from that, not much difference at all with TC on. With TC off though I've found it helps a little more. Having said that, the only time I turn TC off is in boggy sand or mud holes. Or when the steering angle sensor decides to chuck a wobbly and throw a TC fault.

[Symo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Symo]

A few untruths here, allow me (self proclaimed expert to correct them):

1. The 150 Prado is in H4 permanently
2. The 150/120 Prado uses a Torsen LSD centre, it is neither open nor locked
3. The centre Torsen diff can be locked at the push of a button in either H4 or L4
4. The torque split is always 1:1 (often incorrectly referred to 50:50 - why not call it 200:200? see?)
5. There is about a 10% difference (seat of the pants) difference between unlocked centre and locked centre with TC still on\
6. There is a very slight difference between H4 TRC and L4 A-TRC (H4 retards throttle and brakes wheels, L4 only brakes wheels)
7. 99% of the time if your tyres are down to 18psi you can drive on and off the beach and along it in H4 with both TRC and VSC on and it won't bother you (I have extensively tested this and it so long as you are not half bogged leave it on, but there is no harm in turning it off)
8. I tested climbing a 600mm high vertical drop off in H4, L4, diff unlocked and locked and found the best combo with TWO wheels off the ground was ironically L4 diff UNLOCKED, don't know why.
9. The off road manual clearly states to leave the diff unlocked and only lock it when you are having trouble
10. THe prado will not spin one wheel if it comes of the ground, one rear wheel always has drive (centre diff lcoked or unlocked) the difference is about 10% drive loss in LSD mode.
10. You can tackel 90% of off-road terrain in H4 with TRC and VSC still on
11. L4 is useless on sand, the 410nm or 450nm is more than enough to move the Prado along with ease in H4, L4 will just burn fuel and heat the engine and oil up for zero benefit. (always makes me laugh watching someone revving the crap out their car in L4 and going no where, while someone else idles along slowy behind them in H4 1st or 2nd.