Too much power? How can I get better traction?

I was going to add that my truck has more power and less weight and seems to do just fine......

 

@blenton I too was under a similar impression, and that is why I went looking for info. It would have been nice if Toyota continued with the 10.5”, as the larger housing and diff with factory e locker would have been great options for the older Gen 2/2.5 trucks.

Your comparison of the axle sizes and engine combos between generations is valid.

 

I understand you live in Colorado, but do you commute 30-50 miles at highway speeds over snow covered highways on a regular basis? Because this is a different scenario than simply climbing a slope from a near stop.

So the scenario that you're specifically talking about appears to be accelerating up a snow covered slope from near zero speed.

Two main questions:
1. Were these situations when the snow was so high that the vehicle with a lower ground clearance became high centered on the snow compared to the truck?
2. When you say AWD SUV, are we talking about rear biased AWD SUVs of usually a European full size or a domestic Explorer SUV OR were these economy variants that utilize FWD biased AWD systems? There would be a significant difference in longitudinal acceleration between an SUV that has a rear biased AWD system versus a front biased AWD system.

Theoretically, a 1/2 ton based SUV like a Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Expedition in 4Hi should outperform a 1/2 ton pickup in 4Hi when climbing a snow covered slope because more of their weight is biased over the rear/drive axle.

 

I put at least 10K miles per year on my truck in the Colorado high country during the winter. We own a condo in Winter Park, which is about 2-1/2 hours from our main home on the Front Range. Our main home is also 7 miles from the nearest pavement, and our county roads often don't get plowed for a few days after snow storms. My wife's last car was a BMW X5 with the xDrive AWD system. Not sure if it was front or rear wheel biased, but I can't tell you how many times she got stuck and I had to rescue her in my truck. Since we bought her 2021 4x4 4Runner she hasn't gotten stuck once.

For our purposes, a true 4x4 is a necessity.

 

It sounds like higher ground clearance was the necessity so the vehicle doesn't become high centered over the snow.

The xDrive would have been a rear biased, but should be able to send at least 50% of the torque to the front axle when necessary.

What tires did the X5 have? What tires did the 4Runner have? What tires did your truck have?

 

Let off throttle.

 

8 beer deep when you wrote that ??

 

Nope I don't consume intoxicants, illegal drugs or smoke anything. Sounds like you are speaking from experience? Then again, I'm just assuming like you.

 

Sensible answers are nonsensical around here - so nonsensical that inebriation or intoxication seem to be the only logical explanation to intriguingly erratic irregularities displayed by the perplexing conundrum of salaciously sober sensibility. Or something like that…

 

I hate to say this. But, I understand.