Should Toyota add Auto 4wd to the Tundra ?

My son's personal vehicle is a 4runner Limited.
In his new work role he was just given a truck to drive.
It's not new, it's a '20 GMC Sierra. It's a work truck with a bench seat.
And it has Auto 4wd, along with 4hi and 4low.
How long do you think it will be before Auto 4wd gets added to the Tundra?

 

Not even going to guess at how long it will take, but that is the one thing I was disappointed the 22 didn't have. I drive I80 thru the Poconos every day for work and definitely see where it would be useful. There are many winter days where it might be clear and sunny at the bottom, but you get half way to the top and it instantly changes to whiteout conditions with the snow already sticking to the road. Both previous vehicles were AWD so didn't need to worry about when I did or didn't need to put it in 4H

 

Might be the rare “no” here but I grew up with RWD cars and trucks in Minnesota and my response in slippery conditions is set for that not AWD or even 4WD. There’s rarely a scenario on road that I’ve felt either is required. Off-road, yes, but why weaken a system that’s better in the only application I really use it for?

 

I wish they added a 4wd ATRAC like on my 1st gen Sequoia. I love that system and only use it, when needed.

 

Sure it would nice to get AWD in 15 years lol because that’s probably how long of a wait we are in for.

 

It was a massive let down for me, especially the decision to remove it from the Gen 3 Sequoia.

I drive on snow / ice for half the year, and having had auto 4x4 on my last two work vehicles (2017 Tahoe and 2020 Ram) has made it a mandatory convenience on my next truck.

I had never had it on previous 25 years of driving Toyota trucks here in south central Alaska, but it is so nice. Simple daily things like sloped driveways, intersection, parking lots, etc, all don’t require switching in/out anymore.

 

I drive a 2018 right now but it is the same argument.
Most of my mileage gets put on Spring to Fall and its in 4wd when at cabin.
I shift into 4wd where the pavement ends, and shift out when I come out again.
Driving through a rainstorm last week coming home it did get dicey. The load in back I carried up was not there driving back. The light back end was noticeable. If I was using the Tundra as my everyday vehicle and to commute to work, no question for me it would need to have Auto 4wd.
Even better is the full time 4wd on my sons 4runner. But the drag of 4wd components takes it toll.
He tells me he averages around 11 liters per 100kms or 21 mpg. But that GM Sierra work truck he drives he says gets 9.0 liters per 100kms, so 26 mpg, same type of driving. I think he said it had cylinder deactivation.
I think a lot of Toyota "guys" that voted No or I Don't Care prefer the part time system for the simplicity (reliability) and they want to be in control when they go into 4wd.
But what if your wife is also using the Tundra?
Its a small poll granted, but if I was Toyota reading this thread, the No and I Don't Care votes would fall into the same group for them. So it is a lot closer (so far) than I thought.
I am also disappointed that they took Auto 4wd away from the Sequoia.

 

This is pure speculation, but I wonder if they have trouble implementing this feature on the tundra since the transfer case is so heavy duty. They’re overbuilt compared to the domestics using heavier components, and they’re tough to get into 4x4 even when you’re trying to do it manually. Sometimes it takes rolling back and forth to get it to engage. Do the HD trucks have auto 4x4? That could be a good indicator of if that’s part of the reason why they don’t have it.

 

Wife has no problems. Once you’re going there isn’t much difference until you accelerate or turn. Put a couple sandbags in the back over wheel wells in winter for mixed surface. Hit 4hi if needed. I see as many trucks with auto in the ditch as I do FWD cars in the winter. I’ve never seen a tundra in one.

Also, I think GM has auto available now in their HD trucks. But think they made it a lot beefier and had to go away from the Allison transmission with it.

 

insanity that they don't offer this (along with tow hooks). Mike Swerve or whatever his name is didn't bother testing in Canada in winter. Or maybe he did and bean counters took it out.

 

in my 2014 4runner limited, the full time 4wd has a slight mpg decrease compared to the normal part time configurations. even with full time 4wd you still feel some binding in the wheels say if you take a 45 mph with a medium curve radius going from 30mph to 60mph (on ramp i have to deal with daily leaving work).

i would prefer the full time 4wd versus auto. not like the 1mpg loss for full time is that big of a deal, at least for me.

my life time avg on my 14-4R is 16.6 mpg, min 10.7 and max 24.6 across 295 fill ups.

its only rated at 17/21 for the limited, 17/22 for the part time 4wd and 17/23 for the 2wd.

 

I would love to see them put a center diff in these. Then either make it AWD with a locking center diff and low range (Land Cruiser) or give me 2WD, 4WD, 4WD with diff locked and 4LO.
I am not really a fan of the auto 4WD because it will allow just a little rear slip before it engages the front end. You start a corner in the snow and it act 2WD then as you start driving the truck that way you need to switch to 4WD dynamics. More likely to crash than had it been in one or the other.

 

I think they should but they should use one with a torsen center differential like the:

-1st and 2nd gen Sequoia
-V8 4th gen 4Runner
-1, 2, and 300 series Land Cruiser/LX
-Lexus GX
-Some models of the 5th gen 4Runner

You know, all those trucks with super unrealible 4wd systems

But seriously, the 3rd gen Tundra/Sequoia is now the only half ton truck/suv that doesnt have some kind of 4Auto I am pretty sure. Maybe Nissan doesnt, but no one buys those anyways. And the worst part is that Toyota has probably the BEST full-time system out there. The clutched systems in the Ford/GM/Ram trucks are not as good, although better than nothing. I have a Lexus GX with the Torsen center diff as well as an F150 with the 4Auto t-case. I almost never lock the GX's t-case because it simply doesnt need it. Just pop it in 4Lo with the center diff unlocked and it will do most stuff.

Even my 2006 pile of crap Jeep Liberty had a full time system and that thing cost like $25k. You're telling me they couldnt make a $68000 sequoia with full-time?

But I am guessing they will never add it because some random group of people they polled said it wasnt important along with the generator capability of the Hybrid.

 

Hell yes it should be available. Mind boggling it isn't available with a groundup redesign. I've seen the videos where engineers say "Our customers don't want it or need it." Yeah well, you stupid fucks you missed a homerun ball down the middle of the plate. 4A would be the icing on the cake to make it a world beater, but somebody saw "survey says" .

My '19 Sequoia has 2WD, 4A with CDL, 4LO. Just plain goofy the decision to not add that to the '22 Tundra and also delete it from the '23 Sequoia.

 

That's some bullshit right there. I just did a 90 degree turn this morning accelerating from 0 to 60 with the '08 Limited 4Runner 4.7l. No binding, no problems, same with the '07 4Runner V8 we own.

 

4A is an expensive system (relative to a traditional Tcase). Seems like Toyota was more interested in saving costs on the 3rd Gen vs previous Gens. My 4th Gen T4R had it, my wife's 2022 T4R Offroad Premium does not.

 

As far as I know, the HD trucks do have it (optional on some, I believe).

 

i'm perfectly ok with not having it. Toyota's are reliable because they don't jam every feature known to man in their vehicles. There is a point where more features just means more features to break.

 

Except that they've jammed a bunch of features in the 3rd Gen. I would have been happy without a 14" screen and incessant dinging when your seatbelt is undone if it meant we could have 4Auto.

 

I don't disagree with the newer features we see, but when it comes to these 4wd systems they have been around a really long time.
tested and tried.
My sons 2017 4runner Limited is very reliable. He was going through all snow with full time. No issues.
I told him to engage 4hi and 4low so it didn't seize up.

My 1998 - 8^0 - 4Runner limited had the Auto 4wd feature. I had no issues.
Leads me to believe therefore that it has to be a $$$ thing. Getting rid of it in the new Sequoia SUV - that just doesn't make sense to me.
Poll Numbers showing a different story now from this morning.

 

Dude, there are literally millions of reliable miles counted with Toyota's full-time 4WD. It's been in the Land Cruiser for about 25 years and still is.

 

The t-case being unable to handle the torque from the hybrid is the only reason I can think of that makes sense. But if they can build a trans and diffs that handle 583tq they should be able to build a t-case that can do it.

 

Except they have had this feature in most of their body-on-frame SUV's for going on 25 years now. Maybe longer. So is it just the Tundra that is reliable and none of the SUV's are?

 

Exactly. And Ford did it with their hybrid that makes 570 ft-lbs and freaking Ram has an AWD t-case in the 702hp/650ft-lb TRX on 35" tires.

Oh yeah and the new Raptor R with 700hp/640 ft-lbs and 37" tires has a 4Auto case.

 

I think some in this forum don’t understand what 4Auto is and what the Toyota full-time 4WD systems are. Toyota definitely should have offered a center diff and that’s where they failed. But you can engage 4Hi in the 3rd gen Tundra at any time, even at speeds of 60 mph. 4Hi can stay on at highway speeds as long as the road is fairly straight but don’t expect to have a good time on 90 degree turns or cloverleaf ramps.

 

Most 4Auto systems that I’ve seen and used are garbage. They destroy parts, make handling unpredictable, and just cause problems.

The 4wd system on the 2nd Gen sequoia, on the other hand, are a completely different animal and work amazingly well without destroying parts or causing handling issues. They use a center lockable differential that lets you engage 4wd in any terrain without affecting steering, binding drivetrain components, or causing unpredictable behavior because the front rear driveshafts are unlocked and able to differentiate speeds like an all whee drive system. When you need the front and rear drivelines locked together, the center diff can be locked for the same behavior as a traditional 4wd.

THIS I would love to see on the tunda.

 

Do other Gen Tundras have full time 4WD?

 

I don't think so, just all of the Tundras competition.

 

I don't understand why there is "NO" votes. Why would people want a less capable 4WD system? I guess it comes down to blind ignorance.

 

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