WY/ID trailheads & vehicle clearence needed

Not sure of the global availability but Toyota offers an electronic locking differential.   Not sure how it compares to the ARB pneumatic locking diff.

I’ve never personally owned one but I *believe* the Tacoma Pre Runner has the electronic locking diff.

I THINK the electronic locking diff on the Prado is the central lock between front and rear axles.

Cheers

That’s intersting.   Is that the Oz name for the transfer case or something else entirely?

Transfer case = central gearbox = …
Pumpkin = thing between tail shaft and split axles.

Cheers

The e-locker found in 4runners and Tacomas fully locks the diff but only in 4-low and under ~ 25mph wheel speed. It essentially doubles the traction from the locked axle since both wheels will receive power. Offroad it’s the superior option for traction, especially in situations where wheels will be in the air or unloaded enough to just spinout. Open differentials (standard differential equipped on all vehicles) will send power to the wheel with the least traction. If a tire is in the air or extremely unloaded it will just spin away without putting any power to the ground and the opposite wheel will just sit there and not receive power.

I’d choose an Outback over a Rav4 or CRV any day. The Outback is vasty superior in just about every way (especially offroad) sans potentially long term reliability.

Like I mentioned before, if gas mileage isn’t a big consideration I’d go 4runner or Tacoma, they’re just a lot sturdier built, more capable offroad and very reliable. I’ve offroaded all over the west in Toyotas and they’ve never let me down.

The HMMV was weird because, if memory serves, it has High (4WD), High Lock, and Low.   I was wondering if what Roger described was like the HMMV’s high lock where (from what I understood) each wheel gets equal power.

Like you mentioned, my truck has 4WD high and low but I don’t have locking differentials so the truck sends varying levels of power to each wheel depending on the traction needs.   I thought about having ARB lockers installed but for the kind of driving I do it’s really hard to justify the expense.

Very bluntly, and with a high level of cynicism, most ARB products are expressly designed for petrol-heads and machismo youth. They seem to love decorating their cars.

OK, the bull bar is useful in Oz, and so is the winch. I have them on the shorty, but that is because it was an ex-government vehicle (Central Mapping) and they had fitted them.

As far as I know, the diff locker on the Prado works with both Hi and Lo ratio. I would have to check the manual. But we deliberately do not indulge in that sort of terrain. Got other things to do.

Cheers