My first gen was an off road. It had a locker and a three speed automatic transmission, and a manual shift transfer case. The locker was electric. I did the "Grey Wire Mod" so it worked at any time. There was no traction control, no anti-lock brakes, or any other electronic traction devices.
The electric locker worked fine and never caused any problems. It clicked in and out at will.
The transmission was pretty Plain Jane- it worked well and really never got noticed. It did it's job.
The popular opinion is that the manual shift is the best option, and it did offer a neutral position- and an extra warning light because park doesn't work when the transfer case isn't in gear. I thought that the "J" shifter took up much needed room in the little truck, and never saw the supposed reliability advantage because I have never had a drive line failure in any of my Toyotas.
My second gen was a Sport.
It had a four speed automatic transmission, an electric operated transfer case, and a limited slip differential. It had anti-lock brakes, and no other traction devices.
The electric transfer case worked well. You had to operate it the way it wants to be operated, but it worked every time. You couldn't just grab the knob and go from 2hi to 4lo. It had to fully engage 4hi first, then stop and find neutral for 4lo. I liked it.
The transmission was a little different. Some people complained that it shifted too much, and others didn't like the way the fly by wire system worked. Obviously, having more gears makes for more shifting. The problem the spastics were complaining about was just the fact that continuously moving the gas pedal around caused continuous changes in how the motor tried to provide what the driver was asking for. It drove some of them crazy. There were some hilarious threads on that. I learned early on that a steady gas pedal allowed the system to work smoothly and liked the way it drove.
The limited slip diff was a hoot on wet pavement. By punching the throttle, I could make it grab, and break both rear tires loose. That allowed some cool drifter type shenanigans, but it really didn't interfere with normal driving. Off road, it was nearly useless. It required a pretty heavy application of throttle to make it work, and driving through a ditch at an angle would not cause it to do anything at all. It acted like an open diff in the dirt.
The anti-lock brakes on the second gen were OK, but the rest of the brake system sucked. It took more brake pedal pressure than any power brake vehicle I ever drove. There were many complaints about the air conditioner cycling, and the increased idle speed would make the truck move- because you had to STAND on the damn pedal to make it not move. Also, the rear brakes would get out of adjustment easily. You had to use the stupid pedal operated parking brake to adjust them. When they got loose, the leading side of the brake shoes would pull away from the top post and wedge in the drum.
Then, while you were sitting there at a red light, the shoes would spring back into position. This released the rear brakes and also let go of the spring wrap created when you stopped.
It made a thump sound and the truck moved backwards about an inch or so. It felt like the guy behind you bumped the back bumper. LOTS of threads complaining about THAT! I put badass pads on my front discs, and used that dumbass parking brake every time I got out of the truck and found the brakes barely acceptable like that.
My third gen is an off- road. It has an electric locker, an electric transfer case, a six speed automatic transmission, anti-lock brakes, traction control, vehicle stability control, and crawl control.
This six speed transmission appears to be very similar to the second gen in the way it works, it just has more gears spaced closer together. Like the second gen, it has some folks complaining that it shifts too much and acts crazy sometimes. Like the second gen, I found that a steady foot provides smooth operation and so far I like the way the transmission works. It has a "Sport Mode" where the shifter becomes a sort of manual control. Push forward to up shift one gear, pull back to down shift one gear.
It seems to work OK, but there is a little delay between shifter operation and the actual shift. It should allow good control off road.
The transfer case looks and operates the same as my second gen, but the actuator that does the shifting is bigger. Like twice the size of the second gen. What that's about is a mystery to me. It seems to work fine.
The locking diff is different than what was in my first gen. The first gen had an electric motor on the driver's side of the diff. The third gen has a metal shield on the passenger side of the diff with a wire going under it. Not sure how it works, but it's changed. The second gen had issues with the locking diff and a bunch of folks broke them. Maybe this is how they solved that problem? It seems to work the same as the old one did, but doesn't make noise when it goes in and out. My first gen made obvious clicking sounds and this one is quiet.
The brakes on the third gen are EXCELLENT! They eliminated the vacuum boost and went to an electric brake assist system. It offers good feel, good power, and so far they have done nothing stupid at all. Happy! Happy! Happy! Far better than the first two gens.
The traction control devices are serious on this truck. Toyota introduced A-TRAC on the FJ cruiser, and everybody loved it. That system uses the brakes to stop a spinning wheel, and forces the opposite wheel to push the truck forward. This truck has that system on the front and rear, and it's on a switch. Normally off, I can hit a button up on the ceiling and activate it.
Where this truck gets different is the crawl control. That system also controls the motor while manipulating the brakes. You have probably seen the video where they intentionally dig the truck in until it's sitting on the suspension and then just drive it out of a seriously stuck situation. I played with that system a little at the beach and it's interesting to say the least. The damn truck sounds like robocop because of the brake actuators and it sure seems to be working the shit out of making all four wheels pull.
When you couple those systems with the locker, you get a lot of options that should make this truck more capable than those that came before it.
We shall see, won't we. :smile2: