I settled back for a minute while the
Gaffer finished chuckling at his own
ingenuity. I then asked what I thought
was the most obvious question one that
amounted to his recommendation as to
which traction aiding device was best.
"Well son," he boomed. "That depends
on how yer use yer Toyota. So how do
yer use the beast? And, are yer planning
to do different things in the future?"
I explained that I used the Toyota on
regular dry highways, snowy roads, dirt
forest roads and that I had high hopes
of doing some rock crawling.
"Well, yer really don't need nothin'
for those highways and forest
roads. Unless, yer are tacklin' some
mighty tough dirt roads. For those
applications, a Truetrac would be
all that yer need. That rock crawlin',
however, calls for a locker. But don't
just slap a Detroit locker or its ilk into
yer pumpkin cause it'll spill you on
snowy roads. Hum... I recommend
that you install them there air lockers,
or an electric locker. That way you
can disengage `em on the highway and
engage them when you rock crawl.
That's what I ended up doin' an' it
worked right well for me."
The Gaffer then graced me with a
particularly intense glare and growled,
"Now scat! I have work ter do."
With that command, I picked up my
hat, thanked the old fellow and made
my way out of the Gaffer's lair. After
thinking about it, I decided that the
Gaffer's advice was excellent. I looked
at the way I used my vehicle. At times,
I used it for basic transportation
both summer and winter. For that
application, I could simply continue
to use my stock, open differentials.
I also used the vehicle on modestly
challenging trails where a Truetrac
would work well. However, I planned to
do some challenging rock crawling that
would put a tire in the air; so I decided
to install a selectable locker one that
would act like an open differential on
the highway but lock up like a spool
when needed. In the end, I elected to
use ARB air lockers and since I had
the axles pulled apart, I changed the ring and pinion ratios to
4.88 to accommodate my larger than stock tires.
Modern Toyotas have far more differential traction aiding
devices than existed thirty years ago when the Gaffer went to
great lengths to improve his traction. Limited slips abound
as do lockers. We just have to select the one that meets our
needs and then use our vehicles with confidence.
As the Gaffer would say, "Git yer hands dirty and git to work."
Aluminum housing
and electrical line
hanging off the
pumpkin. This is
the stock locker on
my FJ Cruiser's 8.2"
rear end.
Lines connecting the York compressor to Gaffer's
rollcage/air tank. Attachments include a one way
valve on the input line, an ARB pressure sensitive
switch, an emergency pressure relief valve and a
plastic line to an air pressure gage. A coalescing
filter sits on the in line and returns collected oil
to the compressor's crank case.
TOYOTA TRAILS
46