No 4x4 auto maybe a showstopper

I was strongly considering getting a new 2022 Toyota Tundra until I saw that there is no "Auto" selection, only "2H", "4H", and "4L". Although I have not had a problem with this, my wife has spun off the road twice in our previous pickup, which did not have an auto mode. Our problem where we live is that the winter roads go from snow-packed and icy to dry many times within a few miles most of the winter. Unless you have your finger on the 2H/4H button, you are going to be driving in 4H at higher speeds on dry pavement or driving on ice in 2H at times.

My wife isn't the type of person who is going to be thinking about switching modes based on the road conditions. Consequently, short of getting a new wife or not letting her drive the pickup, I'm thinking I need to go with a pickup that offers the auto mode.

Am I missing something or not understanding something correctly?

By the way, my wife has no accidents and no tickets other than the two weather related incidents, and she is generally a good driver. She has never slid off the road in our SUVs, which are AWD.

 

Driving in 4H a couple times a year at higher speeds won’t kill the truck. Keep it in 4H and call it good. Also, many times you’re already in the spin out before those auto 4WD mechanisms engage.

edit: also glad your wife is OK!

 

What exactly is the issue with either of these options?

Also

 

Does any half ton pickup have auto 4wd?

 

Driving in 4Hi won’t hurt a thing that and slowing down you know cause of the winter snow factor your wife and truck should be fine

 

Welcome from NY.
Good luck with your decision.

 

The GMC Denali trim levels.
But you would be in the repair shop more than on the road.

 

All Sierra and Silverado 1500s
F150s in Lariat trim and above

Not sure about Rams

 

I don’t know of any with full time 4 wheel drive, but if memory serves GM 1/2 tons have a 4 auto setting. I know the Suburban does because I ride in a lot of them and the drivers are required to use 4 auto if they’re not already in 4HI during winter weather.

 

The "auto" 4x4 function that people are talking about is not the same as AWD. It doesn't shift into 4wd until wheel slippage is sensed, and that shift is not instant, and in some cases it can be fairly harsh.

I literally spend 8-9hrs a day driving/patrolling the main and back roads of northern Vermont. Primarily in Tahoes & 2500HDs, with a bit of time in Expeditions, and Explorers (AWD). All season tires on all of them (horrible). The auto function works ok at keeping you from getting stuck or pulling out of a driveway, etc... It does almost nothing to keep you from losing control of the vehicle while already rolling. The Explorers are much better with the actual AWD set up.

I get off work, jump in the Tundra with winter tires, and traction wise. it's like driving a Formula one car in comparison. I've yet to *need* to use the 4wd. It was the same with my old FWD Rav4. Actual winter/snow tires like Blizzaks, Nokians, etc... make all the difference in the world. Well, that and driving appropriately for the conditions.

FWIW.

 

Pfffffttt!!

Winter tires. Next you’ll tell us it’s a good idea to wear appropriate footwear.

This is ‘Murica pal, we don’t drive appropriately for conditions! We’re sure as hell not buying winter tires either, that sounds like something a Canadian or a Communist would do… and no one likes a Canadian!

We’re all just gonna drive around like bats out of hell on bald ass all seasons, yelling insults at Canadians while we slide off the roads every time it so much as rains. And we’ll like it! We’ll love it!

 

And people wonder why I despise driving in the US.

 

not sure about trim levels, but my Ram 1500 Limited has auto 4wd

 

Huh. Learn something new everyday. I guess I've never looked at the right trims or only looked at older style trucks, because auto 4WD has never been something I thought of on a full size pickup.

 

My RAM 1500 laramie had it

 

If it’s snow packed or icy I just run in 4H and don’t worry about it. 4 high is really only problematic if you are trying to make tight turns in a parking lot. Even then, you won’t break anything it’s just annoying.

 

Wrong. Fulltime 4HI in Sequoias, 4Runners, Land Cruisers is just that. You put it in 4HI and the Torsen Center Diff does the work so you don't have to. So much complete ignorance and misinformation about this subject.

 

Continental Europeans are pretty bad.

 

I have had plenty of each type of vehicle really and I think full time awd is the bomb for sure. There is really no downside to it that I can tell except that it is pricey to make and so it is pricey to buy.

The Land Cruiser that I traded in to get the Tundra was the shit in bad weather and much easier to drive and aside from just slowing down and driving to suit the conditions it was a no brainer at all.

On the other hand I decided that the Tundra would just be more useful in every other way right now for me and that the 4WD system was great in the Tundra too but just different so it was worth it to me to trade.

But the Cruiser,Sequoia,Lexus GX and some older 4Runners are the bomb with it for sure to me.

And great tires too obviously thogh both is better.

 

I can’t stand drivers in Ontario, but maybe it’s just the RCMP and provincial police or whoever does traffic enforcement. Everyone drives slow. Maybe just a Thunder Bay thing?

The worst drivers I’ve ever observed were in Iraq. When your driving is bad enough to get you lit up by belt fed MG’s you done fucked up A-A-Ron.

 

Highly unadvisable as they're all like that!

 

I once had a Durango with AWD, it worked well. All this talk makes me wonder, how in God's snowy wintery weather did our parents and grandparents make it? They actually had to drive according to the weather conditions and either like it or stay home. The nerve!!

 

I said this a few weeks ago but I drove from Connecticut to Missouri during the Great Blizzard of '82 in my 1970 Cutlass Supreme with the 350 V8,because thats what we called them back then with nothing but the Bias Ply Bologna Skins that I used everywhere!

There were no Radials or AT tires but just some 4x4 Trucks and truck variants known as SUVs back then and only they had gnarly tires,Mostly Muddeers too.

Now you could get Snow tires and also studded ones but I couldn't get them and I had no real trouble on the drive?

It was not like there were a lot of options then.

 

The "4 Auto" feature found in most of these trucks mentioned works as I described, and is what most folks are familiar with. I'm sure this contributes to the misinformation as most know this feature on the Chevys and Fords. The vast majority of those trucks are not equipped with a fulltime 4wd transfer case such as the Torsen in the Sequoia.

 

As noted all but Toyota and I am not sure about Nissan. Never been in or driven one of those.
Not sure what year they generally started but My 2000 Silverado 1500 has it and every truck or SUV I have had since both Ford and GM had it.

I have said it before and will continue to say it. I love my Tundra more than any other truck/SUV I have had (quite a few) and my two complaints (though not big enough for me not to buy another Tundra) are that these trucks don’t have an auto 4wd option and no true Limited Slip differential.

I have many many many hours on the driving pad going way back to my first 1997 Crown Vic up till they were discontinued, the the AWD Taurus and Explorers, and now have a 2020 Tahoe and I promise you the Auto 4x4 absolutely will save your butt over 2wd.
I intentionally set out to test it on the pad when I got the Tahoe I did the same course 1st in Auto 4x4, and was very very surprised at how much faster and controlled I was able to do the course both wet and dry compared to the exact same course in 2wd, then 2wd with all traction control and stability assistance turned on.
That Auto 4x4 absolutely will save your but rolling compared to 2wd.
I never was able to safely push the Tahoe to the point of loosing control on our pad. 2wd was able to a couple of times but it still handled very well for as big as it is, and we’ll 2wd with all the nannies turned off yeah I lost it quite a bit and once I for sure thought I was going to roll it and certainly made it to 2 wheels.

But you are also correct that a true AWD system like the newer Explorers and the Taurus have/had is far superior to the trucks system.

Actually he is 100% correct because he is referring to the systems in the GMs, Ford’s, and Dodge/Rams.
They work nothing like Toyota’s system.

 

Yes, all of them except for the Tundra and maybe the Titan(idk on the titan)

Except what you described is incorrect. The 4Auto in the GM, Ford and Ram half tons uses a clutch controlled transfer case that varies torque to the front wheels on the fly anywhere from 0-50%. My 2014 F150(yes its 7 years old now) has it and has a display on the gauge cluster that shows me exactly how much power is being distributed to the front tires in real time. I can be driving in a straight line on dry pavement and the front tires will get power when i hit the gas.

https://www.borgwarner.com/newsroom...-wheel-drive-transfer-case-for-the-ford-f-150

 

They do not work like the Toyota system but he is also not correct. They are a clutched AWD system just like on the Explorers and Taurus you mentioned, except the clutched axle is the front instead of the rear.

 

Serious question here: In Canada do the rules of the road state that the slower traffic stay in the left hand lane?

The reason for the question is I see a lot of Canadians driving down here in FL in the winter months and they have this thing about being in the left lane and driving as slow as they can. They have no clue and sure don't understand the rules of the road in our country.

I guess that's better than seeing them from time to time driving on the wrong side of the road. Blue hairs can hardly see over the steering wheel and gonna end up getting someone killed.

 

I've heard everyone on the 401 in Ontario does at least 85 mph regardless of how bad the weather is.