Crawl Mode

I’m currently sitting in the local Toyota dealership waiting for my 20,000 mile checkup. I also told the service advisor that when I put it in crawl, it makes a terrible noise in the front end. I was just told that this is “normal noise in Crawl Mode”. I find this very hard to believe! I told him to be sure and document my concerns and their response to the noise. Anyone else have issues? Oh, I have a ‘24 TRD Pro.

 

Absolutely normal. Crawl control is very loud and sounds like the truck is falling apart because it is using the ABS system to pulse the brakes among other things.

Newer generations (LC, 4R) have much quieter systems although it can still be heard

 

Normal mall controller noise. It’s the ABS manifold and master cylinder working and they’re mounted on the firewall. It even says in the manual that it’s loud.

 

That would require actually opening it to know this.

 

Crawl control is the most disturbing sound ever for something "normal" in a vehicle. If it didn't work so well it would be hard to justify using it.

I guess its like the first time doing CPR/chest compressions as a paramedic and realizing breaking ribs is common if you are doing it properly.

 

I mess with it occasionally and then stop because it's so fooking loud! Especially at the lowest setting.

 

Yeah I'm glad I had seen videos of it making this noise prior to getting a 4runner or I would have freaked out the first time I heard it in action

 

Sounds like sneakers in a dryer!

 

If that ******CM func. was an option at purchase, I would have said NayNay to that bs.
Just let me drive the thing.

 

I read it actually, but I had now idea it was THAT loud. Thanks for the replies!!!

 

^With my Tacoma, I used Crawl Control once in a parking lot for novelty back in 2019, then never bothered with it again on the trails. Just left foot brake if you need to modulate your speed smoothly off road.

 

Don’t say that on FB because the fanboys will curse you into oblivion. They believed the demo Toyota put on.

 

^The sand extraction demo? That's about the only situation where Crawl Control works. I've never been that stuck in sand unless it's a steep slope, in which case simply backing down was never an issue.

 

I watched like 3 of those demos from various people. Not toyota. And holy heck when I got stuck in sand crawl control got me right out. Worked just like the demos.

Other than that, not a lot of use. Glad I had it that one time though

 

Crawl control is emblematic of what's wrong with off road vehicles today, we are not too far off from autonomous off road driving and take the driver out of the equation altogether.


For me half the fun of off roading is feathering the throttle at the right time to gain momentum when needed and let the truck bleed speed when needed. But hey, that's just me being weird, I also like to shift my own gears.

 

We had an steep hill climb with rock/sand, in 4LO I had a pretty tough time, turned on Crawl Control to 'try it', it had a better time than I did 'manually', I guess back to the original question... ya, it's louder than hell, obnoxious, sounds like something is really wrong mechanically.

 

I gotta stop reading this stuff before I go to bed.
Last night I had this crazy dream that I was driving around my parents’ neighborhood — somehow all muddy and crappy — and using crawl control to do it!

 

Looking back at all of the vehicles that my Dad used to have, I can only remember one that had an automatic. And that was a Citroën.
I believe that if ToMoCo offered a manual in the 4R, Tacoma and Tundra line, there would be another sub-category on this forum.
And bring back the classic FJ-40/43/45. But I also can't see spending $80k on a 2-door P/U. Yes, a 2-door.

 

One of the big changes about slow speed technical driving is that since the 90s people overwhelmingly prefer autos for crawling because it is easier and less likely to fry a clutch. That is all true, the burden now falls on the torque converter to absorb the stress of motor versus tire speed differential, and as a result any binds stopping tires are dramatically dulled. As a result today the failure would manifest itself in other places like CV axles, hubs, etc other weak points.

One of the posts above mention using brake at the same time to get out of sand and such. Funny enough that's what the clutch used to be used for, with a manual in 1st gear and transfer case in 4 low, the gear reduction is so great that you don't even need to apply throttle at idle and one could feather the clutch to pinpoint the bite point on the edge of stuck and getting going. Is that fun? Certainly to me, but probably not for everyone.

Sonofabitch, brb, gonna look for a CJ for my next project rig.

 

I would only argue that the crawl control intelligently applied brakes to individual tires and at appropriate amounts to get out of sand which is different that the clutch in a manual.

Where i was lightly giving it gas and just getting more stuck the crawl control crawled right out. Its just a little more insurance. Not for everything. Not for most things. Just a dash of insurance. I cant really think of anything its good for other than getting out of sand. Well, with it is SOOOO bumpy that you cant keep consisten lt pressure on the gas I then will just put crawl control on until we get out of thay section.

 

Here is a thought exercise: if rear axle locker is engaged, is crawl control still applying brakes to each individual rear wheel and how does that differ than applying parking brake?

In the old days that's what made the hand brake on some of the LC and J250 variants so great. If you feel like your rear is slipping, you can leave the transmission in 1st, transfer case in low, feather the clutch, left hand on the steering wheel, and see if the tire is biting or slipping, then use the right hand to modulate the hand brake to the rear if you feel the rear is slipping. If your front is slipping, your right foot can feather the brake pedal to bring the slip down. If you want to get fancy you can even do heel-toe in a 4x4.

A lot of the use cases of the crawl control is due to 4x4 people no longer understand

(1) how weight transfer and traction works. Why worry about that if you can push a button
(2) how differential locks work. "help. why is my diff lock icon flashing even though I pushed the button?"
(3) why loss of manual parking brakes is beyond just being able to hold the car when parking on an incline "you don't have to worry about it ever now on the 6th gen"
(4) why tires slip in the first place "ATRAC and Crawl control to the rescue! My TPMS warning is not lit so my tires are fine as it is"

I have driven in mud and sand all my life and have never needed any sort of electronics. Now people need crawl control just to get out of their beach sand parking. LOL.

 

LOL I seem to have hit a nerve here because dude you're all over the place and it seems a great number of people have frustrated you. I'm just saying if you accidentally get stuck in sand the way I stupidly did, crawl control might do a really good job of getting you out the way it got me right out. That's all.

 

Well, from your thoughtful response it seems you are the intended audience for Crawl Mode then. Enjoy.

 

Sorry I wasnt venting about all sorts of stuff taking my response in all sorts of directions. I try to come off an less unhinged.

 

Sure, just let the computer do the driving, couldn't be easier, got it. I bet you have fun watching the truck do its thing.

But hey, at least your trucks looks great with all those mods.

 

oh dude have you seen my truck? if you have thank you for saying it looks great. If not, here's some pics. Looks pretty good huh?

These were taken on Mt Patterson at 11,654 ft. I live at sea level about 260 miles away. Only took me 3 weeks to get there using crawl control.

 

I tried it a few times just to see how it worked. Never been stuck in sand yet.

 

I can't believe that back in the 80's and 90's all my 4WD Toyota trucks had open diffs (84 4Runner, 86 PU, 95 T100) and really never got stuck when hunting or wheeling. I did put a Detroit locker in the 86 and that thing would climb anything.
My point is, I think, we got all these traction devices( E-locker, A-trac {my fav}, Crawl control. We should never get stuck!

 

Rear axle locker engaged, crawl control engaged, are individual brakes applied to rear axle? No, wheel speed sensors are determining that both wheels are turning the same speed. I grew up using old school 4wd techniques and vehicles, most without lockers, posi-units etc., while I do not RELY on crawl control and the other technology that is in our 4Runners, it's something that came with it over years of research, why not try it out? It doesn't mean you have to rely on it, I know some do, but..

 

I think all those features taunt us into trying to get stuck.