Downhill assist

Ok, I don't really get the point of the downhill assist. I figured it was for helping you slow down on steep hills. But who goes down a step hill on L4? I was going down a ramp in a garage the other day and thought it would be nice to regulate my speed with dac, but remembered you had to be in L4. I never put my truck in L4 when I am on dry surfaces

 

methinks you don't know how tired your feet get navigating down --miles-- of steep
bony logging roads at walking speed. 1) there are miles of roads like these 2) you do get tired feathering the brakes
all day

it's nice to just steer down this crap. oh sure you can go
faster but then you end up slamming front end junk into rocks

 

Yeah, I get it. But what I don't get is the L4 part. Normally, going down miles of steep mountains, it would be great to use this, but so you really want to put your truck in L4 on dry, curvy roads?

 

Ive tried it a few times while offroading. works decent. When on very steep downhills offroad, I am in 4LO, in 1st gear. engine does most of the braking. on highways steep downhill grades, (in 2 hi) I will shift down to 4, or even 3 to regulate speed. save brakes

 

it's not for 'roads'

it's for trails that barely qualify as roads and has lots of rocks and ditches.

believe me your feet ache after the first 1/2 hour. dh assist lets you rest your
feet a whole lot more than engine braking will

 

I tested mine in NW Arkansas following a semi using his jack brake, going down some long steep roads. Tucked in behind him at 50mph and just steered down, worked great. I hate to ride my brakes. Where I live it won't get used.

 

It's a feature only available on the Off-Road model and is designed to keep your truck below 15mph on very steep grades on tough terrain. This isn't a system for highways or even most pavement. Think more logging trails down a steep mountain.

EDIT: Meant 5mph but a rogue 1 slipped in there. Plenty of corrections below.

 

Ah, gotcha! That makes sense then.

 

Really? Because it holds your truck at 3 mph in low range ... mine won't let the truck get anywhere near 15 mph

 

3mph for L4? I knew that it held it there when you have the locker on, but I don't think that it holds it there in L4 alone with the DAC engaged. I could be wrong though.

 

That's what it does , locker or not . For what it's worth you can go any speed with the locker engaged

 

DAC is 5mph. Says right in the book

L4 for use on the trail, does a good job at keeping the truck in a straight line in a controlled speed. On REAL steep stuff, L4 1st and DAC on keeps things nicely under control.

 

no.

 

DAC only works in 4lo with zero driver inputs on the brake and gas pedals. It controls wheel speed and is different than just riding your brakes down a hill since it controls each wheel independently to reduce skidding on loose surfaces.

It also makes a lot of noise and is great for freaking out passengers.

 

Glad I posted, and got an education. Thanks guys, won't be doing that again.

 

Was the DAC on dash light solid or blinking?

 

I really can't remember, I was in 4th being in steep mountains, not OD.

edit: After reading this, went and read the manual. In 2H DAC won't work, so it did nothing that day.

Thanks again.

 

I tried it out once coming down a steep rocky grade, probably 25 or 30 degree slope. I was already in 4Lo and it makes the most sense for it to work at that speed. There are some videos on Youtube describing its function from one of the Toyota engineers at SEMA or something when they set up a mock hill of dirt to showcase the capabilities of the TRD Pro models.

 

I've heard the brakes do their thing, spooked me a little at first. Sitting in very soft sand, in 4lo using A-Trac, pulled a guy out that was buried deep. Tires dug down and the brakes started chattering, felt like it was going around the truck, then she started moving on out holding the throttle steady. Impressed me.