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mjm previously said:
I have been reading for a few weeks and just recently signed up to post. I have pretty much decided on getting rid of my old truck and picking up the TTSE version of the fj cruiser after test driving one the other day, just depends on how quick I can sell my old truck (It's a thrilling tale of adventure and high intrigue, honest  ).
Eventually, say a year or so, I will probably replace a lot of the stock skids/etc with aftermarket but for the moment I don't have time to monkey with it and it would be nice to have it for when I want to take a weekend to do some offroading or exploring, some of the options that come standard with the package are appealing and will save me some work too and I just like the color because its pretty nondescript. Eventually it will probably make its way into the expedition capable category as I become more of a hermit.
Having owned both all time four wheel drive and part time four wheel drive vehicles in the past and having only been able to test drive the automagic version of the FJ, I have a few questions about the different transmissions. I think that the standard is all time four wheel drive (even if the dealers don't  ) and the auto is part time four wheel drive.
I would prefer all time four wheel drive because mostly when I realize I need it part time it generally wont engage because im stuck and my experience is that all time four wheel drive is generally a bit beefier than part time simply because it has to deal with always being on instead of only being meant for short durations.(my experience here is with an old jeep cherokee where the truck had to be moving to engage it and a newer g500 where its always on and you can lock all three diffs which was nice but overkill for what I was doing even then the truck still had to be rolling for them to lock) But I also like the convenience of the automatic (I do not tow things often so that is not a concern really). The control afforded by the standard is appealing. I haven't been able to find much information other than marketing on the particulars of the different systems.
Basically what I need are some informed oppinions on the pros/cons of the standard vs the automatic that go beyond the obvious.
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Welcome to the Forum you will find everything you want to know and more here and we have some great people here as well. You are right that the auto is RWD (rear wheel drive) the Manual is AWD (all wheel drive) with a locking center diff. When you lock the center diff (HL or LL) it splits the power to the front and rear evenly.
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mjm previously said:
Is the full time prone to breakage more than the part time?
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Non that I have seen
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mjm previously said:
Does it affect gas mileage more than slightly?
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there is a difference the MT get a little less. I average for city driving about 12-13mpg (I do not drive slow though).
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mjm previously said:
Is the full time four wheel drive really just alternating corners and three wheeldrive with the rear axle locked (jeeps are like this)?
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It is a 60 40 split. 60% to the rear and 40% to the front. The diffs are open (not locked) so really it is 2 wheel drive (one front and one rear at a time). Also I doubt the jeeps are locked in the rear on the street. If they were the inside rear tire would be make all kinds of noise while you turned.
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mjm previously said:
Marketing info is not good at the specifics of if the rear is limited slip or a locker, I am pretty sure its limited slip but confirmation is good.
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there is a optional Rear E-locker this is a locker not a limited slip. You can only engage this in 4L(auto) or LL(MT) unless you hack. I have hacked mine and can turn it on in H, HL & LL (2 wheel drive/awd, 4 high and 4 low)
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mjm previously said:
Basically I am looking for informed oppinions on which transmission is better overall and why you think so? I don't have enough information to make a decision. Any help is appreciated since I can't really find the info I need, even the 'read the stickies' would be great provided you point me in the direction of the right sticky<br>
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The auto will be easer to drive off road but the MT has a little lower gearing.
