Traction is everything when we go 4wding. Suspension, tyres, speed..are all factors that can help you increase your traction.
Among them, traction control and diff lock are ultimate tools to help increase your traction. They may come with your vehicle already in a lot of modern 4wd.

Do you think traction control is better or worse then diff lock on a 4wd? Tell us what you think.

Hey Kelvin, 

My GU patrol (2015) has traction control and factory rear locker. The traction control is a piece of s**t. Cuts all power and drive which results in  the vehicle stalling out (a known issue with the GU apparently), instead of distributing power to other wheels and keeping momentum. So I switch it off when off road and utilise the rear locker when required. Now researching a front locker for future install. 

regards

Nick. 

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The D3 has a special programs list which provides multiple terrain options (sand, mud, rock climbing etc.). Rock climbing mode is awesome on the D3 but I also have an electronic locking diff that senses traction loss and cuts in to assist. It acts very much like an air locker. It makes a massive difference when it kicks in going uop steep spurs in the high country.

The D3 has DSC and unless you turn that off when off-roading the special program traction control list will be underpowered. I'm using multiple forms of traction control 90% of the time with the rear diff kicking in as required. I find they're complimentary rather than one or the other.

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I have a 2011 Jeep Wrangler Jk, traction control does nothing once your in the mud, the terrain response however does do a fantastic job and is almost just as good as the front and rear e-lockers I have. But it comes down to the fact that the wheels with no traction spin briefly before the terrain response kicks in, hence why lockers will allows be the better option.

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Nothing beats the traction of lockers, though it comes at a price of handling. Can also boot you sideways into rocks and other obstacles. Personally I use them as a last resort. The traction control in my FJ is brilliant on a lot of different surfaces and I pretty much have it engaged constantly when off road. The greatest thing is it won't cause you to drift which can put you and the vehicle at great risk.

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I have TC and diff lock on the rear. The TC is crap in most harder climbs. As pervious reply said in requires wheel spin for the system to activate. Backing up and activating the diff lock the Challenger just walks up the same track. Diff locks for me.

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Traction control is a difficult topic.

Being a 4WD instructor with access to an obstacle course I've seen very different results in a controlled environment. 

Firstly, there are 2 different types of traction control:

a) engine traction control - the one that prevents rear wheels spinning on wet road if you put the foot down too much at the lights - that needs to be off when 4WDing

b) traction control, that prevents individual wheels from spinning - depending on make/model/age - they range from useless to awesome.

Depending on your 4WD, traction controll might only work on rear wheels or all 4 wheels. If you have factory rear lockers & rear wheel traction control - you can only have one on at the same time. Best results seems to be 4 wheel traction control with optional rear locker, where when you turn on rear locker the traction control still works for front wheels.

From my expirence on the obstacle course I have to say it's about finding out how the systems works and a bit of try and error until you find the best combination of traction aids for the different situations. 

I had once a new Ford Ranger - 6 speed auto with traction control and rear locker and on of the obstacles which in an old school 4WD you would drive 2nd low + rear locker, the only way for the Ranger was "D", high range + traction control - but it did it really well. Was a big surprise and the last combination we tried.

A bit of warning to people fitting after market lockers in newish 4WDs that come factory with ABS and/or traction control - make sure you fully understand how your factory systems work to not break stuff. For example a 70 series Landcruiser GXL comes with factory lockers, when you turn locker on, it automatically turns ABS off - if you put aftermarket lockers in the workmate version (no factory lockers), it will not automatically turn ABS off (you need to do some extra wiring that is not part of the normal locker installation)

hope that helps a bit

Cheers

Andre

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You'll NEVER, I repeat "NEVER" hear anyone with lockers say "it's as good as traction control".

That would be damning lockers....

But you'll here the T/C crowd crowing "it's a good as a locker".

Lockers win hands down.

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I like the absolute control of Diff Lockers. Traction control is very hit and miss. Reportedly, the Volkswagen Amarok and some new Toyota's have good programming to make it work well. But, with the vehicles I have owned, I never found it any good at all.

Jeep - Wheels would need to spin first before traction control kicked in. Usually by then, you have lost momentum and continue to struggle.

DMax (current shape) - Useless. It never really knew what to do. It would bounce, cut engine power, rattle, apply the brakes - it was just useless.

My new Ranger PX MKII does work pretty well. I especially like the hill decent control and that you can control the speed of decent. But when in doubt - I put the rear locker on and just power through. Haven't been stuck yet (which means I am not trying hard enough). But compared to the other 4WD vehicles I have owned, the Ranger feels pretty effortless in the tough stuff (Vic High Country). And with the MKII, the traction control to the front wheels remains active even when the rear diff locker is engaged - so you get the benefits of both.

Just my 2c.

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Having just moved from a 4wd ute with rear locker (no T/C) and now having purchased a Land rover discovery 2 with full T/C I'd personnaly say Traction all the way for most things.......

 As with all things there is so much difference between systems, manufactuers etc...  but the land rover off-road traction control system was the first on the market and still is far beyond the pack......

 Our disco is now 14 years old, so the system is certainly not cutting edge but it performs very well in the high country on some of the hardest tracks where the old beast would have had more wheel slip and would need more right foot to tackle,  there is a very different driving style that has to be adopted with the T/C over the lockers and I'm sure that having both would be and ideal setup to pick and choose what was needed but with the current computing power on modern 4x4's there is no match for T/C,  the human brain just can't (and right foot) perform as well or anywhere near as quick as a computer!!!..... The old system on the disco for example is basic and works off the abs system so has down sides but it can react to a spinning wheel within a 1/4 turn which in turn sends power to the other side and works almost as a locker would just with out the loss of control (side-ways slip etc...).

 T/C for me

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Very interesting to read every ones thoughts and experience. My Navara 2013 (auto) came with factory T/C I think it's magic I can't compare to lockers cos I've never had them but on some trips I've been on others without T/C have had to use momentum where my T/C will idle the car up and through obstacles  I guess that's no fun if you like bashing crashing and potentially breaking things  anyways lockers and traction control is cheating haha 

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