A place for more technical discussions. Please make sure you post in the correct section on the site, this way it keeps the site tidy AND ensures you get a more relevant answer.
The ATB sends equal torque to both wheels, if one wheel is spinning freely (0 torque) then the other wheel will get the same...... It is not a diff locker..
Fiddle brakes will allow me to brake the spinning wheel (thereby adding torque) and give the stationary wheel drive, through the ATB..... What the gen 4 ABS gizmo does but smoother...
The electronics allow a novice driver to make safe progress on quite rough ground..... When the going gets very tricky, the jerky nature of the gizmo's is not the best..... Most modern 4x4's are the same... Capable but not pretty to watch, unless you know how to use them.....
I had an Eaton Tru-Trac in the rear diff. of my LC and Eaton recommended that a quick dab on the footbrake or a yank on the h/brake would activate the diff. if you had a wheel in the air. Basically a fiddle brake situation without the complication of a fiddle brake system.
Dabbing the brakes does get some power across the ATB but it is a last ditch (excuse pun) tool, you are braking both wheels and there is only a small point where power is given to the stationary wheel, before it's own braking, cancels it out.... You can do it on open diffs to some extent, Jack is a master of left foot braking on open diffs whilst trialling, in the hunt for grip.
With my handbrake on my transfer case, very simple fiddle brakes will give perfect control of the power being applied to the stationary wheel. Giving all of the on road benefits of the ATB plus (and a very big +) that of a clutch controlled, diff locker, off road..... Add to that a tiny turning circle and it will be a very worthwhile modification and way smoother than the jerky nature of electronic 4x4.
I would suggest that every Jimny driver, drive a car fitted with an ATB, regardless of generation or type of use. They really do bring a lot to the table, especially if you are a "spirited" driver......
sniper
The following user(s) said Thank You: jackonlyjack
Not knocking fiddle brakes at all, but they can still be jerky to use and more prone to human error. As you'll never be able to react as fast as the computer does.
Also when sitting in a vehicle is can be very difficult to actually tell which wheel is spinning. So I think most people tend to pull both levers and then yank them back and forth in the hope of it providing more traction. Which it normally will, but isn't exactly graceful and a little ham fisted in its use and approach. Also, the TCS shouldn't really be that jerky, at least none that I've used or driven with.
Brake steering is something very different, which they are very good for.
Fiddle brakes... jerky? .... can't see how unless the person controlling the levers has the DT's...... hydraulics are generally smooth....
Not reacting as quick as the computer is a positive thing in the situation described.....
I can usually tell which wheel will spin before I enter the obstacle... certainly once traction is lost..... especially if a wheel is lifted.
I've escorted a novice driver go over Gatescarth Pass in a gen4 press car, more jerky than a jerky thing, across a rocky technical trail..... drove a little myself and it was an automaton... keep throttle on and it will compute progress, not pretty... but it works.....
I'm surprised as an owner that you disagree, maybe you haven't had real need for the drive systems to intervene much, when you have been off road.... Up a 40deg rocky incline with hairpin switchbacks, it did and it was not smooth at all....
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