Toyota 4Runner vs Land Cruiser - Which 4WD System Is Best?

As a professional tech, I think you should cover a planetary gear set with a whole video of its own. Sun gear is its gear count, ring gear is its gear count, planetary carrier is the the effective gear count of the sun plus the ring. This arrangement based on one member input, one member held and the other output can yield underdrive, overdrive, forward, reverse. You should do a whiteboard video to describe the various applications of a planetary gearset itself on the automotive industry. I think so many laypersons do not understand the basic concept of planetary gears. The Toyota Synergy drive is probably the most genius/simple transmission ever designed. As a heavy truck tech, we have planetary wheel ends and 2 speed rear axles using planetary gearsets. I think the general public would greatly benefit from your explanation of how these gearsets work. Love your work! Keep it coming!!!

Even when I have no need to know the subject matter, in this case why 2 vehicles have 2 different 4wd, I like how Jason explains stuff… and painlessly stuff more knowledge into my brain.

Fantastic explanation Jason! Well needed for the Toyota off-road community, especially the torque split misconception.

Finally a good video combining all the knowledge into one. This is like hundreds of pages of 4Runner vs GX vs 200 vs Tacomas forums consolidated into one video.

Jason with Engineering Explained and Ryan at FortNine are two of the best teachers of both Automotive and Motorcycle Engineering on Youtube. Only difference is Ryan slides in some slick humour. Both are amazing at what they do.

Is it just me or are other viewers excited when the white board gets revealed in one of these videos? I am always waiting through the intro to see what Jason has in store for me on the white board. This one is a GREAT one!

In South Africa, the Landcruiser only comes with a 2.8 litre turbodiesel engine, also found in the Hilux. It's got something like 500 Nm of torque from as low as 1200 rpm. It's awesome!

I love this guy. He takes the incomprehensible and makes it almost understandable. 😁. Seriously, this is a great channel. Even in a case like this where the answer is obvious, it is fun to learn the reasons and understand why.

3rd gen 4Runners hsd a lovely multimode transfercase option. It was 4x2, push of a button gave you AWD open center differential that waa shiftable into AWD low range which was extremely handy backing trailers with surge brakes up steep driveways and thrn you could lock the center differential for a true 50/50 locked center diff in high or low range. This option was carried over into the V6 4th gen 4x4s and then disconnected for the 5th gen.

This is actually an amazing video; I've always wondered about how AWD/4WD is implemented and if you extrapolate from this video it really makes a lot of sense. Really appreciated the no-slip torque split explanation; I always wondered how that's implemented.

What many don't realize is that the 4th gen 4runner had everything available at its disposal, but only in the V6 models. You could select 2hi, 4hi, 4lo. And since selecting the Torsen center diff was independent of whether it was in 4hi or 4lo, you could technically run in AWD Lo and never bind. It was the best of all worlds, but my guess is Toyota had to simplify it because most people didn't understand how it worked. Many still get the new systems confused which have less to choose from.

Keep same pace! I love that you get through a lot of content in as little as time as possible.

Jason, You make understanding these subjects FUN! Thank you.

I finally understood torsen differentials, what a great video 👍

The Toyota full-time system with the Torsen center differential is phenomenal. I have owned a 2011 GX460 and now have a 2018 LX570 and love this setup. My favorite part is the ability to put it in 4Lo with the center diff unlocked. It make parking and maneuvering my 5500 lb trailer super easy without binding. The fact that Toyota has not expanded this system in this new generation of trucks, particularly not putting it into the Tundra, and completely removing it from the Sequoia(which had full-time since it came out in 2001 MY) is very disappointing.

Dude... Next level explanation & top shelf presentation! My favorite YT channel for years and continues to up the game. So impressive.

Hats off to you for this video!!! The level of detail and explanation really helped me conceptualize the differences in application and function.

that's why i love my Mitsu Shogun. Great explanations, Jason, as always.

eyes glazed over appreciate all the time and effort for this explanation -- but holy cow that's a lot

It was great to see your inclusion of the Car & Driver article. I've always loved the way they break down automotive tech. Which, come to think of it, is probably why I really like your videos.