When I was shopping for a 99, the majority of the ones I inquired about did not have it. I had to contact the sellers to ask; most did not know and I had to have them look for the switch.

 

Went through the same thing when looking for my 98. Made me start thinking about how many 40 year olds are driving around in 3rd gens that they bought new and the locker has never even been actuated because they had no idea what that little orange button did. I started to tear up and had to take my mind off that sad story.

 

Its probably more like 1 out of 10 HAS the locker. I have a 99 ltd without locker. 95% of buyers of a 4runner limited probably have no need or desire for one either. I got my 4runner for a great price , and regardless of price i wouldn't look at it like i got screwed because i didn't get one , i would just consider myself lucky if i did. There is many more important deciding factors i could think of when buying a 4runner than the locker. When i was looking for a 99 limited when i bought mine i didnt see many with the elock

 

I've seen you do it

 

Hey JWaldz,

I have a guess - the original owner didn't want the rear foot heater that the dealers were making you buy when you had the locking rear diff.

I say that because that is what I went through back in '99 when I bought my 4Runner. I wanted the locking rear diff, but all of the Limited's that I found with the locking rear diff also had the rear foot heater. What a scam! Why do I care if the folks in the back seat have cold feet....they don't need warm feet. They aren't the ones making the payments!!! :o)

My locking rear diff has been used much more than the rear foot heater. Life is all about trade-offs, no?

Steve.

 

I don't think deleting the rear heat would have saved you any money anyways. Since its all build on an assy line, my guess is that it would have cost extra to have them special make it anyways.

 

No rear foot heater would've saved me ~$150. But, you're right on the money with your thought that making the Limited with e-locker and no rear foot heater is cheaper to produce and track.

I've worked at the HQ's for Nissan, Toyota and Honda doing some programming on the parts, vehicles, finance systems. It is amusing to see how they group options together into these 'value' packages. You want heated seats, you also get a roof rack, etc. Without doing this, though, you'd have too many combinations to deal with on an assembly line.

Their thinking is that someone willing to pay $35k for a vehicle is going to be ok with spending an extra $150 for a useless option. Having that foot heater made it a little cumbersome when I took the center console out to adjust my parking brake. But, I still wouldn't want to imagine taking the 4Runner offroad without the e-locker...

Steve.

 

well, weird cus I do have the rear heater, haha. I got it from the used lot at the Toyota Dealership. I couldn't pass up the deal on it though bc it was a great price. At least I know that if I get stuck offroad somewhere my rear passengers feet will be nice and toasty

 

Side not, I have rear heat in my base model.........might be getting rid of it when i build myself a center console.

Awwwww why not

 

I'd bet a paycheck that the rear heat is much more desirable than the locker. I'd love to have the locker but to be honest - since 2001 - I have only wished i had on once.

And I do love the rear heat - it keeps the kids toasty and lets them adjust how much heat they get.

 

I think the rear heat and locker were regional options since I've seen alot of the Limiteds with both here in Colorado. My mom has one in her '99 LTD but I make sure a few times a year she engages the locker so she hopefully won't have issues with it.

My truck is a Cali truck and while it does have the locker it doesn't have rear heat which really isn't too big a deal plus I had room under the passenger seat for my amp.

 

Weird, i saw a 99 SR5 w/a locker and also a 99 LTD w/o. Im not sure what toyota was thinking. Iv seen Tacos with them. You could always try to find a wire diagram and put a factory one in, by going to a junk yard and pulling an axle.

My 96 has one, did the gray wire mod for toyota 4runners. So nice, i use it in 2Hi, but ill tell you what, i think i found the reason to use it only in 4Lo, its already almost gottn me stuck

 

I was there when we bought the 97 limited. The limited had 4 options:sunroof, rear heater, premium radio and diff lock. All the ones in our region had all options on them but the diff lock. We wanted the diff lock, but was told only 10 percent of them had it. We would have had to wait many months to get one with the locker. Fact is many people who buy these never will use the diff lock.

 

when you engage the locker how does it drive like. in my 4 year owning my limited 984x4 i have never touch the locker bottom