I'm not 16 anymore-Why does my 4Runner act like I am?

I recently bought an '03 4runner Sport with 2wd and the 4.6 V8. It was reasonably priced into a range where I would buy it because it smells like dog and had some traction control lights on . I didn't worry much about the traction control lights because I assumed it will be an easy fix and I plan an interior refresh. It is amusingly quick for a big honkin truck and amazingly willing to light up the inside rear tire if I try to pull out in traffic. I was amused and chalked it up to an open diff and lack of traction control until I tried to drive the beast in the first rain we have had in a while. First I pull into traffic in a moderately tight spot and try to accelerate and have to pedal it up to about 45-50mph while working through wheelspin to try to accelerate at a reasonable rate. I chalk that up to oily roads and not being used to 2wd and make my way towards work thinking I need to take it very very easy. About 15 min later I am on a two lane road at about 35 mph on a very gradual uphill and not even thinking about accelerating and all of the sudden I am breaking traction and the left front is ready to cross the center line into the school bus in the opposite lane and the right rear is hunting for the edge of the road. I was busy correcting while worrying about the both the buss to the left and the right rear going off into the dirt and pulling me towards the ditch. Fortunately I straightened it out without hitting anything but it shook me a bit.

The truck drives straight and doesn't feel like anything is broken or moves around oddly in the suspension when I'm driving. It's moderately powerful but not goofy amounts of powerful where it should break the tires loose at will. The tires are 5 years old but not lacking in tread and not the cheapest tires ever made.  I'm not 16 and trying to spin the tires in my 54hp '77 Accord. What is going on with this thing? 

Did Toyota just intentionally build a drift machine?

I had an 08 4Runner (4WD), but generally ran it in 2WD and never experienced any of those issues, even with the garbage Dunlop AT20 stock tires on it, even in heavy rain, gravel roads, etc. In snow the traction control was a bit more intrusive than I like it, but that's part of the ATRAC system. When it's slipping you basicaly just put the pedal to the floor and it'll vector power and hook up. I dont' remember ever spinning the tires in 2WD on wet roads, and I tend to be pretty heavy on the pedal from a stop.

But sounds like on yours something is up - a computer or sensor tripping the TC or something and telling the TCS that you're slipping when you're not, and so using the ABS to brake certain wheels. Definitely something to get checked ASAP (to state the obvious). Because unexpected swerves into oncoming traffic isn't a good thing...

Alignment?

Ours is an ‘06 V8 2wd and I’ve never experienced anything even remotely like that. In fact, I don’t recall tripping the traction control ever. 

You should spend some time on the 4Runner forum. It’s incredibly helpful. 

I had my rear diff partially disassemble its self once, it would one wheel peel at will.   This was in an 89 4runner  with the 3.0 V6 and an automatic.  The shop that set the gears for me refused to take responsibility for it and blamed it on the locker.  

Sounds like bad tires to me. 

Tires.

Yep, I also had an '08 V8 4Runner, never came across any of these issues.

I’ll ad to the chorus, tires.

Specifically, while they may look ok they sound old, dry, and hard.  Check the date code and let us know.  I’m betting 10 years old.

I'm gonna blame the tires.  What are they and what's the date code?  

FWIW, on wet pavement, the difference between decent all-terrains and a proper summer tire in my Jeep is the difference between WOT in a straight line at 55 - 60 stepping the tail out and WOT at 15 - 20 being totally uneventful with no wheelspin.  Heck, even my snow tires hook up better on pavement than any of the all terrians I've ever run.  

Traction control light is on.    Fix the problem.

iceracer said:

Traction control light is on.    Fix the problem.

But no traction control shouldn't make the thing a drift machine.  Especially if others are saying they have to really try to get the traction control to do anything anyway.  

Tom Suddard said:

Sounds like bad tires to me. 

yes, been there, done that. I had a uhaul rental van once that would not go up a hill in the rain. I made it to the stopsign at the top, stopped, waited till traffic was clear, hit the gas.. and it tried to slide down backwards. Hard commecial rubber was the culprit. Your's is probably cheap and old tyres that are past their use by date

I dunno...I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with the tires. 

My first thought was to ask if they're mud tires, because mud tires are hilariously sidewaystastic on wet pavement compared to ATs or street tires.

Tires. 

I think the question first is: what tires are on it, how much tread, and what year?

But that still doesn't explain the TCS light on, which could be activating TCS at individual wheels when driving straight because of whatever is causing the issue. That would explain the swerving and stuff. 

Any time one tire is spinning and the other one isnt, you're going to have some 'steering' force imparted on the vehicle. If the opposite tire that isn't spinning has decent lateral traction, you'll go mostly straight. If the other tire is just as E36 M3ty as the one that's spinning, you'll have a more pronounced steering effect/thrust angle/whatever you want to call it. 

Just replace the tires. 

Tires are 2013 if I'm reading this right:

I played with the traction a bit this morning on the way in. The roads are significantly less slick than they were that morning. I goosed it a bit on that same section without traffic around and it stepped out again. I  filmed a mild example where I was turning and accelerating from a stop because I didn't feel like drifting one handed. I wanted to show how easy it spins one tire but looks like I would have to upload the video elsewhere to post it.

2013.. those tyres are about aged out