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Hey, so Hawairish, I just stumbled on this thread and watched your videos. Here's my take on the issue. I don't think what you noticed has anything to do with the drive-by-wire system. It has everything to do with the torque converter and the insufficient low-range gearing of the stock transfer case. I don't know if you have the TX10 part time case or the TX14 full-time case, but neither t-rcase really has low-enough gearing for the kind of terrain and obstacles you are driving on. Before I installed my crawler gears into the TX10, I used two techniques to counter the poor performance in 4L on that type of terrain. First, I used the e-brake engaged part-way. This allows for controlled crawling up and over an obstacle without the quick and potentially damaging drop afterwards as the suspension compresses. You essentially drive using only the gas pedal, fighting both the obstacle's and the e-brake's resistance to tire rotation. Another technique I use (and still do, even with the crawler gears) is left-foot braking. I try to apply firm, but light consistent pressure on the brake while finessing the gas pedal. Don't let the obstacle determine how smoothly you make it over, let your feet do the "walking". That being said, if your off-roading will continue to involve obstacles such as the ones in your video, and you have the part-time transfer case, I would strongly recommend swapping out the 2.02:1 low-range gears for at least the 3.7:1 gears sold by 4x4parts.com. These totally transformed my enjoyment of rock-crawling over challenging terrain such as the stuff you're driving on. (Plus, they enabled me to actually crawl at high altitudes, where the 3.3L engine has only about 125HP.)

I was about to link you to Hawairish's thread until I saw you'd just commented there. IIRC RainGoat's running a Coastal, he might have some pictures up somewhere.

Sorry fellas, guess I hadn't been following this post. Yeah, the bumper bracket projects got put on hold while working some other projects. I may resurrect this project in 2020, since I'm planning to redo mine with plate style bumpers. I think that'd might open up some other options.

Totally appreciate that feedback. I'm in agreement with you that it does boil down to the gearing and torque converter at this point. I think I wanted to blame the responsiveness of the DBW system, but it's the entire crawl ratio of the truck. I've looked into AC's and Calmini's options. I have the TX10. I'm considering them, though it'll likely happen when there's more opportunity for it (there's a small RMS leak, so it's bound to need it). If my understanding is correct, the ACs don't require grinding the t-case housing for clearance, but the Calmini's do. Correct?

So that brings us up to speed. I'm currently measuring out a design for a custom front bumper. I initially just started designing the bumper itself, which wasn't a great idea. This is what i had come up with: A step in the right direction as far as design goes, but not useful in the slightest. So I finally pulled the front bumper off and looked at the mounts. I'll be designing my own mounts first, and after getting those to work fine, designing a skin for the outside. I'd probably have an actual design by now but I realized I was missing a measurement between the upper and lower mounting points. I'm designing my own bumper because I don't really like any of the available options. Coastal Offroad's option leaves all the front suspension open to debris, raccoons, and Midwest road salt. The ARB bumper is too damn expensive and hard to find, and any other option that I know of has questionable credibility. I need something for protection and ability to mount lights, neither of which the stock bumper has. (As evidenced by after me hitting a wooden post, there being a huge dent in the crash bar but no damage to the bumper cover.)

800 has been the sweet spot for the two that I’ve had Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got myself some new tires. Cooper Discovery AT3 4S. They're really good on the road, minimal noise and fairly good dry grip. Do pretty well in the rain as well. Haven't really gotten to try them out in anything worse than packed sand so I can't really speak for the off road performance but I think it'll be pretty good for a road-biased A/T. Sidenote: Does anyone with an aftermarket bumper like the Coastal Offroad one have pictures of how it mounts? Designing my own bumper and I wanna see examples.