4 cylinder towing 500 miles

I have a 2011 access cab tacoma prerunner automatic with a 4 cylinder. Im about to take a 500-600 mile from jonesboro, ar to central indiana with my honda rancher in a trailer behind me.. the four wheeler weighs 650 lbs, trailer I figure weighs 800 lbs . My family and gear in the truck weighs probably 500 lbs, and thats probably overshooting it a little. So trailer and atv weighs no more than 1400lbs, well under the 3500 towing capacity. Ive towed with the truck several times with no problem, but no more than 50 miles or so, NOT 1200 miles. My questions are, is it ok to tow it in D as long as im up to 70 miles an hour, I have no way of turning off overdrive, just shifting to 3rd gear and i really dont want to be doing 3200 rpms all the way to indiana! I do not have the trans cooler, no towing package, I had toyota install a hidden hitch frame mounted receiver hitch with 4 plug hookup....anybody make me feel better about this? p.s this is a somewhat flat drive, cruise control ok? as long as were on a flat long road

 

I dont see a problem, as long as you are towing most of the time on flat ground and with a properly placed/balanced load on your trailer. A lot of the times people will have problems cause of over loading which it sounds like you are not and of course not knowing how to load a trailer. If you know hot to load then the weight that you are going to haul sounds good

 

I'd be dropping the $100 bucks for a trans cooler.

 

I have a 2.7 I4 tacoma as well and towing with it is no problem. I tow 3500 daily because I tow a lawn service rig all around the hills of duluth. My milage goes way down, but the truck stays cool, and it hauls the weight around with little struggle. My truck is a stick, and its only a regular cab, but you wont have any issues. I have towed up to 6000lbs with this truck for short runs.

 

thanks for the responses, I can post my experience when i get back so the next guy knows he's good to go..

 

i have a first gen 5 speed, i hauled a trailer weighing a little more then 2k pounds 500 miles + over a steep grade. It did it just fine, couple things to remember. You will be slow as hell and you will suck more fuel then you ever imagined a 4cyl could. I did like 50-55 and got 15-20mpg Slow and steady will win the race and keep your truck alive

 

Took my 2.7 5-lug from Gainesville, FL to Philly towing a 5x8 U-haul trailer loaded with crap. Bed and cab were also pretty full.

Truck did fine. I wouldn't worry.

 

well, im back from my trip, the truck did great, felt very stable and under control, ride actually felt better with the weight. I got between 17.8 and 19.4 mpg..which is good considering the trailer I thought. It held interstate speed strong at 70-75 mph....kicking out of gear only a few times for bigger hills, I kept it in 3rd through town....I put it back in overdrive above 55 mph...did better than i expected through the hilly parts of indiana. It stayed cool and pulled strong.....Im satisfied