Tow/Haul Mode? Tow Pics?

Do the Tacomas have the tow/haul mode button? I have it now and love it. Best thing ever for towing. Can I see some pics of what you guys tow with your Tacomas. Thinking about buying one over the Tundra because of looks and gas prices. Thanks...

 

No Tow/Haul mode.... But I've heard others mention (when towing heavy loads) to keep it in 4th gear (Auto) to prevent it from going into overdrive and so you'll stay within the power band for hills & such.

 

That stinks. A tow/haul mode is nearly a must in order for me to purchase a new truck. I will keep an open mind though.

 

How much are you looking to tow/haul?

The tow/haul mode avoids overdrive (so to speak) and has different shift points. The tow/haul mode is mostly seen in fullsize trucks with 8000+ lb towing capacities. The tow/haul mode is *more necessary* with such larger towing capacity.

The tacoma towing capacity is 6500lbs with the tow package. You probably don't 'need' the tow/haul mode on such a smaller towing capacity. Where, 4th gear will do just as well....

 

I know what a tow/haul is, have one now and love it. It makes no sense to drive in 4 when towing something. It is a waste of fuel and RPM's. If you have a tow/haul mode, the truck will shift and hold RPM's when needed. Therefore, less wear on the engine and tranny. At cruising speeds the truck will run at the lowest RPM possible and kick the RPM up as needed. I can tow 2k or 8k and the tow/haul works the same. Saves fuel, saves tranny, saves engine, saves headaches.

 

What vehicle is this on? A fullsize?

A fullsize is a completely different animal. Larger engine eats more gas to begin with and having a tow/haul mode to help control that - is a bonus.

I owned a Dodge Ram for 3 years and the tow/haul mode on it was near worthless. The damn thing kept 'hunting' for the proper gear to be in - and it was the worst while having the cruise control on. We had to keep bumping the cruise up & down to keep it in the power band to go up hills. It wouldn't downshift soon enough and lug its azz up the hills. Stupid.... and that was AFTER the I had the tow/haul reprogramming TSB done. Sometimes it was just easier & less 'hunting' when out of tow/haul mode.

Hell, our previous Jeep Grand Cherokee shifted 100% better than that with the same load and same trips and it didn't have a tow/haul mode.

Just because it HAS it or doesn't - won't necessarily mean it'll be worth having.

 

Simple solution: buy a manual and learn to hold shift points on your own.

 

I agree PT! ! When I read the posts it sounded like he was talking about a std. tranny! !! Go figure

 

All the tow/haul mode does is up your shift points on a auto tranny. if it truely is must for you...you'll be very happy to know all you have to do is keep your foot in the pedal alittle more on our trucks.

My old titan had it and I couldn't even tell I was using it towing 8k lbs.

 

As someone else mentioned, what are your trying to tow? The tow capacity is @ 6,500 lbs, but personally I'm not comfortable towing anything near that in a Tacoma.

 

FWIW the Tacoma's tow very well without a tow/haul mode. A lot of manufacture's so-called tow haul mode is a joke anyways. You don't have to stay in 4 to tow. I leave it in 4 through towns and such but once on the highway it will do fine in D so you're not just revving the crap out of the engine. It has plenty of power to hold highway speeds with a load hanging off the hitch.

 

If you wanted to emulate a tow/haul mode, here's what I'd do:

For accelerating, leave the auto selector in whatever gear you feel will keep you in the power-band while cruising. If you're towing something that isn't that heavy, I don't see a reason not to let it shift to 5th and lock up the converter.

For decelerating, use the auto selector to help downshift manually to give you more engine braking.

 

If you want to have a good idea what these trucks tow look in this thread
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/towing/27460-show-us-what-you-tow.html

(its in this section one below this thread)

it has ALOT of awesome pictures of different stuff people tow. Really impressive.

 

easily manipulated by the gas pedal.

 

09 taco, 04 trailer that weighs 4k empty.

 

I tow a 21ft boat and loaded with gear/people I am pretty close to the 6k. It depends on the terrain if I keep it in 4th or 5th. On the HWY if there is a lot of hills I drop it down the 4th to keep it from hunting for gears. But if it is completely flat I will just leave it in 5th. Even at close to 6k it has plenty of power to get me up hills with an occasional shift into 3rd. From my experience the tow/haul mode is a joke. Parent's Escalade Ext has it and I prefered to keep it off. It would always be shifting and holding the gears way to long. Never really seemed like there was any benefits to it. As mentioned above if you are going to tow heavy loads I wouldn't suggest a Tacoma. It does great around the 6k but I wouldn't want to tow anything more than that.

 

I tow my 5,000# rock crawler/trailer with no problems.

 

i also keep it in 4th gear when towing my car or anything else that is large

 

I have tow/haul mode on my Chevy diesel and like it, very noticible on shift points. I towed a travel trailer with the tacoma and because the auto shift lever has positions for every gear I didn't care about not having tow/haul mode. The Chevy only has 1,2, and D on the lever, so tow/haul mode is a plus, it but also a manual mode which is controlled by a rocker switch on the the lever which limits the top gear and essentially does the same thing as the positions on the Tacoma shifter. I use manual mode on the Chevy for downhill sections only. Bottom line, I wouldn't fret about not having tow/haul mode on the Tacoma. I towed with a Honda Ridgeline and the transmission on that thing sucked and is why I have a Tacoma now.