I'm sure this is in the manual, but I'm lazy and will ask this here! lol

I have a 2500# Casita travel trailer. I towed it behind my new Tacoma today in some mildly rolling hill country and was trying to find the "sweet spot" gear. My Tundra had the "tow haul" button. The little Tacoma doesn't. Looking for some advice on what the best towing strategy is to lower strain on the transmission?

 

I hear the ECT button helps while towing.

 

Yes, it's in the manual.

 

E-manual for the smart lazy people.

http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM04005U/pdf/OM04005U.pdf

 

5th and 6th gear are overdrive and unsuited for towing. Slap that shifter until "4" shows up and make sure ECT Power is turned on. Don't be afraid to rev and don't be afraid to use engine braking.

 

And ignored...

 

Check the manual

 

Toyota pretty much disregarded anything related to towing. It's up to you to control everything. Don't be afraid to rev the engine, keep in mind it makes peak torque at 4600 rpm.

 

You mean while towing feel free to downshift to third for engine braking?

 

Read the manual. Helpful. In these mild hills around where I live I'm not too concerned about needing "engine braking". I took my electronic brake system out of my Tundra and put it into my new Tacoma. The Casita is wired for electronic brakes and it works great. My concern is running down the highway and maintaining speed while not over-taxing the engine.

 

Yep. Actually I downshift to 3rd often even when not towing. It's a very controlled way to slow down.

 

Cool thanks for the info.

I always assumed that was rough on the tranny/Engine. Guess not!

Helps with mpg I bet yea?

 

OP, I have a Casita too (see my profile pic to the left). Would be curious to see how she pulls with your new Taco. It should pull fine. When are you taking her out?

EDIT: Looks like you already did. I have a 17 ft Freedin Deluxe. With gear and such it probably sits closer to 3,000 lbs for me. I sent you a PM about your Casita

 

Yeah, with it packed, my 17' Casita probably is closer to 3000# as well. While it pulls OK, I've been a bit surprised at the difficulty this truck has going up low grade hills, with or without a trailer! I think it might be the six speed transmission. If I'm cruising down a flat highway with the cruise control set at 65 mph, my rpm's settle in at around 1800-1900. As soon as I hit the slightest incline, she downshifts and revs to 3000! Obviously towing a trailer adds that much more power demand.

 

Wow. Makes me nervous on how my Casita would pull going over the Rockies on I70. I guess 3,000 RPM isn't that high for the Tacoma. Are you able to hold gears when you go into manual shift mode?

 

This new engine doesn't really even come alive until near 4K RPM. Don't be afraid to use it. If you look at the specs, the HP and torque are in the high RPM band.

G.

 

Yeah. To get to full HP 270hp) you'll need to be hitting 6000 rpm. It'll be "screaming" the whole time your climbing. That's that new Atkinson engine.

 

I dunno. I don't think it's the engine so much as the transmission. The manual transmission with same motor actually feels like it has good low-end. Holds gears just fine. The auto is just tuned to kill the driving experience.

 

I agree. The auto tries it's hardest to keep the mileage respectable, ultimately it kills performance. Meanwhile the manual allows you to drive it in whatever way you see fit.

 

Manual shift mode isn't really "manual". It allows you to limit the top gear. When towing use manual set to no higher than 4 and let the tranny shift as usual. Do not use 5th and 6th gears when towing.... bad juju!