Manual vs Automatic

My taco does great! Yes it is a manual. I pull a 16x7 v nose tandem axle basically year around. I due landscaping as a side business so the trailer is always full with my equipment. Roughly 4-5k lbs including the trailer. The truck pulls hard fully loaded. I can't complain. And as for the gas milage...I bought it to be a truck. I honestly couldn't tell you what it gets and I honestly really don't care. If I was worried about the gas milage, I would be looking into a hybrid

 

Is yours an auto? Seems like your pretty happy with yours. I'm getting an auto, gonna roll the dice.

 

Just curious. Do you know the approximate tongue weight on that trailer?

 

Can you get the access cab OR in manual? Just looked at the build site on Toyota and it only shows auto.

 

As of right now, no. I don't know if that's because they don't make them or they are out. You can get a TRD Sport access cab in manual and it's actually a few hundred bucks cheaper than a OR double cab manual.

 

What gear do you usually tow in? Fortunately for me I'm never that heavy. My enemy is wind...

 

Unfortunately they do not make that combo on 3rd Gen.

 

I prefer an auto for towing personally. My truck pulls my two place V nose sled trailer great. I tow in 4 all the time and I get roughly 11 MPG if I am lucky. It doesn't hunt much for gears at all and as for the downshifting situation that everyone seems to complain about- I love it. It works really great for me. Yes I know it's a 3rd gen thread but just my input on manual vs auto.

 

How fast are you driving that you're only getting 11MPG?

 

Mostly 70-75. When I go to Northern Maine the limit is 75 so I will push it to 80. 11mpg ain't bad for a 2800 lb trailer in tow, the truck gets 19mpg highway by itself.

 

Ah. Well there you go. In 4th I'm doing 60-65. I don't like that to hear that 4.0 screaming.

 

It's turning like 2900 rpms in 4th at 75mph, it's not that bad. What are you towing and what kind of mileage are you getting when you drive 60-65?

 

You'd have to import it from canada.

 

Approx. 256. That's according to the company. Granted the approx tongue weight should be around 10% of the overall weight if i am not mistaken, but please correct me if I am wrong

 

Depends... Fully loaded with all of my equipment, I rarely get into 6th on the highway. At 65-70, truck seems happy in 5th.

 

Mpg loaded is 10-12...I think. Also am I driving like a moron or like grandpa?

 

Wow... so as I've said before I've got a 6x12 single axle flat nose that I load with large boards and sheets of plywood. I am rarely over 2000lbs. At 70 in 4th, my 2011 SR5 4.0 4x4 is turning 3000, so I stay at 60 to 65/2500 to 2750 RPM. This gets me 13.5-14.5mpg. Like I said, my biggest issue is the wind drag. If I have the wind to my back I can run in 70 in 5th but my MPG doesn't improve.

 

Yeah, my V-nose is rumored to be better with wind drag but I don't know if I believe how much it actually helps. Of course my trailer has the extra height option which I'm sure adds more drag.

 

That sounds great. My issue has been my 2011 will pull the trailer in 4th at 70 without any trouble, except the motor is working. I think that the 5th gear ratio in the new 5 speed is a nice sweet spot.

I pulled my trailer from Wichita Kansas to Baltimore Maryland in 2012 doing 60 all the way. 1290 miles and it took 26 hours. When a 2.5 hour trip to Kansas City becomes almost 4... it's rough

 

A guy at work bought a V-nose and said it gained him 1mpg, so there IS a benefit at least. Towing every day I'm sure it adds up.