Gen 3 Towing Thread

What's the "oh shit" temp for the tranny?

 

I've heard rumors the truck flashes warning lights at 300 degrees, which seems insane. At 240 I'd pull over and let it cool down personally. Synth fluid has a pretty high heat tolerance.

 

I run a big Aux cooler and pin my trans thermostat open while towing and my pan temps rarely climb above 180. That's on the big hills towing a 3500lb TT. Super easy to do and keeps things nice and cool!

 

Like I'm looking at Einsteins theory of relativity equation

 

I was looking at your post the other day. Gonna copy minus the aux fan

 

How does the new truck tow compared to your 2001? Does it require more rpm to maintain the same speed, and how does the towing mileage compare?

I am I exactly the same situation as you; i tow a lot and my 1999 v6 5 speed 4x4 has been stellar but really gets a work out towing my trailer due to the wind drag. I'm shopping new trucks and would love to know how the gen3 compares to the old gen1 in regards to highway towing.

 

All ready to head out for the weekend! Fully loaded. Sitting pretty level with the WDH setup.

 

Found something interesting. If you compare the ike gauntlet runs from TFL of the 3rg gen tacoma and the diesel GMC canyon. it looks like the canyon was not able to maintain 60mph up the hill, where as the tacoma did. Over all the canyon got a much higher score but i think its interesting how the high torque diesel couldnt pull up the hill as well as the 3.5 gasser.

 

Not sure if this adds to the transmission temp while towing discussion or not, however, I took the opportunity to record temperature and elevation numbers between my Garmin Trex and the new to me Scanguage. The chart is pretty self explanatory. This trip was over the course of 3-4 hours from Needles California to Las Vegas NV. Towing our 22' trailer fully loaded with supplies. I don't have an actual weight but it is 3800's dry and I suspect 4500-5000 lbs loaded. Two adults in the 17 Taco. 55-65 MPH along the route.

Might be a more interesting chart come mid July when we go from Vegas to Ely NV through more than a few 5K-7K climbs.

 

The result is expected because the Tacoma makes more HP than the Colorado/Canyon diesel. Horsepower defines how much work you can do per unit time. More HP means you can do more work in the same amount of time. Torque is simply how hard you can twist. The diesel can twist really hard, but it can't twist fast and hard. But listen to the Tacoma on that run and it sounds like he's in the middle of the Daytona 500, because the gasser has to really rev to get to peak output. The diesel achieves peak output at a much lower RPM. So my guess is the gasser woudln't last nearly as long as the diesel if they both had to make that run every day. Diesels are nice to tow with because they make a lot of torque at low RPM, so they can get the load rolling without having to scream the motor, and they can chug along at near peak output at lower RPM. But with a test that compares peak output, HP is the number that determines the winner, assuming the it's geared so that it can run at an RPM that the peak power is available.

 

No problem towing our 2007 Casita 17'SD with our 2017 Tacoma.

 

Does anyone have a solution for tow mirrors? I can't find any specific to the 3rd Gen and really need some.

 

These work pretty well.

$21 Fit System K-Source 3791 Standard Universal Clip-On Towing Mirror

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018OY742/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Love this pic. The white truck + Casita looks great. Love those things. Gonna get me one some day!

 

I had this issue 6 years ago, nothing has changed. You can buy the stick on with suction cups and they are terrible. You can cobble something together and it's acceptable. Or you can simply buy something that's not very wide and not need the mirrors.

Since Tacoma's aren't really designed to tow much, companies don't cater products to them like they do full size and up. Kind of a bummer...

 

This is what I bought and they work fine on the Tacoma.
I attach them to the bottom of the mirrors.

Dometic DM-2912 Milenco Grand Aero3 Towing Mirror (Twin Pack)

https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-DM-2...851&sr=8-1&keywords=grand+aero+towing+mirrors

 

Here is a picture from last weekend with them attached.

 

I bought a set that clip on but never used them. The Furrion rear monitor on the trailer covers the rear and corners well enough on the 22' Micro Minnie so that I can get buy without them.

 

I really like the Winn Micro Minnies, but I saw one with paint fading, did you have any experience with that? I have never seen that in any other Minnies, I think he just got a bad paint job. How does the Minnie pull with the Tacoma?

 

I belong to several FB groups devoted to Micro Minnie's and haven't heard any yet. Ours is under cover in a storage yard so the brutal Las Vegas sun doesn't get to it every day.