4 or D?

Which do you guys drive your tacoma in? Ive always put mine in 4, but ive noticed that if you switch into D, that it doesnt seem to change anything or make any difference....Is there a difference??

 

at highway speeds your rpm's will be lower...so better fuel economy

 

D is your 5th gear...

 

this..and can we ask how long you've been driving in 4? you've been a member since 08

 

i always put mine in D, better fuel economy obviously

 

ive only had the truck for a couple weeks...so not long at all...

 

the numbers define the highest gear you will automatically shift to...imagine driving a 5 speed and never shifting to 5. that's what you're doing.

 

What's the max (safe) speed for 4th gear? We're talking about 4.0L mated to the 5 speed tranny I assume.

At 70mph I believe it's running at or near 3k rpm at 4th. Not sure if extended lengths at that speed is a good idea (for passing, etc).

 

Becareful if you do your own oil changes - hard to tell alot of stuff under there.

 

thats just means there will be more wear and tear on the tranny and engine, having to run at higher RPM's. thats what the "D" is for....5th gear which will put you at about 2k RPM's at 70MPH

if you stomp it to pass someone at highway speeds it will drop the truck to 3rd gear..

 

On the highway I put it in D. In town...at speeds below 40 mph or so...the transmission tends to hunt as I go uphill or mild acceleration around curves and in traffic so I put it in 4.

Even on the highway, in mountainous driving I'd also put it in 4 if the transmission is hunting a lot. Every shift into/out of gear is clutch wear and doesn't help gas mileage at all. It's been suggested that when towing you forget the D completely as the shifting/hunting under load can toast the clutches very fast.

 

ummm...redline is max safe ENGINE speed. Max safe ROAD speed is the speed limit. In fair weather. With minimal traffic.

 

wow, drive much?

 

yeah, D is totally useless to me ( and of course there's all the 1-2 shift issues people report using D as well) ...coming from manual tranny's putting the truck in D makes it a total dog. If you want to pass, it thinks for a couple seconde then downshifts, then downshifts again and AHA! theres the horsepower I was looking for

Drive it in 4 on the highway and you have a fun, fast, peppy truck,, drive it in D and it's sluggish and boring. I use 3 around town and 4 on the highway unless I'm on a long highway trip and want to conserve gas,,,Try driving in 3 around town and the truck is soooo much more fun to drive. After having a manual transmission and a stick version, the rpms of the auto around town in 3 are no higher then that of the manual ( about 3k) same with 4 on the hightway. Biggest difference is that the torque converter stays locked and keeps the actual gear engaged, which actually results in lower tranny oil temps and a truck thats ready to go right when you hit the pedal

Just my $.02

 

There is a reason that Toyota made the D function. Therefore, it should be used

 

Are you towing or hauling anything heavy?
IF you do then 4 would be a good choice, it would lock out 5th gear & help prevent the transmission from being overloaded in 5th. another big factor is that with a load on/in the truck AND the gear selector placed in 4th it would be more likely to allow the torque converter to lock up. The fluid friction in an unlocked torque converter is where 90+% of transmission heat is created, heat is the tranny's biggest enemy.....
Large (35") tires have a similar effect to towing.

there are all sorts of factors to concider, these are just a couple of them.

 

3 rd gear for passing at 70.. cause my truck goes 111 in 4th gear around like 4300 rpm not even using all 4th and still got the whole 5th gear left of mann i wish my truck didnt have a govenor

 

d=overdrive. lower rpms on the highway=better fuel economy...