Gen 3 Towing Thread

Max trailer weight: 3750

Kayaks, truck cap, family of 4, gear: Estimated 4500-4700 lbs

Hwy 58 (Willamette Pass) in Oregon connecting I-5 to US 97. 6+% grade and crest @ 5,000 elevation.

Can maintain 60 mph, at about 3500-4000 rpm with fuel mileage at around 9.5-10.

 

Towed a 3300lb 21ft Express center console boat around the town of Vicksburg, MS (lots of straight up and down bluffs) for the day. When I got to my friends house my tank average was 22.0 mpg when I dropped the boat off at his house to go home my tank average was 19.7 mpg. It towed really well and I had no issues stopping it. There was one really steep hill on hwy 61 leaving the port of Vicksburg that I had to keep it at 5k rpms in order to get up to the speed limit (60mph). It stayed at 5k until I crested and it shifted out. Kept it in ECT the whole time. Very impressed with the truck so far. Had to use 4wd to get up the boat launch since my back tires were wet but it pulled up the ramp just fine.
Never got a pic with the boat on it cuz we were trying to get out to the bow fishing spot but the boat on the left is the express.

 

Drove from GA to MI with a car hauler carrying a 2003 4Runner frame. Pulled fine at 65 MPH, but got rotten mileage (13MPG).

 

Just wanted to say, I recently did a cross country move and I towed almost 3000 miles from San Jose California to Greenville North Carolina. I had a 2 inch OME 887 inch suspension lift with Dakar medium duty leafs. Had 255/85/16 KM2 wheels. OVTune. Bed was loaded with camping gear. Boat was right around 3000 lbs.

anddddd....it did just fine. Went down to 3rd on steep hills, otherwise 4th gear 2700 rpms. Boat cover did NOT help, acted like a freaking parachute. Right after I got to NC I took my truck to the shop, thinking I needed to change my auto transmission fluid. Nope, they said the fluid looked great. Wind was hardly a problem, it was only a little sketchy around the windy plains of Oklahoma. My transmission temps were right around 190 on flat ground. The highest I saw it was 250 on steep hills.

All in all, impressed with the capability of the truck. Not a single issue, not even a flat tire (minus the rock on my windshield...but that's off topic). Did it tow it easily? I wouldn't say easily....but definitely more than adequately. I stayed around 65mph the entire way, which is tough when people and even semi trucks are going 80+ on I-40.

Very impressed with the Dakar medium duty leafs. Didn't have to fuss with airbags or distribution hitches. They were solid. Not that my boat has a lot of tongue weight...but still. For those wanting to tow often, I highly suggest upgrading suspension, or at least leaf springs. I got increased stability and control.

 

What's your full suspension setup/specs? Been thinking of OME medium duty for towing etc and wondering what a full setup would be and cost as far as shocks etc. How much lift did that give you? Anything special needed like new UCA, brake lines, driveshaft, etc?

 

OME nitrocharger and 887 in front, nitrochargers and dakar medium pack in the back. Carrier bearing drop. That's pretty much it. No aftermarket UCA or axle shims. With 887 and 888 no brake line modification needed. 887 no UCAs needed, 888 you might need UCAs, it just differs truck to truck. I forgot what the price of the parts were, but I got them off headstrong offroad, very competitive and they give you literally everything you need. I got a great deal on installation for the bay area. 600 for everything.

 

Do you regret going from that Cummins to a Tacoma? What made you switch? Both are very nice looking trucks!

 

Got a new camper, with the weight of the Decked system, camper shell and stuff i keep in the back im in need of air bags or stiffer leafs..the 6000lb wd hitch is much softer than the 10k...i highly recommend matching the duty weight to your hitch vs getting the cheaper 10k normally stocked at most camper dealers. Truck tows ok with the new camper, 10mpg in 4th with ect trans temps stays right at 190-194 in the pan.

 

Like your TT setup. Have you regeared or are you on stock gears?

 

stock gears, if I were to lift it and throw bigger tires on it id say a regear would be a must.

 

I know it's been posted by others before in various threads but anyone else running a scan gauge for trans temps, what are you seeing when towing a moderate load? Mine were pretty much 195* tf1(pan) and 199-221* tf2 (torque converter) at 65mph in 4th with ect on..... It used to run much cooler but has been slowly creeping up, I get my trans flushed every 30k-40k miles. Can't be fluid degradation.

 

I’d like to start running some kinda of temp monitor or something. I’ve pushed this little thing and would love to keep a eye on the trans. What would you recommend?

 

Scangauge is pretty tough to beat in terms of the other features that come with it. After spending some time on the tundra forums it seems that Toyota prefers their trans to run warmer than domestic brands. We'll see in the long run I guess ...?

 

Looking into a Braxton Creek Bushwhacker plus. Who here pulls something similar sized? It comes in at 1900 dry and just under 16 ft. Curious how the taco will do

 

I pull a 16 ft flatbed dual axle to haul my RZR around. All told it’s around 3.5-4K.
Yes I know it’s overkill for the RZR, I also have it to haul the Taco around with my Ram.

 

I love you... buying a StarCraft Comet this weekend, max weight 3790 pounds. I live in Eugene and will also be driving HWY 58! Haha
Been apprehensive about the weight, this is reassuring.

 

Towed this airstream from San Francisco to Zion and back. I won’t tow anything this heavy again (around 5000-5500lbs). It was a challenge to say the least. I was constantly using the brake controller gain to stop swaying when trucks would pass. It really didn’t help when I was on highways where trucks had a 70mph speed limit and I was going 55.

 

5500 is pretty heavy for a single axle airstream unless it was a caravel or older international loaded heavy. What was your setup for a wdh? I’m curious because I have plans for an airstream, but in the low 4K range.

 

Thinking about getting something like this in the near future. I'm sure it will tow it easy peasy lemon squeezy
https://www.trackerboats.com/boat/gallery.cfm?boat=4937