Tranny Gear Hunting, What to do?

Thanks!

 

Glad I read this before trying lol, thanks again though

 

Or swap the rear end to 5.29..... and live in "The land of Far Far Away" with me.

(In my best Shrek voice...)

 

You answered your own question. Put 500lb of armour and overland jizz on the truck, or carry around a pallet of paving stones at all times.

These Tacos are too light. They need to be bogged down to drive normal.

 

I started looking at the specs for some of the old GM engines and there are some that made peak torque at pretty low RPMs. Not a ton of power though overall for most of them. Different philosophies for different times I guess.

 

It blows my mind that people buy vehicles without test driving.

Ovtune is your best bet.

 

People get excited and want a Toyota. It’s a story as old as the hills. Toyota is a trusted brand and the Tacoma is a trusted name. People don’t expect anything to be anything other than normal. It’s like buying an F150 or an Accord, in most people’s minds. However, Toyota has other plans with this truck.

I understand the initial reservation, but once I calibrated my driving habits to Toyota’s programming, I really like driving the truck. It just took a while to adapt.

 

OP, I had the exact same problems as you. I even took my truck to the dealership, convinced that there surely must be something wrong with it. I don't consider myself overly picky, but damn, it was bad.

After 9 months of "living with it" and "I'll get used to it", I finally come to the realization that I would never be satisfied with the truck, and I sold it. I took about a $3500 hit on it, which was painful to say the least, but I chalked it up to a lesson learned.

I've still got my old faithful 2002 Tacoma, she still runs like a champ, so I'll stick with it until it dies.

Good luck to you.

 

I used to drive an F150 manual trans/300 straight 6 occasionally. It had a ton of low end and ran out of steam very quickly in the rev range. You had to short shift the crap out of it to keep it going. It would just fall on its face above 2500rpm or so IIRC. My 1900cc Yamaha raider was a very undersquare V twin and hit the governor at 5k rpm. I don't know where the torque peaked, but it was everywhere below 4000 rpm. There was no point in going above 4k though, because all it did was make more noise. 2000 and roll into the throttle though, and man that thing pulled hard.

I think the important factor in powerband, for street cars anyway, is not peak torque, hut the torque profile. I'd rather have less torque but have a long flat curve than more torque in a "peaky" powerband. It's like drag racers bragging about the max lift on their cam. You are at max lift (or peak power rpm) for such a short period of time that it really doesn't tell you anything about the powerband.

 

Why has nobody asked about his girlfriend's car? Heavier with the same engine? Is it a Tundra with a V6 swap? A H2? A Unimog? Not many things heavier with this Toyota engine. Next step is the 5.7 for heavy.

 

Highlander might be slightly heavier depending on configuration. They were purposely vague in their description of it, I feel.

 

When I picked up my 2016 TRD sport V6 automatic, loved the truck hated the Trans, kept it 37 months, went threw all the updates TSBs It became more civil, and easier to live with. Traded it for a 2019 TRD sport V6 Manuel Trans. added a quick shifter, and got rid of that accumelater, this one it a lot more user friendly.

 

You may have something before i even had a 1k miles on my truck i drove it loaded with over 1300 lbs of concrete bags, and towing a good size mixer nearly 150 miles.
At over 3500 miles now this truck runs perfect, just the way i'd expect it to run. No trans-a-mission issues what-so-ever.

 

I'm pretty sure you have no idea what I do for a living. I do not consider myself anywhere near "asshole" territory. I'm actually quite tolerant as an individual because we are all human and with flaws. My job deals in extreme precision (microns) and manufacturing has to be as close to perfect as possible or it comes back to be re-made. So yea, I consider myself a perfectionist. As a young man I was taught to do it correctly or don't bother.
I guess all supervisory roles would be considered assholes if they want great job performance from the underperforming people they supervise. correct?

 

No offense Get a manual problem solved

 

He was probably just trying to be funny . Did make me laugh , just go with it .

 

I have a little over 10K. The idea of leaving in "S" mode (all the time) may work. I haven't gone completely that route. At 80 mph the rpms are right at 2k , And yes, the adaptive cruise does floor the throttle to gain a few mph which is startling .
If I can't get it ironed out, the OV tune will be my next effort.
I need to do a little deeper research on it.
Thanks for the insight.
in hindsight, my 2013 4.0L / 5 sp automatic didn't have any of these issues. Sure there were rattles, squeaks and more road noise. But the truck ran well. I sure wish I hadn't sold it. The "asshole" nature (perfectionist) in me didn't mind.
Thanks again for the advice.

 

its an easy answer, just a hard one to swallow cause youll realize your answer was the wrong one. it involves a third pedal.

 

2015 ML350,,,, Spouse for 40 years, (could be girlfriend I guess! depends on what night it is )

 

FIFY