WOT while Towing

I just finished my first tow ever, not just in the Tacoma, from Memphis to Dallas, and then down to Houston. The load ended up being about 3,500 lbs, more than I had originally anticipated, but still well within the weight limits. Long story short, the trailer was very stable even at high speeds and the whole thing went down without a hitch.

I was surprised by just how hard I had to run the truck to maintain speed (70 mph). Even on flat ground, I had the pedal mashed down probably 80-85 percent in 6th gear. Any gust of wind or slight hill required me to downshift to 5th and occasionally 4th and go WOT to maintain speed. I was very happy with how the motor hung in there though, coolant temps remained constant and she never seemed to complain..

Is this about the same experience y'all have had? Can anyone chime in for what kind of experience they had with the full 6,00 lbs? I can only imagine..

Disclaimer: I'm aware the owners manual recommends not to tow in 6th gear; I ASSUME this is because there are people out there who wouldn't know better than to lug the motor at low rpms...but you know what they say about people who assume. I never floored it below ~2.5k rpms and the motor felt/sounded perfectly content the whole time. I know I'm still going to get flack for this...

 

You must not like your truck

 

Yes towing in 6th is a bit of a stretch. Don't know what you were towing but something like a camper or a box trailer is a big flat wind wall. I have a manual trans going up through Crawford notch in the NH White mountains I'm down to 3rd gear tow my 17' camper.

 

Well......the truck is likely ok.

Although, I wouldn't suggest towing like that frequently. Towing damage is a bit like rust. Its accumulative. Small damage now, small + small next tow........building until failure.

A bit of flack. Sounds like you were towing at or above the weight limit. Also towing too fast. I know the traffic between DFW and Houston, if you had an emergency or a traffic stop, then you could not have avoided the catastrophe.

 

Yeah I know towing just keeps getting worse I expect the whole truck to fall apart and day now that it's past 130K. Had to put a clutch in my 89 it only lasted 210K and I bought it used!

 

3500lbs at 70mph is nothing to worry about if you keep proper following distance and an eye out around you.

 

thanks for the reassurance, but I’m not asking about damage. I realize that I was being “a bit” excessive by trying to maintain 70mph at all costs. I was just curious if this was a normal experience for y’all?

Also I was able to maintain 4-5 seconds of following distance at all times, even between DFW and HOU.

 

Read the OP thread carefully.....

."....3500 lbs, more than I anticipated...."

Agreed, 3500 lb load is towable without issues at those speeds, provided everything is properly equipped.

 

not sure if my terrible literary skills are too blame here... the total load was 3500 lbs...which happens to be more than what I previously anticipated

 

So....in other words....you have no idea how much weight you were pulling.

I retract my earlier statements.

 

How so? Isn't the truck rated for 6800#? Also, a load of that size likely has trailer brakes and is perfectly safe on the road. I do agree about the speed...a lot of trailer tires arent rated for above 65.

 

“no idea”..I wouldn’t go that far. I had picked some things up from a storage locker expecting to have a load of about 1,000 lbs +2,000 trailer weight. There was more stuff in there than I remembered so the load was heavier than I anticipated. I guess the “more than I anticipated” comment wasn’t really pertinent to the original post.

 

Tire speed ratings of 65, I checked. I justified this because it was “only” 5 mph over that and they were basically new and significantly under their weight rating. Most blowouts result from heat generated as the tire deforms which increases with load and speed.

 

no where in this post did U mention the associated gear + rpm + speed

there IS an optimum range for towing on most ANY vehicle

maintaining 70MPH in what gear............what RPM ??????

Memphis to dallas iv run many time............dont remember there being big grades to conquer along the way

3500lbs at 70mph should have been an EZ pull.............WOT seldom

 

That recommendation is usually to keep the transmission from overheating.

 

@arthur106

I'll tell you what you would like to hear.

Yes, your truck is fine. You can tow like that on every tow. There are no problems and no risks for you or truck under these conditions.

My towing experience with the Tacoma is limited. I did tow frequently with a GMC Sierra 2500HD with a 6.0L V-8. It had no trouble maintaining speed on grades pulling 3500+ lbs without going to WOT. The Tacoma should be able to perform the same.

 

70 mph, roughly 2,500 in 6th; 3,000 in 5th; 3,600 in 4th. IIRC

As someone already eluded to, I’m sure the aerodynamic resistance was my biggest obstacle and 70mph was already running near the limit. (Head winds affected me more than the grade)

 

Yes, that is exactly the experience I have had when I have failed or forgotten to select the proper gearing for that amount of weight. Nothing unusual about your experience. Both 5th and 6th are overdrive gears, your experience would be much better if you lock out those overdrive gears. Towing in overdrive can make really bad things happen to otherwise very reliable transmissions. If your going to tow like that often, I would get some way to monitor your transmission temperature.

 

[QUOTE="jaxyaks, post: 25044855, member: 235550"...I would get some way to monitor your transmission temperature.[/QUOTE]
It’s a standard tranny, I’m not the least bit worried about overheating.

Sarcasm is neither necessary nor appreciated so please keep your comments constructive. I could argue all day long about the pros and cons of higher manifold pressures at lower rpms (assuming you’re avoiding detonation, pre ignition, and overheating) vs vice versa. I’m not seeking reassurance/validation for my driving style; I was just wanting to know if this was a normal experience. I mean—I know it’s not a tundra, but geez 4th gear and WOT just to maintain speed up the “hills” of North TX with about half the rated load is a bit surprising.

 

That's not sarcasm in the least. Heat is what kills your transmission fluid which then prematurely kills your transmission. If you're going to tow often you'd be well off in finding a way to monitor temps and you'll realize transmission temps will be lower towing that weight out of overdrive. It's very easy to tow with these trucks and put the ATF in the temp range which starts breaking it down quickly.