Towing Question

We're planning on pulling our boat (weighs in at 4800-5000 lbs., very little wind resistance and trailer brakes) this summer with our Taco. It's a 4 dr., short box, automatic with a certified towing capacity of 6800 lbs. I've seen a lot of posts dealing with towing with these trucks and most everyone who tows smaller campers, boats, utility trailers, etc., do so by locking the transmission in 4th gear on the highway. Our truck is turning around 2500 RPM at the highway speeds we normally run. Other than keeping an eye on trans. fluid temp is there any reason to be concerned with keeping it in 4th all the time on the highway.

We've made 2 relatively short trips (2 hours one way at highway speeds) with the boat in tow and it handles the weight, acceleration and stopping quite handily and we've found no particular reason to be concerned with towing in 4th at all times. Anyone know of any ill effects of doing this or is this as the manufacturer intended these trucks to be used

 

Towing in 4th will be easier on your transmission, less shifting (down and up), so much less heat. Your engine has a 6 quart pan full of oil and big radiator full of a few gallons of coolant,,, it'll be just fine.

 

I have had no issues following the instructions in the manual when towing my boat.

 

The manual advises to tow in S mode with 6th gear locked out. I’ve found personally that I have to lock out 5th as well for a good tow experience and the lowest trans temps that I can get. Also, I get to select the correct gear for engine braking or going up hills and not leave it up to the AI to decide. In 4th gear at hwy speed I’m turning 2600~2900 rpm. Could do that all day long. It just feels good.

 

I’ve towed 5500 lbs for over 3 hours consecutively no issue whatsoever in s4. 20’ equipment trailer and my tractor and attachments. You’ll be fine.

 

@newdles
What say a small camper around 1000 lbs, 200 lbs in truck bed, 300 lbs in cab -

Any need to go into S mode or will standard Drive be fine... pulling hills... Arizona heat.
Subaru 4 cylinder handled it fine.

 

I tow my two jet skis in D but I’m always driving 60 and less on state roads. If I towed long distance above 60 I’d go with s5.

 

I've towed my boat which is a bit over 2k lbs using S5 in the ECT mode. It does it easily as i was bit surprised after having my 2001 tundra 4.7 that did it in the past. On our highways i've kept it under 70 mph.

 

I've made quite a few trips towing 2hrs+ one way and I've never had any issues with using S4 and ECT. As others have said, it should help keep the transmission temps lower since it's not shifting back and forth and building up heat.

 

In a few months we're going to be making a trip of 475 miles (about 7 hours) one way pulling the boat. We'll undoubtedly be running in 4th the whole way. It sounds as if some of you guys have done this sort of pulling on a regular basis. We've done a lot of towing over the years but holding an automatic trans. in a lower gear for extended periods of time is something we've never done and it's a new experience.

On a side note we purchase our Taco with pulling the boat partially in mind but that is just a small part of what we'll be doing with it. I knew we were well within the total weight and tongue weight certifications but we hadn't anticipated this truck to do it as well as it does. The times we've pull our boat for extended periods our trans. temp.'s have not gone much above 200° F and generally out on the flats they run 195° F. It rises only when it shifts down to compensate for a hill. The engine oil temp. always stays below 200° F and coolant temp. has never gone above 200° F. We were also quite impressed with the power and torque the V-6 exhibits. It gets the 5000 lbs. moving and up to highway speeds quite impressively.

Thanks a bunch to all of you who responded.

 

Don't forget the ECT button. I tow in S5 and ETC all the time as my truck will pull my load fine in 5th on flats and downhills.

Only problem with S4 is the MPG, but when towing, it is what it is sometimes.

 

I believe the 6800 pound rating is for a V6 2 wheel drive access cab, a double cab auto is probably around 6300 or 6400.

 

I have towed multiple times with either a utility trailer full and with a 12ft uhaul with a 4 seat Razr on it. Just use ECT and pick your gear by watching the rpm range. Its all about the RPM and common sense.

 

You're probably correct. I will check and make sure but either way we're well below the maximum.

 

Right, l just didn't want to see you mistakenly hook up to something heavier.