Towing - What other upgrades?

I’d recommend also looking into having your local tuner flash the OTT 7 tune by Overland Tailor Tunes.

 

I know you all are talking about camping trailers but since all seem very knowledgeable, have a 17 sport 4wd with tow package. Question is seems to squat when I hook up my 6 by 12 cargo trailer. It’s a 21 model light weight maybe a mower few tools but nothing heavy. Would I benefit by upgrading rear shocks?

 

no. shocks wont keep it from squatting. loading properly or just less weight will.. problem is a tacoma has a low payload capacity so it squats when ya even think about loading it..lol shocks may give it a better ride when loaded though.

 

Thanks!

 

The wife and I have been towing a 4900 empty wt camper, for a couple years now. We have a 2018 ac TRD Sport, with a AT. When we bought the camper in the fall of 2019. We were both in agreement that a bigger truck would be good. But with the crazy truck prices since then, that was not to be. So with help provided by this forum we started upgrading our Tacoma one step at a time.
Since 2019 we have towed through the mountains of Virginia, The Smokey Mountains, and the beach. After each upgrade I was more comfortable with the truck. It is funny, more than a couple times I have been in campgrounds talking to neighbors about their 3/4 ton GMC or their Tundra trucks. They will point at my little Tacoma and say that’s the best truck on the road.
Here is the upgrades starting with the basics first. I will probably make multiple posts in order to show them all.
Air bags are a must have. The suspension on the rear of this truck is just too soft. I used Firestone and have been pleased with them. On the downside the ride when empty is stiffer, even with the minimum of 5psi in them. On the plus side the reduction of body roll in the corners more than makes up for the ride.
Towing mirrors, I use these clamp type. The little Bungee cord is for just in case, but they have never come loose. They are the more expensive ones with the stainless steel hardware.

Next brake control and Scan Gauge install. I had no idea how often that you will need to change the brake control setting. When you dial the brake control in for the interstate, and then arrive at the campground on the gravel, you will lock up the trailer brakes(if you don’t reduce the setting). I had to get rid of the first one used, a cheaper one mounted under the dash. I like how easy this one is to get at and see.
The Scan Gauge is great at monitoring trans temperature. I have only seen the temperature get up to 218f, when going through Black Mountain next to Asheville N.C. When the 20k service was done on the truck. I had them change the trans fluid and report the condition of the old fluid. The technician reported that it was just slightly darkened, but far from burnt. He must have picked up on what was going on. Because unknown to me, he bypassed the minimum trans temperature control, that keeps to temperature up to 195-200 before cooling it. What a difference it runs about 10-20 degrees cooler now. If that guy reads this,”thank you”.
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Is that from pinning the transmission thermostat? Or is there another method using techstream?

 

It was at the dealership, and I think he used the pin thing. I had read about this before but had no idea how much this helps, well worth doing.

 

Why would override something like that? Do you not think the Toyota engineers might know more than you?

 

oh man Ill be having a fun time towing my Firebird Trans Am from Michigan to North Carolina soon. The Trans am is 3,600 lbs not including a car trailer.

Im more worried about the trans am than my own truck lol. Its probably worth more than my truck anyways

 

Do you have a WDH? I’ve found that for my 3800 dry weight TT that is a necessity (along with a brake controller) I also left my OL leaf in with the 3 aal rear lift.
Have a link to those mirrors? I have a rear camera setup but I have a blind spot

 

it will only inhibit the warm up time of the tranny fluid.

 

Yes I use a WDH, this with the air bags at 45psi work great together.
Am using a camera on the camper, that I can pull up at anytime. With the mirrors no problem with blind spots between the two of them. I will post details about how I integrated the camper camera into my dash display.

 

I have no problem with the trans running cooler. On the colder days this winter with no trailer it would be running about 140-150 on the interstate.
The truth of the matter is that the Toyota Engineers do this to gain a little better MPG. While their over engineering of the transmission shifting cost me about 2-3 MPG. Due to the constant shifting while in drive, I always drive in S5, and putting it in S6 on the interstate, and I get 22 MPG this way. About 2-3 than in drive.

 

Don’t get me wrong here, auto engineers are very good at what they do. I am 68 and if someone would had told me at 18, that someday a car would go over a 100,000 without a tuneup I would have called that person crazy. These advancements are due to engineering.
But I don’t think anyone’s engineers or politicians are beyond question!

 

It is a thermostat that opens flow to the cooler at a certain temperature. Really shouldn't have anything to do with shifting. (unless it's REALLY cold) I can't pin mine up here in the NE unless I remove my skid plate every spring. I've read numerous threads about people using the S-shifter while towing which certainly cuts out the annoying shifting. I haven't had any issues with tranny temp BUT I haven't hit too many mountainous areas yet.

 

The reason 5-6 are so high and the truck frequently shifts between them is likely due to the concepts explained in this video.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iNspNdVkslA

FYI: I had 2016 with and auto but now I have a manual and I probably shift it more than the auto shifted for me. I’ve never understood why people complain about the transmission shifting for them. Isn’t that why they bought an auto?

 

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned but two major recommendations I have:
1. Your new tires… make sure you get LT rated tires (load range c, d, or e instead of the P rated) so the sidewalls will be far stiffer and your tow vehicle will be much more solidly planted. P rated tires are squishy and you’ll get pushed around more creating a bunch of sway. Also with LT tires your odds of a blowout drop significantly.

2. Consider towing mirrors. I had a set of ProEFX and they made towing and hauling our slide-in camper sooooo much nicer.

 

LT tires are overkill for a Tacoma. They reduce your acceleration, fuel economy, and ride quality for little upside.

 

Agreed, a stiffer sidewall will be in order when the OEM ones are done. I go to my tire man that I went to school with, and tell him what I need and I want it to be a Michelin.

 

I agree with this. Even on my tundra it comes with P rated tires. I put new tires on and still chose P rated for the reasons you mentioned.