Undriveable 2021 TRD-OR - HELP WANTED

I'm have a 2.5" lift on 33's with 5.29 and an OT Tune plus an ARE MX cap. While it is better at downshifting after the tune, it still feels like molasses going up a gradual hill. I've recently started taking it off cruise at highway speeds when I see an incline and will speed up enough (in my head) before to avoid the downshift. Kind of a little game I play now.. Naturally, I'm hauling %&*$# a$$ right before a bigg'n. lol

As far as the dead zone.. I have that too.. I find myself either ripping through a corner or holding everyone up trying to massage the g spot. Sometimes that sonofa is quite elusive.

I would LOVE to buy the Magnusson. I think, aside from the dead zone, it would make this truck damn near perfect. But if I bought it, my wife would shoot me, and sell my organs on the black market to recoup the cash. Only way to enjoy the truck at that point is to haunt the next person to drive it.

Anyhoo.. Hope things get better for ya..

 

Bye OP

 

He’s describing totally normal behaviour. The TC is totally unlocked in the first 3 gears and can only lock in 4-5-6. Before downshifting the ECU will often unlock the TC as this is often enough to get rpm and power up to get you over the hill.

 

Manual owner here, with stock sized tires, and 5.29 gears. I still use 3rd gear for acceleration as much as I can. These trucks have absolutely nothing without rpm.

A regear would probably fix most of your complaints. I could have told you a tune would not. I can enjoy some of the way some of the tunes work, but they do not make you go from struggling to no longer struggling. My gearing is so low that I prefer the stock tune for better throttle control, and I can promise you the actual differences in power and torque are very small. But you already found that out the hard way.

I don’t really have a solution for you except maybe lose the lift, 33’s, and add 5.29s. Also, don’t fret about downshifting. 6th is stupidly tall and it makes no sense for this V6 to use it much of the time it’s going down the road.

You can get a manual access cab via the Sport model if you want one. Highly doubt you’ll find any new, but used are out there.

 

You missed the part that I have a supercharger.

 

2017 oem 3rd gear TC partially locks.
Tc will unlock before the downshift only at lower speeds. When doing freeway speeds it won't unlock, instead it will downshift. 6 to 5 downshift wasn't a problem, but 5 to 4 was a mess. I've played with vftuner settings to unlock tc. There posts on old vftuner thread here

 

Dead pedal issue…. are you wearing Dr Scholl's shoe inserts?

 

Why is there a 1/4” or more of dead pedal on a tuned Tacoma? Mine had like 1/2”-3/4” of dead pedal after tunes, as well. One of the things I expected it to fix. Can anyone answer why this wouldn’t be “tuned out”? Had just as much dead pedal as stock tune. Part of the reason I went back to it.

 

Your descriptions are perfect here. That's exactly what I'm going through. Finding 'creative solutions' to prevent a downshift on that next little hump in the highway. Holding up traffic at a stop light while I try to find that elusive throttle starting point so as not to anger my wife by jerking her head back...

 

sounds as if your tune is crap…..get OTT and a set of gears or trade for a manual trans truck

Edit your title, PLEASE HELP is generally used for those whom are stuck on the side of the road.

 

Short answer: trade it for a 2024.

Long answer: how heavy is your wheel/tire combo? It should not be more than 70lbs if you don’t want the truck to be a dog.

Go to a p-rated 255/75r17 on a Konig 21-22lb wheel.

Or, regear, but that’s expensive and destroys highway mpg compared to just going to a skinny, light 32”.

Drop all excess weight. Anything you keep in the truck and don’t need, remove.

Remove any exterior sources of wind drag as well.

Good luck. The third gen sucks on the highway.

 

Exactly. Thanks for confirming this is not an isolated issue. I'm starting to wonder if the Tune doesn't actually make the 'dead-zone' any worse, but simply that the added pedal response makes it MUCH more noticeable. I've asked my tuner 3 times now exactly what pedal map he put on the truck and he seems unwilling/unable to answer. Would be great if one of the tuners on this site could help us understand exactly what the pedal response is SUPPOSED to be.

I found the pedal position vs. throttle curves below, and added what my pedal feels like after the tune. This can't be right, can it? Why that dead zone from 0 - 5% pedal is necessary is beyond me. Do other cars have this?

 

What exactly is "OTT"? "Overland Torque Tune"? "Overland Tailor Tuning"? I went to the "OTT - Overland Tailer Tuning" website, and used their retailer location tool to find a guy in my area. By going that route, I guess I assumed that they were putting the "OTT" tune on it, but maybe that wasn't a safe assumption???

Regarding "PLEASE HELP"...my bad. I changed the title. Thanks for pointing this out. Won't happen again.

 

Don’t bother responding to the triggered people who didn’t even read your post.

 

Big tires, extra weight, topper... put it in 4th, and forget about the shifting. That or sell it, and buy a cvt or full sized truck, so you dont feel the shifting. Ski

 

I'm running Method 703's w/ Bridgestone KO2s. Going off the specs, that's 26.7 + 50.3 = 78.0 lbs. I was conscious of weight (why I choose the 703s over the 701s) but maybe not enough.

 

Oh, I’ve read it all, he spoke of a OTT variant. I’m not triggered I’m just asking him to change the thread topic because he is not stranded on side the road needing immediate help.

 

My fathers 2012 4.0 Tacoma and assorted 2012-2020 RAV4s and siennas throughout my family have zero dead pedal/tip in silliness like this truck. They are all stock as can be. I, too think the tune simply amplified an existing “dead spot” but it just doesn’t make sense, it should throw a code for a D/E voltage correlation or something if anything’s up with the pedals communication to the ECU… There are redundancies in place. It boggles my mind.

 

26lbs for a 17” wheel isn’t super light. Try getting the wheel down to 22lbs and the tire below 45 lbs.

You’ll see a significant difference with a lighter and skinnier wheel and tire combo. Nothing else will have as dramatic an effect. Not tuning, not even regearing.

 

The type of tire matters too. A milder AT like the Nokian Outpost APT, BFG Trail Terrain, Cooper AT3 4s, or Continental TerrainContact will have less rolling resistance.