Unnecessary worries towing over hills?

Please help put by worried mind at rest:

~400mi (one-way) trip from Belle River, ON to Waterville, PA. V6 access cab 4x4 towing single axle hard side camper trailer. Toyota Canada tells me truck has 5,000 lb tow rating. I have an Eqaul-i-zer hitch.

Loaded trailer weight will be no more than 3,200 lb. Trailer has electric brakes, truck has brake controller.

I've towed before, longest trip was about 250 mi (one-way) with same trailer. Mostly flat (SW Ontario).

What worries me is the hills! I've driven it without the trailer and the thought pulling the trailer in and around Little Pine State Park has me concerned.

I could go through ON/NY/PA or ON/MI/OH/PA.

What does everyone think? Am I worried over nothing?

 

Turn OD off and you should be fine

 

Keep it in a low gear and get a little momentum up. Do you have the tranny cooler?

 

Yes, no engine oil cooler though.

 

You'll be fine. Take you time and keep it geared down on the hills, don't let the tranny do a bunch of searching.

 

You'll be fine, just take it easy. You can tow in D also but if you're in the hills and it seems to be hunting for gears, then kick it down to 4. Also, keep it in 4 in town.

 

Cool thanks guys. One questions I do have , having just looked under the hood: no smaller tranny cooler ("Air Cooled Oil Cooler" in the FSM).

I do have a larger radiator ahead of the one connected to the engine. So... I have one large one which is part of the fan shroud, with radiator cap and larger 2" coolant hoses; and one slightly smaller radiator (~75% the size of the big one) mounted ahead of that. Is that the tranny cooler that Toyota Canada said I have?

 

I normally keep it in 4 when I'm towing. No hunting that way. Thanks

 

Not being able to see under your hood, what you described sounds like the transmission oil cooler.

 

I hear ya but on extended highway runs, keeping the engine constantly revving that high isn't going to do you any good. If it'll stay in D, then I keep it in D til I hit the hills or towns.

 

Right on, I'd snap a picture but it's dark out now. I'll wait until tomorrow to save frustration.

 

Just wasting gas? Or causing tranny temp to increase too?

 

wut

 

Building engine heat and wasting gas. If the torque convertor is locked, it won't build up heat as much in the transmission. You can feel and hear the torque convertor lock and unlock. When it's locked, transmission temps will stay relatively low. If you give it the beans and cause it to constantly unlock the torque convertor, it'll build up heat much quicker.

 

Cool, thanks for explaining that.

 

You'll be fine, if the transmission keeps searching just lower it a gear.

 

You'll be fine. I drive in "4" very often on the highway during rush hour, intentionally keeping the revs high for better engine braking and better throttle response.

Keep in mind the 5-speed auto is designed to take the torque of the 4Runner's 4.7L V8, which had a 7000-lb towing capacity. It is slightly overbuilt for our trucks.

Note: normal vehicles pump transmission fluid through the lower portion of the radiator to cool it. The tow package simply uses a separate small radiator, so the cooling fin area is larger:



The oil cooler, if you have it, is a copper puck that sits under the oil filter. Engine coolant circulates through it to cool the oil. Because oil is thick, it is not efficient to pump through a radiator.

 

bigmooze,

Make sure you are not looking at the air conditioner condenser(2nd smaller radiator). A transmission cooler will have 2 small lines going clear back to the transmission.

 

Hmmm... thanks. Yup, that's it. Shitty, no transmission cooler

 

Cool... maybe that's why Toyota Canada tells me the tow rating of my " 2009 Tacoma 4x4 Accesscab V6 5A is 2,268 kilograms or 5,000 pounds." That's without the towing package.

FWIW <grabbing large pinch of salt>, the 2009 sales brochure gave 5000lb as standard for the V6 5A access cab, 6500lb with towing package.

Oh well whatever it is, in my case, I'll be at about 3200lb.

I'm going to do some more digging to determine the limit, now I'm very intrigued.