The Tacoma Towing Bible

While your statement is technically correct, with regards to D not meaning overdrive only just available and all, it is still safest for people without huge amounts of real world towing experience to keep overdrive un-available to avoid the hunting situation that they may not be aware of. I also have never owned ot driven a Tacoma of either generation with an auto, and as such do not have first hand experience with the tendancy or lack there of to "hunt", but I know my old F-150, and my father's current f-150 both hunt like a S.O.B. with even the slightest resistance, but as this guide is going to be of the most benefit to beginners, I still maintain that it is safest to keep it out of "D" so that they have full engine breaking and preserve their transmission, atleast untill such time as they have more towing miles under their belt, and understand more about how the truck will handle under load.

 

Partially true.. it's not that the truck has to be heavier than the load being pulled but you hit it with the rest of the explaination. At least in California the law says that the tow vehicle has to be at least 4000# uladen before you can tow the rated limit of 6500# The Tacoma just cuts the limit with a curb weight of about 4200#. I'm sure earlier model Tacoma's didn't meet the 4000# limit since they were smaller.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21715.htm

Unfortunately I'm technically illegally pulling my trailer. When I bought it the brochure stated the GVWR was 6000# but the trailer stamp said GVWR was 7000#. The dealer was even surprised as only one other was stamped 7000#. He figured there must have been a change mid production run since the trailers were the same year and model.

 

I will only agree with you regarding experience points needed by a driver so that they understand the whole towing experience. As for it being safer to tow in 4 that's debatable. If there were a safety issue then it wouldn't be listed in the manual to use D. If anything.. using D might cause someone inexperienced to go slower to avoid the hunting which IMO is safer

 

I'm only going by what U-Haul told me. They would not let me rent an auto transport until they decided the truck was only 30lbs lighter than the car/trailer I would be towing. It didn't matter that my truck was rated to tow 6500lbs, had a class IV hitch, etc. Only that the truck was lighter than the auto transport's and vehicle's combined weight.

 

That's UHaul for you. They won't rent trailers to Ford Exploder drivers either. I think they're just afraid that someone's going to wreck their already junk trailers. I usually rent from one of the other local guys round here to be honest. UHaul claims way to much stuff for "insurance purposes". If the law says it's ok they shouldn't have to worry about it.

 

Tell me about it.... Unfortunately, it's the only place I know of to get a full auto transport around here. And my buddy was the one paying for it since it was for him. We had trouble the first time, so the second time we knew to have them look up a Ford Fiesta, give them the door tag weight, and make sure they knew we'd rented the same damn thing before!

I also plan on getting a trailer of my own that could be used to haul cars if needed. Just to have one, tow something in better condition, and make sure it has electric brakes.

 

I have a question for you all about brands. It appears that hidden hitch and drawtite have the same parent company, but a drawtite hitch is more expensive than the hidden hitch? Is it really any different? Also, is Curt a good brand? I'm looking to add a hitch to my truck for towing the project car I bought recently.

 

Here is another place to buy hitches...http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2007_Toyota_Tacoma+Pickup.htm

In the gen 2 trucks, yes, it does appear that drawtite and hidden hitch are using the same part. I have seen other applications where they do not look alike, so to answer your rquestion in this case, buy the cheeper one as they are the same piece.

With regard to curt hitches. A buddy of mine bought one for his 98 tacoma. I had a hidden hitch on my 04 tacoma. Both gen 1 bodys, and the frame remained un-changed through those model years, but his curt hitch was much more visable benieth his bumper, and even without a drawbar in it, it still protruded about an inch and a half past his bumper. The hidden hitch on my 04 was not at all noticable when there was no drawbar in it, and definately did not protrude enough for me to have to worry about nailing my shin on it when walking the back of the truck.

Also, if you look at the soomed actuall photos on the link above, you'll see that the curt is just end welded together, while the other two, the load bar passes through the brackets, and is welded on both sides of the bracket, which seems like it is going to be a good bit more durable to me for not that much more money. Will it functiton fine and safely for towing. It will probably be fine, but what you gain in price point you sacrifice in looks and a clean install, but that is just my personal oppinion with regard to asthetics, it is a decision you have to make for yourself.

 

The write up for a full brake controller install on GEN 2 V6 trucks without the tow package is now finished and added into the original Towing Bible here

Assuming that Homer J wants a brake controller installed, I'll try to doccument this project better when I get together with him to work on his truck.

In the mean time thank boser65 for providing me with wiring diagrams, pictures of harnesses, and voltage readings from a non-tow package equipped truck so I could figure this out.

If anyone has any problems with this please feel free to contact me and I'll do my best to help you out.

Also if someone with a 2.7L truck wants to send me some pictures and a few specific voltage readings I'll try to adapt it for the 4cyl guys too. Same goes for you Gen 1 guys, though it may be a little tougher to figure out the routing without one of them in front of me.

Till then tow safe, keep it between the lines and the rubber side down.

 

Speaking of Brake controllers. The Prodigy is probably the best proportional controller out there. You'll find that a majority of people that tow will recomend the Prodigy. Surf on over to http://www.rv.net/ and you'll see the "rave" reviews.

Just as easy to install as the one you have... actually easier because you don't have to use the pigtail that Toyota supplies. The one they supply doesn't have the molex plugs on both ends. Tekonisha sells a Toyota pigtail to go with the Prodigy which has both ends on it. The install is literally a 10 minute plug-n-play installtion if you have the factory tow package.

Here's where I mounted mine... easy to activate the manual lever as well if needed. Some have mounted it in the coin pocket just to the left of my install but I found it harder to reach.

 

Awesome job Adam ... many thanks!

 

Hi i have a noob ? Well i did some towing this past weekend about 140 miles round trip with my 2002 crew cab v6 trd tacoma.. (not 4wd) i was towing my street bike and a 5x8 trailer.. I would say total weight is about a 1000 pounds or less. I know this has been asked way to many times but what gear should i be in? and does it have to be out of overdrive? i drove it in D with overdrive on, but i wasen't sure if it was hunting for gears or not. i went up some pretty big hills with the ac on.. it seems to do fine, And is it ok to take the overdrive in and out of overdrive? i took it out of overdrive a few times when i hit some steep hills.. then i would put it back into overdrive once it was over the hill. is this all okay? =) thanks!

 

It sounds like you did fine. It is a safety rule to keep it out of overdrive. If the truck is managing the load the the overdrive rule can be ignored. I wrote it the way I did to prevent people who didn't know any better from doing damage to the transmissions. If the truck is hunting you'll hear as well as feel the transmission kick out of overdrive, and the engine RPM will increase, then almost as abruptly you'll feel it re-engage overdrive and the RPMs will drop. you can also watch this happen on your tach.

It is more than safe to take the truck in and out of overdrive manually, in fact you did exactly as you are supposed to do. Take it out of overdrive when you need to climb a hill, and then once you are on flat ground again you can go ahead and put it back in overdrive. Just be watchfull for the tranny hunting, and if you do that you and your transmission will get along just fine.

 

Thanks! i feel alot better now.. so i do just leave it in D? right ? not in any other gear? thanks for ur time =)

 

So im gonna do some towing today.. here is a pic of the trailer with my bike on it. just thought i'll share this so u guys have a idea of what i was talking about =)

 

Any advice for towing a heavy load going down the big mountains? I noticed that leaving the Taco in 4 going down some hills wasn't enough (engine braking) and I had to tap the brakes quite a bit...should I be shifting down to 3 or 2 manually? What RPMs should I keep it under if I'm gonna use the engine as a brake in a lower gear? BTW, I was 10,340lbs with a freshwater tank full, some firewood, 5 spare gallons of water, my wife, two dogs, food, etc...the entire thing. Guess I should rethink some of the extras in my camper thanks to that 11,100lbs max GVWR....getting close to it! Here's a breakdown of my axle weights:

last trip, fully loaded
2420 1st axle
5420 2nd
10340 all axles
7900 2 and 3
4900 trailer

Old rating (first trip home, empty)
2420 1st
5180 2nd
9920 all

I need to get my wife and dogs in the truck and go down and weigh the truck by itself...Tacoma Dbl Cab V6 4x4 Auto.

 

I should expand on those axle weights for better understanding:

last trip, fully loaded
2420 1st axle
5420 1st and 2nd
10340 Truck and Trailer
7900 Truck Rear and Trailer
4900 Trailer

Old rating (first trip home, empty)
2420 1st
5180 1st and 2nd
9920 all

 

As long as you keep your speed down below the rated for each gear then going down to 3rd or 2nd is perfectly acceptable. Remember though that breaking slightly on the truck when going downhill may not activate the trailer brakes enough and you could find yourself being pushed by the trailer or worse yet the trailer coming round on you. If you have a break controller like the Prodigy you can set the "boost" so that a small application of the brakes in the truck will cause a "more agressive" initial braking being applied to the trailer so that the trailer stops a little faster than the truck keeping everything in line. You can also use the manual lever (if so equipped) to help keep things in line.

Basically though if you feel you're going too fast still in 4th and feel that you need to gear down one more then use the brakes to slow down to a safe "transition" speed then shift down to 3rd. If you shift without applying brakes first you could find the engine agressively braking with the trailer brakes not being applied. Man though if you're in a situation where you have to shift down to 2nd you had better be going slow because that's some downhill grade. I'm pulling a GCWR that's about the same as yours and I've never had to go below 3rd. Even then 3rd was only used for a very short time.

 

Great information here.

My manual tranny should work well for towing I would imagine, but my question concerns the engine oil cooler mentioned.

My 2005 V6 4x4 was purchased before the towing package was available. Will I be able to add the engine oil cooler that was mentionned. Seems like a great idea. Are part numbers and instructions available?

 

Crest speed is probably where the planning should start. As soon as you crest the hill, make sure your at a reasonable speed. This is usually not a problem, especially if you've just climbed up the other side, but still.
I would not rely on engine braking from any vehicle not equipped with Jake's(Big Rigs & Dumps) or an exhaust brake. Fooling oneself into believing that engine braking (In a conventional pickup) is helpful beyond a 3% downgrade is asking for failure.
If you have electric trailer brakes, the best thing to do is use the manual activator. That is what it's there for.
Like j4x4ar3 said, "As long as you keep your speed down below the rated for each gear then going down to 3rd or 2nd is perfectly acceptable." But the common consensus is it's cheaper to replace a set of brake pads and rotors than it is to fix a thrown rod in the engine. Just don't ride them, use them assertively to slow down 10-15 MPH then let off, build the speed back up and repeat as necessary. This allows the brakes to cool between cycles.

If you knew all this already, I'm sorry.

It's not rocket science it's just science!