Show us what you tow.

3500 lbs fully loaded ( that's 40 gallons of water, a full wine cabinet, and food.... don't forget food ) for a weeks vacation. I get betwwen 11 and 13 mpg flipping between 4th and OD ( depending on condition)

 

check your owners manual, I bet it says NEVER use OD for towing. OD's on virtually all transmissions are weaker than the 'regular' gears, even towing easy constant speed on the level puts double the load on the drive train as non-towing. you need to run a higher RPM in a lower gear when towing.

 

Ya I dont sniff 5th gear when Im towing

 

5th gear is cool in the turd gen per manual. 8.8 rear end and 5th gear towing might as well be a super duty

 

I dont have to really worry about it because mine wont even reach the 5th gear lol

 

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Seriously though. Relax. It'll be OK. It's not your truck to worry about. I can and will use OD on flat ground.

If the torque converter will stay locked and the transmission temperature stays cool, I'll flick it into OD. As soon as the converter unlocks (or even preemptively if a change in terrain is coming up) It's back into 4th. Is the same system I've used with my 2003 Tundra towing the same trailer. It hasn't complained about it even with 250,000 miles on the clock even with its earlier ( and also "weak" OD gear) A 340

I bought the truck. It didn't buy me. I'll use it and drive it. If I break it I'll fix it.

 

Here's a nice shot of the teardrop after dark during Riverfest.

 

Tell me about your awnings!

 

I am not sure what the tractor weighes. I would say around 200lbs or so.
I have no doubt that the v6 can tow the ATV and the 3200lb camper. If the truck is rated for over 5000lb for towing, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Um, what do you want to know? They hang off the side of the trailer to keep us dry in the rain. They can double as a changing room. Or how did we make them? Well, we is more she since Beth designed and built them. I apologize preemptively for muddying up this thread with build details. Here is the excerpt from our build thread on the Expedition Portal:

In the meantime.....it was awning time! Originally we were going to just purchase a Fiamma or ARB or similar awning and hang it off the side. The more we thought about it the more we didn't like the looks of the when closed (it would ruin the lines - and look out of place on the traditional style of our trailer).
What to do, what to do?
Build our own of course!
A little Sunbrella fabric, some Sunbrella awning thread, a little Keder welt, a few tent pole repair kits,and some awning rail and voila! Awnings! Well, not quite that easy, but it all came together quite well. Did I mention that my wife is a genius, superb designer, and she sews too?
This shows the roll of Sunbrella fabric, thread, Keder welt, grommets, nylon strapping and tent pole kit

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Closeup (sample)of the awning rail.

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and this is an example of the Keder welt. Sewn to your fabric of choice this allows you to slide the awning into the rail with ease.

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While I won't say it was simple, I was amazed at how simple Beth made it look. The awning was sized to fit squarely over each door to provide us with some sort of shelter as we ingress and egress (um, that's enter and exit - or climb in and out as the case may be). The tent poles were cut so they were slightly long and formed a nice arched rainfly, exactly like the ones on our Cabelas tents we've camped in for years. A tie was sewn in the center to hold the poles in place, and the nylon webbing was used to make the pockets for the pole ends to catch into - otherwise they'd bust through the awning doncha know!

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Closeup of the nylon pocket, and the rubber grommet - which captures the upright pole, without which the awning is just an interesting door hanging on the side of the trailer

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The end of the upright is a nice fancy hook, which hooks through the grommet. This should keep the wind from blowing the awning off the upright.

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This shot is a nice example of how it slides together. You can see the awning, with attached Keder welt, and how the welt slides into the awning rail.

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This is the finished product. You'll have to imagine that the uprights are actually connected to the running boards on the trailer with some Bimini hardware.

When not attached the awning and poles will live in a duffel bag in the basement (EDIT! This proved to be a bad idea - the tubing held water from rain and it was enough to make anything fabric in the basement wet. We have since installed pvc tubing to store all the poles in keeping everything else in the basement dry), and all you will see on the trailer is the awning rail above the doors. The clamps will be replaced with screws, so you won't see those either!


Here you can see the side walls we added later to give us a dry changing room on each side


And here is the side wall rolled down. This was the Overland Expo from last October. If any of you went you know it rained a little. We used every awning we have in the trailer to stay relatively dry.

 

Fantastic! Guess I should have just messaged you... Sorry everyone!
And your wife IS a genius!

 

Ready to pull out for one last time this season.

 

I'm towing a similar trailer, a 2007 Escape 17b Fibreglass. I found after I changed to a K&N drop in air filter, at 70mph, in OD, the truck didn't hunt for gears. It's like it gave it 2 extra horse at 2500 RPM.
If I was told the filter made a performance difference, I wouldn't have believed it. I only bought for the lifetime warranty. I don't drive on dusty roads, so that wasn't a concern.

 

I tow a 19 foot airstream. Dry weight is 3600 estimate with water and personal effects about 4500lbs. Does well on the flat; lugs a bit on hills--going over North Cascades in 3rd gear on steeper stretches. Mileage between 14 and 16 depending on terrain. I use the manual option on the automatic, rarely in 5th gear. Toyota advertises this as rated for over 6500 lbs but frankly I wouldn't be comfortable pulling more than the above. I'm an old guy, rarely if ever over 65 mph on the flat, and usually around 60 mph. Transmission behaved strangely (searching for right gear) until I had it "flashed" with a software upgrade at the 5000 mile service. Seems better now.

 

gear hunting under load is a sure sign you need to downshift it. but heck, I downshift my old mercedes (and volvos before that) when their old hydraulic (non-electronic) 4-speeds hunted just going up a grade running light. on those 4-speed, 3rd gear going up a grade is just a happier place for everything, and I usually leave it in 3rd going down too, for the additional engine braking.

 

The gear hunting was without the trailer and was quite annoying. When under load, i.e. pulling the traileer, I use the manual auto (I think it' stormed S mode)to change gears as needed and of course down shift for engine braking as well. The flashing of the transmission software appears to have improved the problem when in the fully automatic mode and not pulling the trailer.

 

pulled it 450 miles to the beach last week. 3 kayaks, 1 paddle board (room for 2), paddles for each, 1 surfboard, 4 fishing rods, and a 33'' spare tire for the trailer.


first leg of the trip also had some smaller car wheels/tires on the tongue to drop off at my uncles along the way.

 

2007 Escape 17b, 2400lbs, 13 mpg

 

Towed this today. The rental company said the combination was 6000 lbs but from what I can tell it was more like 4-4500.

 

Jayco 21' with a 2.7 auto. Pulls great and will maintain 70mph on the interstate. Best part is the mpg varies between 14.5 to 16mpg.