Towing With Auto Transmission

Hey-
Have a brand new 2016 Tacoma with tow package and am looking at the towing section of the owners manual. The manual indicates that you should tow in S rather than D and never exceed 5th gear. Does anyone actually do this? If that was the case, I should have just bought the manual transmission!

I am towing an Aliner camper, weight about 1650# dry. Can't imagine it can be more than 1800 even full of gear. Plus a couple hundred in the bed covered with a Leer cab. My previous tow vehicle was a 2016 Subaru Outback 2.5 liter. I ran that from NY to CA in D, except for a few mountainous sections where I used the override to shift manually and use engine braking.

What are people's experiences with towing here?

 

Follow the recommendations in the manual. If you really want to tow in D get something to monitor transmission temp and TC lockup.

 

What is TC lockup?

I'm actually confused why this truck would have this recommendation, but the Subaru car doesn't. The whole purpose of getting the auto-trans was to make towing a tiny bit easier than with a manual trans. I wanted a manual, but thought it one more thing to worry about while towing that I just didn't need.

 

What conditions is the towing under (road types/speeds)?

A gauge to monitor the trans temp (in anything auto that's towing or racing) is a must have.

I suspect that if you try it just in D, you'll find it downshifts way to often to be comfortable. It's a high OD gear, and the lower RPM it creates puts the engine in a too low power position.

It will be just fine following the manual.

 

TQ=torque converter. When it locks an unlocks repeatedly it'll heat up the transmission fluid.

Towing with an auto is not a big deal IMO, just follow the recommendations from the owner's manual.

 

A mix or roads, both highway and byway. CA limits trailers to 55mph, but across country we regularly did 60-65 without issue. I never pushed much past that in the Subaru. That vehicle was a 6 speed auto as well.

We are in CA, so there are some hills, into the Sierras, along the coast. No real off road towing except on a dirt road to get to a campground.

Now I'm just wishing I'd bought the manual trans.

 

You will laugh...but I still don't really know what that is. First truck, previously only owned all wheel drive Subarus and VWs. Plus a SAAB which is a whole different animal. Is the TQ something that is unique to a truck?

 

The torque converter is part of an automatic transmission...it's essentially the clutch in an automatic.

You're overthinking the auto vs manual as both have their drawbacks. I want auto because it is stronger than the manual on the 2nd gen tacomas.

Follow the recommendations in the manual you'll be fine. Maybe you can tow in D based on the light weight trailer that you're pulling but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are monitoring your transmission temp. If I'm in D when towing our travel trailer the transmission heats up quickly and it will easily exceed 230f which is not good for the fluid and components of the transmission.

If you're concerned at all pick up an Ultra Gauge or Scan Gauge to monitor transmission temps (I run the Ultra Gauge in my truck and am happy with it but you'll need to research to see if these work on the 2016 and newer trucks).

 

Thanks for this-it only goes to show my ignorance when it comes to automatic transmissions. In 20+ years of driving I've only owned one other auto transmission, and that was the Subaru which is a CVT-very different than what is in the Tacoma. I've never had to worry about a torque converter before I think!

You've also caused me to look up a couple things on this forum and I realize I didn't know how the S function worked. I thought it was similar to the paddle shifter on the Subaru or on a VW I test drove-where it is basically a manual override for the auto transmission. You can shift through the gears as if you were running a manual, but don't have a clutch.

I clearly WAS over thinking this whole thing...

 

Also, not sure if this was mentioned in the manual clearly, but S5 is what it's referring to, but that doesn't mean you have to shift all the gears. It just means that it will do it's automatic thing, NOT to exceed 5th Gear. If you had it in S3, it would start in 1st, then shift to 2nd, then to 3rd, but would just run up the RPMs at that point because you asked it not to shift to 4th.

It's easy to do when in D, just move the shifter left once, which automatically puts it in S4, bump it up once until it shows S5 on your dash, and drive. If you need more power, hit the ECT power button, which will change when your engine shifts automatically to improve power at the cost of fuel economy.

Basically all you are trying to do is avoid 6th gear, because it's a well overdriven gear which is not rated to pull loads, it's a fuel economy in normal situations kinda thing.

One cool thing about the auto is that if you are approaching a big hill, you can bump the shifter down and it will Change from S5 to S4, and won't leave 4th until you bump it back to S5. That gives you power to go up the hill, and you don't have to worry about the transmission trying to constantly find a higher gear for MPG while you're asking it to work.

 

Put in S, push gas pedal.

 

I wouldn't tow in drive because of the added stress you will be subjecting your transmission to. Run it in 4th or 5th. Your RPM's will be higher but less stress on your transmission. You really shouldn't be going that fast when you tow anyways. Most travel trailers have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph for their tires or you risk de-laminiation. Blowing a tire at highway speeds could be catastrophic for the Tacoma/driver.

 

That's what I've learned. In our other car, the S function actually makes you run through the gears, without the benefit of a clutch. The Tacoma system is much easier. I really WAS over thinking this.

 

I tow a 5,400lb enclosed trailer 6-8 times per year at about 2,000 miles round trip. I use "D", until it starts hunting for gears, then I just put it in 4th. My truck just rolled over 120,000 miles and I've been doing this since new. I think you'll be fine in "D". If it starts shifting a lot, shift it down. Local Toyota tech told me doing it that way won't hurt anything.

 

Hey there, I have a '15 Tacoma (auto trans.) with tow package, wondering if I would be fine to keep it in D or if I should keep it in 4. Saw there was a few recommendations for the '16 model but just wanted to double check

 

The owners manual recommends towing in 4 on the 2nd gen

 

One of the crappy things about Tacoma,s whether it be a 2nd or 3rd gen , you cant see the transmission temperature without installing an aftermarket guage such as a scan guage or ultra guage as examples .
Use direct drive for towing unless you have the ability to monitor your transmission temp .
The high temperature transmission fluid light will come on @ 315 degrees , but by then you are far too late and have cooked your transmission fluid .
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/

 

I have a 2016 Tacoma SR without tow pkg. I have just recently started towing a small 1200# camper trailer. Towing in S4 runs the RPMs up to around 3K at interstate speeds. Is this ok on the engine to run at these rpms for long distances? I live in Tennessee, home of the rolling hills, so if try to use S5, it just hunts gears constantly. And of course fuel economy goes right out the door. Just wondering what you guys have to say about this. Thanks.

 

Although 1,200# is not too much, the recommended guidance in the book (if I recall) is to tow in 4th, not using 5 or 6thgear

 

Keep the rpm up to avoid lugging the motor with the extra weight of pulling. S mode works well but you shift it more. ECT is good for towing, it does act kind of like a tow button anyways, keeps the rpm up, shifts higher and will hold the gear longer. how much weight are you pulling?