Under powered truck.

I have a 2017 Tacoma v-6 4x4 with tow package. Pulled our new trailer, 20’ GeoPro apprx.3400# this weekend and truck couldn’ hardly get out of 4th gear (auto trans) on Interstate at 65 mph. Worried that extened towing at higher rpm’s will be hard on engine and trans. Does have trans. cooler.
Any thoughts or experiences?

 

Gen 3's have 6sp Auto yeah? I have an 2006 Gen2 and I am always in 4th (Auto 5spd) and in 3rd or 2nd at 55-60 up hills w/ 4500lb trailer. Monitor trans & engine temp and perform your regular maintenance and all should be well and good.

 

You dont want to tow in 5th or 6th, they are overdrive gears! The owners manual states you can tow in 5th, I personally would only do so on downhill and level situations. There are advantages to towing in higher (2500/3500 rpm) less heat caused by excessive shifting and the transmission pump runs more efficiently. The 3rd gens have a thermostat on the transmission that can be pinned to allow the transmission cooler to work all the time and will allow the Temps to work much lower than the 195 degree setting. Also always tow in S mode and with the ECT on. Good luck, happy and safe towing!

 

Thanks awdvkd115, always helps to read manual first. You said the transmission thermostat can be pinned? Not sure what that means or how to do that. Do you have a transmission temp. guage in your truck? Was thinking I would like to add one to mine.

 

I have a 4 speed and only tow in 4th on flat roads. If it’s gear hunting, downshift. It’s okay to tow in overdrive gears as long as the trans isn’t trying to work too hard. But your truck has a high rpm powerband engine, just like my old 4cyl. You gotta get the rpm up to get into the powerband.

 

I use a Scan gauge to monitor all the sensors, the 3gens have two transmission temp sensors already in the transmission. Just research Scangauge II they are very handy, if the computer monitors it the Scangauge will too. As for pinning the transmission thermostat just research 3rd gen tacoma pin thermostat, they have lots of threads that explain how to do it. It very simple, all you do is push in a button on the thermostat and it bypasses the thermostat. It will drop the temps a lot and the recovery tme is a lot faster. There are a lot of photos around to show you where it is.

 

Don’t your trailer tires have a speed limit of 65? Faster increases the risk of tire failure.

Which of course doesn’t answer your question!

 

The speed limit for towing in many states is 55mph. Check your local laws...

 

The max speed for towing trailers in some states is 55 like here in California, but for many states it’s what ever the max speed limit is. I seen places in a Texas where it’s 80 or 85 mph. However you are correct the max speed rating for most “trailer tires” is 65 mph. Towing in excess of the speed rating of tires can be dangerous as the tires may over heat and fail. All trailer tires unless otherwise noted are 65mph rated max. You can buy trailers with higher speed ratings but they of course cost more.

 

I tow a boat that's around 3800-4000 lbs fully loaded. I had a '14 TRD Sport with tow package and the Taco just doesn't have the torque it needs to tow. I was getting 12 mpg when towing, and the truck struggled up hills... and that's without the AC on.

I said fuckit and got a RAM EcoDiesel. 420 foot pounds of torque, 25+ on the freeway and better MPG when towing than when the Taco was NOT towing. Got tired of the shit mpg and weak torque.

 

Describe what you mean by struggling up hills? What RPM? What speed? What gear?

 

In 7 dialects of chinese "tacoma " means "underpowered". You can google it.

 

266 ft lbs of torque... Struggling is not being able to run your AC because if you do the truck shifts into 3rd going up hill and you're doing 50 by the time you reach the top and people behind you are pissed.

 

It's not a tow truck...Buying a Tacoma to tow is like getting a ram for offroading... ill advised!

 

I dunno... it has a TOW pkg, and says the limit is 6400 lbs for the MY I had. Anywho... it IS a great truck, and I really loved mine while I had it. Got the boat after the fact, so I had to upgrade my towing ability.

Not hating on the Taco... just needed more power. I kept my Toyota keychain and it's now attached to my new truck's fob as a reminder of the old girl.

 

I think it's powered just fine to tow a camper.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...of-idiocy-journal.527020/page-6#post-17893122

 

A couple of days ago I picked up my new TT. 3900 lbs dry. Drove about 9 miles to get it home. Some urban surface streets, some freeway. My taco definitely had to work to get the trailer moving and keep it moving. The freeway section was mostly uphill. RPMs were my friend. I was hitting 4k on the on-ramp and it felt sluggish.

So was the truck under powered? I guess it depends on your perspective. Sure I'd like more power but I don't want a full size truck. The Taco got the trailer home with no issues. If I wanted to have good throttle response and the ability to accelerate up hills while towing, then I'd say it is under powered. I had that with my 2900 lb trailer but the new trailer is a bigger load.

It will be interesting to see how it does on our upcoming camping trips where we'll be crossing (small) mountains.