My opinion on towing in the 4K to 4.6K range

I read many post on this forum about towing a trailer…the difference of opinion is great. Here is my experience.

Truck – 2015 Double Cab Tacoma – 67K miles – Auto w/Hankook ATM 265/70 R17

Trailer - http://www.coachmenrv.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=54&ModelID=3786#Main

UVW – 3,560

Two aftermarket coolers – Long Tru-Cool LPD 4454 &Long Tru-Cool LPD 4451 – more on this later

Mirrors - CIPA 11960 Premium Universal Towing Mirror (Black)

Transmission Temp – Ultra Gauge - Converter

Rear Spring Support – http://timbren.com/blog/products-page/tortun4/

Pro WD with antisway – A must in my opinion.

I tow in 4.

I purchased the trailer in Springfield, MO as the price was a couple thousand better than here in Kansas City. I installed the Timbrens and already had the 4454 cooler installed. With just my girlfriend in the truck, I was very happy with how it pulled the trailer back to KC. With a slight tailwind, I was able to drive 70 to 75 without much issue. The next day, we went dry camping. Loaded down my dirt bike and dirt bike gear/gas/tools/water/food/beer/etc (I estimate an additional 1K), I could definitely tell it was loaded down. On the way back into a 20 mph head wind up a long grade hill by the race track, I saw the highest trans temp I have seen at 215. This was on a 70 degree day. After that, I was a little worried about taking the combination out to Colorado and ordered/installed the 4451 trans cooler and installed it in a series. I also read a tip on letting the engine do the work and manually down shifting into 3 and 2 if necessary as it would help keep the tranny temps down. This tip really works and now wondering if the 4451 is overkill.

We went to Pomme de Terre this weekend in central MO about 2.5 hrs away. No bike or water but with typical gear. I never got above 215 and it is “easy” to manually drop a gear and let off the gas slightly to halt the temperature climb at the converter. It was 85 outside on the way down. Most of the time the temp was at or below 185. On the way back, I had a 3 to 6 MPH tailwind and was able to do 70 to 75 less shifting…I passed more people than the number of people that passed me. Never got above 200 on the way back it was cool this morning in the 60’s. Engine temp both ways is hotter than normal, I attribute that to running in 4 and getting 7.5 MPG….burning a lot of fuel.

My thoughts. The Tacoma did much better than I thought it would after reading all the threads. Brake Controller takes care of the braking. Let the engine work and you will be fine.

What I didn’t like. On the way to Pomme de Terre, I took the back roads to avoid rush hour traffic. Being on twisty narrow hilly roads that are not in the best shape with no shoulder to speak of sucks with the trailer behind. Note to self, I will either take the main roads by leaving earlier or deal with traffic. I did not save time and the drive down was more stressful than the ride back.

Product Reviews

Trans cooler works better than stock. I saw a 20 degree drop with my dirt bike in the bed on the long hill by the race track. The second cooler is probably over kill since I learned to let the engine work and manual downshift.

Timbrens are great with dirtbike in the bed or pulling the trailer. They are a little harsh as my leaf springs are already fatigued and there is almost no gap (recommended is ½” to 1 ½”). It handles better with no load; but, ride quality suffers on roads in poor condition. Not many of those were I drive unloaded, so this is no issue for me.

Mirrors work – you will need to tape the straps together to eliminate the high pitched hum at highway speeds.

I have minimal towing experience; but, will say the WD hitch is the bomb compared to the time I pulled a trailer (rented without one). That trailer was 500 lbs lighter and didn’t pull nearly as well. I attribute that to the WD.

I will be headed to Harrison, AR this upcoming week and will get into the Ozarks. Interested to see how she will do. I will not have the dirt bike with me.

Will post pictures tomorrow.

 

Pics

 

You will find as many opinions about towing with a taco as there are owners. Some think 1/2 ton is too much and others say 6K dry tows great. My camper weighs about 4200 fully loaded and ready to go. I just completed an 1100 mile trip and the truck did great and gave me 11.2 to 12.7 mpg. I am curious as why you were driving 75mph towing. Most trailer tires are not rated for that speed

 

Nice write up. Good info. I concur with the question by airsavage re 75 mph. Very very few trailer tires are rated above 65 mph. Towing at speeds above the trailer tire rating tends to heat the tire excessively and leads to catastrophic failure (blow out). So I too am curious if you have tires rated for above 65mph.

 

What speeds/where are you towing at to get 11.2 to 12.7 mpg? I will check brand/speed/load rating of tires. With that said at 4,600, the load per tire would be 1,150 minus the tongue weight which would ~ 60% of the load capacity for a typical tire. Load and under inflation are the two biggest sources of heat.

 

although those are big heat sources, speed has a big influence. The tires on my old firebird were rated for 90 ish MPH. I ran it about 10 above that for only 20 miles or so, and started losing big patches of tread. I had to replace them immediately. I can see the same happening with trailer tires even easier.

 

Was running at 58 to 60 MPH

 

I was impressed with the Tacoma pulling the trailer in the Ozarks. You won’t set any speed records; but, the Tacoma is up to the task. I would estimate the trailer weigh at 4K to 4.2K (3.6K dry). Only twice I had to slow down to 50 - 55 in third to keep the transmission temp less than 220 today in 90 degree heat. All the other climbs I was able to maintain 60 to 65 (in 3rd gear).

 

95 degrees out with a 22 MPH headwind this weekend was painful in the rolling hills of I35 south west of KC. 50 MPH to 60 MPH was all the Tacoma wanted to do with the Tranny temps at around 200 (never above 220) at the TC. The truck did get pushed around a good bit. Nothing nail biting. Thankfully, the trip was only 1 hr.

90 degrees with a 15 MPH tailwind on the way home. Easypeasy.

 

I got tired of the frame resting on the Timbrens w/o a load and installed a Wheeler's AAL (removed the overload spring); it gave me 1.5" additional lift (as they stated it would) and it smoothed the ride out substantially as I now have 1.5" of clearance from the Timbrens.

 

I find it interesting that people are so concerned about the safety of their transmission, a good brake controller, a good weight distribution hitch, etc. yet drive way too fast when towing a trailer. Those cheap Chinese trailer tires are only rated for up to 65mph. I would not even trust those tires at 65mph. Do yourself a favor and throw them in the garbage before you have a blow out and tear up your new rig.

I run Goodyear Endurance, the only trailer tire made in the USA, that is rated for 81mph but would never even think of towing a trailer at that speed.

 

I sometimes tow at 65 when I have a tail wind. Usually I tow between 55 and 60 when able. My state speed limit for towing is 55. I'm in a much larger trailer though. I'm not here to talk about the trailer.

What I want to talk about is the torque converter. I believe the second generation 5 speed transmission only locks the converter in 4th and 5th gears. You won't build much heat when the converter is locked. The fluid isn't doing much. When in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd the converter is only unlocked which means the fluid is coupling the converter, which uses the fluid to transfer your engine power to the transmission. This really heats the fluid and its worse when you are trying to hold a higher gear than you should. This will happen in 4th gear when the converter unlocks when you need just slightly more rpm. You will notice that it won't shift but the rpm will increase when holding the same speed. This rarely happens in 5th. When you drop to 3rd, it's still unlocked but the two halves of the converter are spinning faster and it's easier to the input veins to use the fluid to spin the faster output. This results in lower post converter temperatures. This is TF2. You can also monitor TF1, which is the pan temperature.

I know you already know this about downshifting, but wasn't sure if you knew why.

The second gen transmission also doesn't have a fluid thermostat, so you're golden there. 215 isn't that bad for this fluid in short durations that we see. I run the stock cooler and a much bigger cooler and pin the thermostat open and still see 215F regularly when the converter unlocks. I used to get to 235F before pinning, but you don't have a thermostat

 

Wondering if you have info about how the 1st gen auto trans works re: lockup in different gears and optimal choices for avoiding heat while towing (other than additional in line cooling, which I have).

 

I know nothing about the first gens, sorey. With a quick google search of "1st gen transmission PID" I did not find anything. Try searching around those parameters

 

This might help, looks like the ECU does not monitor the trans temps

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/automatic-transmission-temperature-gauge-installation.543019/

 

Thanks to you both.