2018 Towing Report

We are back from our 15 day camping trip in Colorado. I used my new 2018 SR5 Taco V6 3.5L auto trans. My popup camper weighs in at 1,100 pounds. In all total, we had maybe 500 lbs of crap in the bed of the truck, 2 adults, 2 kids, and a dog. I was very pleased with the performance pulling this trailer 2,000 miles total. My only gripe which is probably lack of experience on my part was the quirkiness of the transmission driving up and down mountains. I used the "S" mode quite a bit and that helped but even so I usually could not find that perfect speed/climb/RPM combo that would keep the RPM's around 3,000ish or lower. As slight a pressure as I could possibly put on the gas pedal it would still surge from 2,000 RPM up to 3,000+ and on a few occasions 4,000 RPM. I absolutely HATE that surge! I baby my engines ALL of the time and when it surges like that I just cringe. It NEVER got into the RED area with the RPM though. Overall, it was just quirky in the mountains with the shifting. I did average 20 miles per gallon with the setup we had. What are your experiences with the transmission and what should I do different if anything for next time we go?

 

Yep I know exactly what your talking about. Coming down the east coat. PA was the worst, I’ve made four trips with varying weight from 1,000-3,500. It takes practice to keep the sweet spot. I tried S mode a few times but just used ECT and good foot response. I’m looking at buying a camper and a A frame is high on my list for this reason. Great trucks absolutely love mine. But are not meant for towing all the time.