New 2021 Tacoma owner, V6, Towing question

This is my first truck and I purchased it in order to tow a travel trailer which weighs about 3200 lbs. Since the truck is supposed to tow about 6200, I felt this would be manageable for the truck and give me the capacity for additional weight when loaded. I'm disappointed the truck was sluggish towing the trailer. I have heard about adding a "chip" to give the truck a boost. I wonder if anyone else has issues with towing. Your thoughts and feedback are appreciated.

 

Good choice for your tow vehicle. I did the same to pull my camper which weighs 3250# fully loaded.

There are plenty of issues (and opinions) with Tacoma towing, however, the weight you cite plus assuming the truck is at a minimum payload (like driver and tongue weight only) and, if you’re towing in S4+ECT, should not be one of them. There will be a significant difference (you might call it sluggish) between performance when towing a load and driving with no load. To mitigate that somewhat, make sure you’re in a gear that’s right for the situation. S4+ECT will look after that most of the time. There will be times that you’ll have to select the correct gear (hill climb, etc) and get comfortable with the higher sustained rpms.

Having said that I must admit that I’m tuned on KDMax (the “chip”) and have Hellwig helper springs to level the load when the trailer is attached. Also, my truck is at max payload when towing. My gross combined vehicle weight comes in around 8800#, well inside the max rating.

Happy towing.

 

Tell us more about your setup....
Trailer
WDH
Tongue weight- dry and loaded if known
Truck cargo weight- passengers and other cargo
It may help to get a cheap tongue weight scale or if you want more accuracy head to a CAT scale.
As noted above, be sure you are in S4 and ECT on. The only time you can use overdrive safely is on long flat areas or downhills where you do no need to brake heavily.
Be sure you get a OBD monitor** to keep your eyes on tranny temps. The trucks torque is all in in the upper band range so you need to be in the right gear in order to get it going. It likes to pull at 3500-4500 rpms.
**scangauge or ultra gauge, etc..
Remember you do not have an external tranny cooler so it may be something to consider adding depending on the temps you are getting.

 

The truck will pretty much always be sluggish when towing. The engine just doesn't produce the low end torque that is required for a good tow vehicle experience. It will get the job done and do it safely but it's nothing to write home about.

 

Are you using ECT and S 4 when towing...if not try that.