3.5 vs 4.0 Engines MPG.

I too am often over 20 on a highway drive. Cruse control set at the speed limit and go easy on the brakes. Stock tires on a TRD OR DCSB MT. Inflated over to 40 psi up front and 35 in the rear. Wears evenly across the tread.

 

IT'S OVERLOADED FOR THE TRUCKS RATING.. YOU ARE RISKING LIVES OF YOURSELF, AND THOSE DRIVING AROUND YOU... doesnt matter what the trailer has for brakes, or braking system.. etc.. the truck is not built to handle a load like that. you also cannot load the vehicle bed well past its rated payload (1295lbs forthe v6 I think) that also includes passengers. bed load, etc... so 1500lbs plus you as driver lets say 200lbs.. plus about 10-200lbs of misc gear, clothing, lunch, whatever... you are now well over 500lbs past the payload rating for a v-6 and then you added on anywhere from 300-600lbs of tongue weight as well as 7000lbs of MASS..

the fact that you did it and are still breathing is a miracle..

I can't say i have never driven an overloaded truck... but I had no idea at the time... I was requested by my mother to help her, and a co-sorker of hers out.. they had a 5th wheel horse trailer, and 2 horses they were moving to their fathers place approximately 30 miles away. we had at the time a 1 ton duelly with a 25k rated reese hitch in the bed.. I thought this was sufficient.. I pulled up this guy had no clue.. trailer was not prepped for us.. had 2 flat tires... it was an old steel 38' triple axle 4 horse trailer with a front camper...we changed the 2 flats... I hooked up.. truck handled the weight ok.. they had literally loaded up the camper section with a bunch of crap.. (moving)... when we were all loaded up I pulled foreward ok as the trailer had been sitting for a while. this was by far the largest load i had ever pulled... our camper was a 32ft 5th wheel and it is light.. fiberglass/wood frame..

upon leaving their house we stopped at a gas station to check tire pressures, and air up tires as need be.. truck suprisingly needed a bit of air in the duals... in the last 3 miles of our journey we hit this MASSIVE hill.. I had the gas pedal floored with the 454 in the truck chugging along, and the allison trans downshifting from 4th to 3rd, to 2nd... must have been doing 10-15mph up the top of that hill before we crested...it.. this guy thought he was going to pull this trailer with his 1/2 ton truck with 3/4 running gear.. I told him it was possible if unloaded.. but I wouldnt recommend it.. I later looked up the GVWR of the trailer we just hauled.. 35,000lbs... thats more than 10klbs more than our hitches rated capacity. and let me tell you on hills you could really feel that trailer pushing around its weight... especally with the 2 horses shifting weight in the rear behind the trailers axles... I will never again do a favor like this for anyone ever again.. it was dangerous, and stupid to do..

 

The 4cyl has whatever the owner decides to put on it, because it comes with nothing. 7pin and 4pin on mine.

 

Yes, it actually was built to handle the load I moved with it, as I've explained.
And no, this fact is not up for discussion, nor is it relevant to this discussion.

 

If it was built for it, it would have been rated for it. It’s that simple. Ratings exist for a reason.

 

the trailer maybe.. the truck, no.. any cop that knew what they were seeing would have been fully justified in pulling you over and ticketing you for vehicle overloading.. no matter what type of springs, blocks, etc... it's unsafe, and dumb...

 

I do agree with you here. Overseas the 2.7L is rated for 2500kg aka ~5500lbs towing. I've towed at the legal limit (3500lbs) with surge brakes and it did great, the I4 is a stout engine. Look at the torque curve for it, it's not even a curve. Pretty much flat all the way across.

 

But, do you log it all on your own or is there a device that does it for you and makes it more accurate?

 

I understand where you're coming from, since all the 6 cyl double cab versions seem to have really low limits of around or below 1000 pounds. Mine has a limit of 1490 pounds (just 10 pounds shy of 3/4 ton), and I think that 4-cyl prerunners have had capacities as high as 1700 pounds.

So yeah, over the limit a bit, but certainly within the safety margin and operated within the constraints of safety.

 

3.5... most of the time on 285/70/17s.

 

Just sayin, TON ratings are antiquated and irrelevant with modern vehicles. Max payload for Tacoma is somewhere around ~1200-1435 lbs depending on model.

And BOY did this thread fkin derail. Got a bunch of preachers in here

 

Yet everything you are yelling at me is about everything but the engine? Trying to tell some one that their truck can do something when they can get on a lot of trouble if pulled over doing said thing and potentially cause a serious accident is not a good idea even if you do it yourself.

 

If the ratings didn't matter, a competitor would come out with a midsize with a 10,000# limit and toyout would just change theirs to match.

Ability to handle the load dynamically is important. Sure you can move nearly 10,000# with a taco it's eating into the margins of It's ability to deal with unsuspected bumps ant turns. Not a good idea.

 

You might want to go back and read the thread to see how it got sidetracked. I certainly wasn't the one to do it.

It literally went like this;

Somebody said: "4 cyl is a gutless slug and can't move a bag of sandbox sand".
Then I said: "This isn't your grandpa's 4-cyl, this is what I moved with it and there was no problem with POWER to do so".
Then a bunch of trolls showed up and said "FUCK YOU WE'RE TOO STUPID TO DO THAT SAFELY, THEREFORE IT CAN'T BE DONE".

 

Nobody said that the ratings didn't matter.
What I said is that the ratings are not as simple as they seem.

And what you say has a great deal of truth to it. Yes, when you're pushing way up there, you are reducing the margins, which is why it is so critical to make sure that you are OPERATING it further from its margins.

For example; don't drive as fast. Leave more space between you and other vehicles on the road. Pick a time of day with less traffic. Pick a day when the weather is better.

 

Right, they aren't as simple as they seem performance, structure, marketing, liability all get a some input. Some padding is built in and going over by a few% is still pretty safe, going over by double...is likely bad judgment.

 

I find it interesting that my Toyotas always run between 16-19 mpg except for my '81 pickup. My 2010 4Runner with the 4.0 averaged about 17 mpg, while my 2015 4Runner averages about 19mpg same engine same size tires. My FJ (with auto and 4.0) averages about 17 mpg. My Tacoma (with auto and 3.5) so far averages about 18 mpg. All of these vehicles were running the same size tires. Now my 22R 81' Hilux pickup 5 speed with 5.29 gears and 35" tires got about 13 mpg.

 

Given the understanding that 3500# vs 7000# limit boils down to the "tow package" rather than the engine, and therefore the higher limit is equally applicable to the 4-cyl as long as it is equivalently equipped, I'll agree with that.

 

I log my own on each tank using the readouts from the receipts. I use total gallons purchased, cost per gallon, miles driven. I reset the miles driven back to zero when I fill up. I have found that the mpg display can be anywhere from spot on to .3 mpg off which is why I use the manual method which is the most accurate.

 

Weight ratings are pretty simple. You don’t exceed them. The rating is what the manufacturer has deemed safe and what’s LEGAL on the road.

You are opening yourself up to severe fines (hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on the state and how far you’ve exceeded) for getting caught and a very bad day if you are involved in an accident.

Can the truck do it? Sure. Is it reckless, illegal and dangerous? Absolutely.