Constant Shifting

Just finished an 850 mile drive westerly from New York to St Louis. I am extremely frustrated with my 2017 2nd TRD 4X4. With cruise on and traveling between 65-72 mph, the truck was constantly searching for the correct gear to shift to. I have the Shift Sense Pro with the chip and it was in the number 2 program and this did not help one bit. I was better able to regulate the speed with the cruise off. There were times with the cruise on and running along when the wind blew the truck downshifted to maintain the set speed. At this point I wish I had my 2010 Tacoma back.

 

Yep When Shift sense Pro first came out I said that it would not help in cruise control, and I was rebuffed. The Truck can downshift when ever it wants regardless of Shift Sense Pro. Cruise control sucks in these trucks big time. It only works if you have a Manual Transmission. I can hold gears just fine with cruise off and hold speed, but cruise waits until the truck decelerates a tad and overreacts and downshifts like crazy. Cruise only woks on a perfectly flat road and no wind.

 

Have you had the latest TSB applied for the transmission? I drove 500 miles round trip last weekend to the TExas Hill Country and back. Used cruise control for 75% of the time and was very happy with how it maintained speed without jerky downshifts. Travel speed was 60-75 mph and I averaged 24.2 MPG.

In fact I was watching for this and my RPMs never got above 2600 even with some big hills.

 

Love my Tacoma until it is cruising the interstate. If only S mode worked like a flappy paddle gear box rather then a gear limiter it wouldn’t be so annoying. It is the biggest weakness in the truck.

I’ve not got the second update yet so here is to hoping that will help some.

 

I stopped using CC when I bought my '07; it's always sucked ass.

 

For SVASSH, I just had the 5000 mile checkup and asked about any TSB’s and was informed there were none. At the 2K mile timeframe I had the rear ended replaced due to the howling that was prevalent and complained about on another post on Tacoma World.The dealership completed the work and told me the howling was still there but not to worry. During the entire 850 miles of my trip I never heard the howling again. Go figure.

 

Got to maintain that most efficient rpm for EPA mpg results. Just wait till 8 or 10 speed auto trans.

 

If the current gear does not send the proper force to the rear wheels to maintain the set speed, there will be a change of gears. That's what it's supposed to do. I'm not sure what your quarrel is.

 

That's just cruise, it does it on my 2nd gen too. I only use it on flatter roads to save gas

 

It’s not a quarrel, it’s more of a frustration!

 

I understand that for sure

 

As long as there is enough torque in the cruising range then I don't see it being an issue.

 

Yes but when the transmission has lousy gearing like these third gens, you're essentially designing a feedback loop where it'll shift up and down constantly.

Like I said I love the way this truck looks but I can't see this thing having that legendary reliability with this engine and overworked transmission.

 

Try S5 instead of D next time you are in CC. Locking out the top OD will eliminate a lot of the shifting. Not all of it, but some.

 

Yeah I bet Mr. Toyota's engineers never figured a 6 speed would have to shift much. Probably totally overlooked that factor . . .

 

The good news about the crappy Cruise Control in the Taco is that at least the truck is somewhat controllable. My work truck is an F350, that also has crappy cruise, but also a shit-tonne of power. When it senses the truck bogging in hilly terrain, it downshifts and the huge V8 roars to life and recovers the speed in two seconds, but then overshoots, so the throttle pulls back and you get intense engine braking. You gotta pull over to clean out your underwear sometimes.

Cruise works best in sedans, in my experience.

 

It works great with a tailwind I think.

 

You should buy a Tesla. You’ll never have to worry about your car shifting again.