First Time Towing with New Tacoma

This post is for anyone who is thinking about stepping into a Tacoma from a full-size truck, which is what i went through last year.

I traded my 2010 silverado in for a silver 2018 TRD OR at the end of last year. It was the last 2018 on the lot so I got what i believe to be a pretty good deal. I've only done a few minor things so far including 32" K02's on fuel wheels, tinted the front windows, and added the faux pro grille. These minor upgrades made the truck look much better in my opinion. I'm planning to do the suspension next. Overall, i love the truck. Its much easier to park in So Cal than my past silverados and i get better gas mileage.

Anyway, last weekend i finally used it tow a trailer with a 4 seater Polaris RZR out to the desert and here is what i experienced.
-The RZR and trailer were about 2,500 lbs. and I had probably another 300 lbs. of camping gear in the bed. It definitely didn't tow like my 5.3 vortec did, but that's obvious.
-At 65 mph it was hunting for gears pretty badly while on the slightest incline, which was annoying but manageable. On flat roads and slight declines it didn't struggle much though.
- In terms of acceleration, it was comparable to the 5.3's with this light of a load.
-I was very impressed when we got to the sand and loose dirt. The tacoma did a great job, and i never got the feeling that I may get stuck like i had before in my silverdos.
- The best part about the tacoma was how well it handled the desert once i unhooked from the trailer. After turning off traction control and pushing the ol' ECT button it was almost as fun as ripping the RZR through the desert. I really cant believe how well it handled itself.

My final thought is that i'm very happy with the purchase. I only tow a few times a year and the load is always under 3,500 lbs. If anyone out there is considering moving away from a full size and has similar needs as me, I would definitely recommend a taco. Rant over.

 

Glad to hear this. I have a friend who keeps asking me to tow out his second RZR.

When you say it was hunting for gears, did you switch to S5 while towing?

 

the good old ECT button, i never leave home without it.

 

Yes i switched to it for little while, however on multiple occasions it shifted into lower gears without me asking it to. Is this normal?

Either way, it was pretty windy and i was getting terrible mileage (as expected) so I dropped my speed to just under 60 and it stopped shifting so often.

 

Tow/haul mode and/or leaving it in S5 should improve your towing experience. It'll still drop down to 3/4 on steeper grades, but it shouldn't be hunting as bad on flat stuff.

 

To be honest, I wasn't aware of the tow /haul mode. I did look for it about 20 min. into the trip, but I didn't see anything. I will have to look into this...

I was also trying to keep up with my buddies tundra's which had me shifting into 3rd more than i would have like haha.

 

ECT is the tow/haul mode. I love it in the mountains or when I have a lot in the truck.

 

I put 5000 miles in 2 weeks towing a 2,200 lbs camper and 350 to 450 in the bed and 4 people in the cab, So what i found is i can tow in S5 and ETC button when hilly or in town most the time ,
70ish is about the top speed if i don't want it shifting up and down a bunch, 65 is better when hilly.
don't tow in 6th as it can heat up the trans to much from what i have read. but if windy or bigger hills your in 4S-5S and 60 or so.

 

Good to know. I'm in the same boat. Don't tow often but might here and there. Light load. Otherwise I would have went full size v8. I had a 5.7 silverado last and it sure towed easy.

 

Yeah, the S mode will just sets the upper limit (S5 just stops it from ever shifting into 6).