First trip pulling a Casita Trailer

Just got back from a 1200 mile round trip pulling a 2400 lb, 17 foot Casita travel trailer. There are a lot of things I like about this little 2016 Tacoma TRD, but pulling a trailer is not one of them. Most of the trip was in slightly rolling hills. Jeez, if that truck didn't rev to 3000-4000 rpms a thousand times, I'd be surprised. Drove me crazy. Finally settled on putting it in 5th gear with the ECT "on" and not using the cruise control at all. That seemed to be the best option. Got 13.5 mpg. Normal road mpg with just me and no trailer is 19.5-20. I just think a six cylinder truck should be able to handle towing with more panache than this!

 

13.5mpg is actually good with that weight. ECT is a must with a heavy trailer, revving is not a bad thing since this 3.5 marks power up there. Not the coolest sound when revving high but shouldn't hurt a thing.

 

I had a big crewman tundra 5.8L engine and was not impressed with pulling performance either... 14 mpg and it was noticable pulling a Starcraft pop up... I forget the length and weight. Thanks for post because I have a long term goal of getting a casita or 19 ft scamp...at least I know what to expect

 

OP, is yours a Freedom Deluxe like mine? I love my Casita. Got any pics?
As far as power goes, any V6 in today's mid-size class is gonna hunt and rev more when pulling a trailer. When I pull my Casita with my 2002 I have to downshift to 3rd gear and rev to 4500 RPM's on some of the climbs out here in Wyoming. I am usually only doing about 45 mph in the process. The benefit of newer motors is the timing is much better and engines can run at higher RPM's no problem. It feels weird seeing the tach spike but that doesn't mean it's hurting anything. I test drove a Silverado 5.3 and when you put your foot in it, it too would shift to 4,000 RPM to get you some extra horsies.
Did you feel you could sustain speeds in spite of the revving?

 

I tow a Rockwood A122SXR A-frame camper and it's pretty close to your weight. I tow with the ECT on and leave the trans in 4th gear. It reduces the high rev shifting issues and it actually pulls pretty well.

 

Don't tow in Overdrive gears

 

^^^^ Yep what he said. While towing I keep mine in 4th gear. If the road gets nice and flat for a while then I might bump it to 5th. 13.5mpg pulling anything is not bad at all.

 

Your problem was towing while using cruise control. People are having issues with cruise control with no weight behind them, let alone with 2400 pounds behind them.

 

Is 5th gear considered "an overdrive gear"? I thought 6th gear was THE overdrive gear. Towing in 4th gear on flat land towing the Casita would mean a sustained 3000 rpms if I tried to maintain 60 mph. Revving to 4000 rpms let me almost sustain 60 mph going up a hill (not mountain).

My Casita is a 2014 Freedom. I love it!

 

5th and 6th are both overdrive gears. Would recommend towing in 4th, and switch to 5th possibly when going downhill or towing light load.

 

OK, thank you. BTW, the only thing that might be a "light load" to this truck would be a roller skate.

 

You said you were towing a 2400 pound casita trailer, was that including everything loaded, passengers, gear, etc? You really shouldn't have issues with that much weight. People have towed more with no problems.

When i said a light load, I was referring to a small utility trailer with an atv or some bikes or something.

 

Looking to upgrade my old Coleman Bayside pop-up to Winnie, Scamp or Casita some time next year and thanks for your report. 17 years on the ol gal.

 

I towed about 4k lbs total. A Pop up Aliner with 2 people camping gear, hunting gear and full tanks + water. Used shift limiter 4 plus ECT and cruise control was no issue. The engine screamed like a banshee at 4500 revs+ on 6% grades. Cruise control or not made no difference. I got about 14.5mpg

 

Did you use cruise control on the 6% grades? That would most likely cause your rpms to sky rocket. 14.5 mpg doesn't sound too bad.

 

Funny how this has to be repeated in every towing thread.

As for the OP, that's how any gas engine truck is going to tow. If you want something that can pull and remain low in the RPMs, you're only option is going to be a diesel. What people forget though is 4k on a diesel engine is like 6k on a gas engine. They're not meant to be run high and you're still putting a lot of wear and tear on them if you rev them.

 

I do appreciate all of the feedback you guys have given me on this thread. I'm just not used to having an engine "scream" like this Tacoma does at 3000+ rpm's. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it if I'm going to continue to tow a trailer with this truck. Next trip I will put her in 4th and ECT and monitor the results.

With respect to the question of "did I use cruise control?" - yes, for about 50 out of 1200 miles. The total trailer weight was probably close to 2700# and the truck carried my brother and about 150 of gear.

 

The cruise control seems to be for flat land use only. I don't live anywhere with tons of hills, but whenever I hit a hill with cruise on (even without towing) the engine revs up and seems to get stuck in a high rev even when the hill turns from uphill to a downhill. It is strange.......

 

6,500 pound tow package towing capacity???