Should have bought a half ton

3300 lbs and a love hate relationship. I got passed by an SUV with an airstream and my foot was to the floor. Midwest hills/winds make this truck intolerable, even without a trailer. Experiences widely vary depending where you're at in the country. I just put an LRA 30 gal in it last week which helps compensate, but fuck. Might try and regear as a last stitch effort (still cheaper than a new truck). Might also go power wagon next year, we'll see.

 

Better take yours to the shop, as my '18 TRD Sport is great on road trips. Drove it 470 miles on the interstate including over the Shenandoah maintains and back one day several weeks ago and it drove and handled like a dream.

 

I am moving over the next 6 months. I headed down to visit family and decided to bring a load with me. It was full going down, empty back. 11 mpg both ways. Could not keep it in the power band.

 

Try towing this parachute. 8 ft wide , 12 ft long less then 12 miles a gallon and weighs less then 2000lbs.

 

The Ranger live to fight another day!

 

How fast were you going?

 

I've been passed by these beasts on the interstate with them hauling a car hauler trailer with like 4-5 suvs on them 0_o god damn monsters! There's a reason ranchers hauling trailers full of cattle and horses drive them though, plus dodge has really good reliability. If I needed to haul I'd try to be Cummin

 

I need a truck for the next few months. After that, I will get rid of it.

 

Huh. Thats odd. I get better milage pulling larger loads in my nissan, but I keep it around 65 mph and its an MT. Even my taco isn't bad with one of the 5x8 enclosed uhauls though. I wonder if we just have different expectations.

 

I tried different speeds. The transmission didn’t like any speed. Settled on 70, seemed the happiest there. It would only hunt between 2 gears. Any slower, it would hunt between 3.

 

I'm sort of in the same boat as you. Wish I would have got a 1/2 ton simply for the bigger rear sets. It makes road trips with the family miserable for the two in the back seat not to mention the 75+ Cruise Control Behavior. We close to purchasing a travel trailer / pop-up and I'm starting to doubt the towing capability of the Tacoma.

 

Fuck Toyota.

 

Keep it in 4th gear and run 60 mph. That’s what I do when I’m towing.

 

To hell with MPG when towing. There is a cost to recreation.

 

Yep.

 

RTFM

 

Not to detail this too much. I find the Tacoma tows well enough for what it is, but I am considering a weight distribution hitch. My tongue weight is probably around 350 lbs but I still get more ass sag than I'd like. Would there be any benefit to a WDH?

 

I was so used to my 2002 Dodge Cummins just pulling the boat anywhere like it wasn't there. When I got my Tacoma, I noticed the upshifting /downshifting all over the place but especially at any significant incline.
Using ECT and S mode to keep it in S4 or S5 helped, but the most significant improvement was changing from the 265/70/17 wheels that came with the Tacoma to 245/75-16 wheels.
I found two sets of lightly used 16 Tacoma wheels with the tires I wanted and sold the 17 inch wheels. The 16 inch rims/tires dropped a significant amount of rotating mass. Mileage went up and acceleration and braking improved quite a bit.

 

I tow a canoe on a very little basic light trailer and throw my dry bags with my mostly ultralight equipment in the canoe in transit
The whole thing, including the trailer might weigh 400lbs.
I sure wouldn't tow any more than that with it.

Anything heavier, I use one of my other actual work trucks.

 

After recently driving my empty, stock TRD OR on its first long trip which for one was across South Dakota doing 80+ mph with some wind, it was about horrible. It kept shifting from 5th into 4th with an mpg of 14.9. I was thinking of a small trailer with some guys saying it tows fine, but I can't image fine at all on an interstate?

As you said, around town and on dirt and trails, it's great.