Teardrop Towing Advice

I’ve camped in my teardrop for a few years and after pulling it with a CX-5 I got tired of worry about tow limits and deciding if I had enough available tow capacity to bring the dog with me. It wasn’t that bad, but you know the feeling if you’ve towed with a small SUV. Anyway, tomorrow is the first time I’ll be pulling with the Tacoma for any real distance. My teardrop is about 1400 lbs loaded and there will be about 500lbs in the truck (including the humans). I have the tow package/V6 and want to know if I’m ok not using ECT. We are going to northern Michigan so we aren’t dealing with many big climbs where ECT would be needed. I believe the manual says use the ECT when towing...is that an absolute when towing such little weight? I just like the way the truck behaves without ECT on (I know I’m in the minority on that). If not using ECT, is it safe to let it run in overdrive? I obviously wouldn’t do this in terrain with real climbs. Just looking for sound advice. First post (first Taco) here so go easy!

 

Whether or not it is "safe", if you want your truck to last, I'd at least read the manual and maybe get an ODBII reader that can monitor transmission temperatures. Then you'll know for sure if you're starting to cook the transmission fluid, which will greatly reduce the life of your transmission.

If I were you and spent all that money on a new truck, I'd at least not use overdrive while towing until you get some real data.

 

With that weight, I’d be inclined to try S5 and see how it does. If a little too much gear shifting happening, maybe ECT added to see how it helps.

What year is yours? Some of the later years seem to have the transmission sorted out a little better than the earlier years.

+1 on the OBD reader. I use a Kiwi3 and OBD fusion.

 

The S5 advice is exactly right. That’s what I kept it in almost the whole time except on some of the bigger climbs. It did great overall and only wanted to keep downshifting when I tried to do the hills in regular drive with ECT. It’s also nice that even when in S mode you can give it a bit of gas and it will drop down a gear without having to actually shift by hand.

It’s a 2017 and I still had to take it in for the shifting. It’s a pleasant drive now and hasn’t resorted back to its old ways after 7k miles.

I’ll definitely get the OBD too just for added peace of mind. Thanks!