The Tacoma Towing Bible

Wasn't sure where to ask this, but can I turn overdrive on on a flat surface, as long as it doesn't keep shifting up and down, or should it always stay off? Reason being having overdrive off decreases gas mileage.

 

OD is your weakest gear.

what does your owners manual say about towing?

 

I'm with LeftCoast, check your manual. In my experience, even if not hunting for gears, OD shoots trans temps up even on a flat. I'd rather pay a little more in gas periodically when towing, then have to buy a new tranny. Just a couple pennies from me.

 

sup guys i had a minor prob trying to park my TT. one of my trunion bar "came off" when i did a kinda sharp turn with a bit of a slope. i dont know if my brackets may be too far set back or if my air bags had too much air or if the turn was what made it come off. can someone explain how this can happen and if this is common

 

not even sure what a trunion bar is.

 

My mistake, still learning the vocabs of these parts. Its the sway bar

 

front or rear anti-sway bar? (actually, I don't even know if these trucks HAVE a rear antisway)

I thought the front sway bars ends were bolted to sway bar links, and the other end of these links were bolted to the front control arm? the middle of the sway bar pivots in "D" shaped bushings that are strapped to the frame crossbeam. not sure how any of that could come out of its brackets, unless the hardware broke or wasn't sufficiently torqued?

 

Tried my best searching before I asked this. I'm new to towing and never realized there are so many different drop down and length options for ball mounts. Is there a suggested drop down and length size for what you are towing, like depending on height of vehicle and what you are towing? Long story short, I want to pull a motorcycle trailer with my truck that has a 3 inch lift (2009 double cab/V6, extended bed model). How big or a drop down and length should I get?


Edit: NM I found my answer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIZElaU6Js8

 

approximately level the trailer frame, measure how how its hitch is, thats about where you want your ball. its ok if the trailer frame is leaning slightly down in front, but not ok if its high in front and sloping down in back, thats much less stable when towing.

 

Pictures of your set up may help. I have never had one come off, and can't even imagine how it can, with the amount of force it takes to get it "locked" in. Maybe set too loose?

 

OH, weight distributing hitch... I was thinking antisway bar in the truck suspension. hah hah.

yeah, if the chain popped off the stirrup, my guess is, you don't have enough grease on the pivots of the trunion, and/or not enough tension on the WDH... inflate your airbags *before* you setup the WDH. I hook my chains up before I fully raise the nose jack... my current setup, I'm using the 4th link on the chain hooked up the stirrup, I really should crank down on the hitch tilt adjustment a bit more.

 

I towed my Camper this weekend with the new truck for the first time. Had quite a bit of bounce on smaller roads. Do you guys think Air bags will help with this? Towing on the open road was great. Just really bouncy going down smaller roads and over train tracks.

 

I have never towed a camper however I have towed around 3k and I find the airbags to be excellent. They firm up the ride quite a bit making the truck feel planted and stable. Highly recommend in my experience with towing...

 

river; a WDH (Weight Distributing Hitch) might help MORE than airbags.

 

I have one, along with a anti sway bar. Im probably making more of it than I should. I mean I am towing a 3500lb camper, there is going always be a little bounce, lol.

 

I'm towing a 3500 lb max casita (2200 lbs dry, usually under 3000 lbs as I load it) and it wsa quite bouncy w/o the WDH, when I setup the WDH properly, the pitching went away entirely. you might need to somewhat increase the force on the WDH

I found that when I'm using the WDH, the swaybar is superfluous, I haven't used it on my last 3-4 trips, and never missed it.

 

So raise the chains up a link on the WDH? Otherwise make them tighter?

 

or adjust the angle of the hitch so the bars are lower, whichever works.

 

Could it just be an issue of single axle vs double axle trailer?