Towing and Load Performance Misconceptions

I towed my 3500 (loaded) Casita this weekend about 200 miles. Kept it in 4th but only got about 12 mpg. My gen 2 had to no issues with power just poor MPG. Given how infrequently I tow (maybe 15x/year), I am okay with that. Spending $15k more on a baby Duramax coming from a paid off truck makes no sense to me. You make a lot of compromises when you drive a truck. Luckily my gf's car can get great MPG if we wanna take a long road trip.

 

The turd gen will get the same or worse mileage towing. When I towed a 2500lb travel trailer over about 300 miles I averaged about 14mpg....

 

I use my MCT function in my Taco and it automatically engages when towing without even having to press the button.

 

A v6 Double Cab 4x4 is 4,425 lbs curb, 5,600 GVWR, 11,360 combined, leaving a 1,175 lb payload. That means you've got a 1,175 lbs in the truck for driver, passenger, gear, and tongue weight. So sure, it's not an issue if you are at 10% of TW. More of an issue if you are at 15%. Travel trailers are usually all over the place on TW.

My 21'3" camper has a 467 TW dry. But add a propane tank, battery, and a load of water and it easily will push 600lbs. Then 410lbs between me, my wife, and the dog leaves 165lbs for gear in the bed and cab of the truck. This camper only weighs ~4,500 wet with typical gear. 2,000 lbs short of the tow capacity of the truck.

 

Should've bought a 20ft R-Pod.

 

Why? Our Apex tows great and I'm underweight on all measurements. I was just saying how easy it is to overload these trucks on paper.

 

Like you told me a while back, let Richard be Richard. Some people just wanna complain about everything. It really is his loss.

 

Thanks Little Richard

 

Watch The Fast Lane guys take a Tacoma up the Ike Guantlet and talk about how great it does. And also look at the tach... fucker is screaming at 5800 RPMs! No thanks

 

Hey friend, sold your truck yet?

 

I was pleasantly surprised when I towed my track car with the tacoma for the first time a few weeks ago. Car+trailer+tools was about 4200 lbs total and has hydraulic surge brakes. Only time the truck started revving really high was going up Cajon Pass, which has a 6% grade for about 5 miles and is well known for being a difficult road for trucks. We took a different route on the way back down to avoid that, and had no problems the entire trip. I know the tacoma isn't the best tow vehicle but (like the others) I'm likely only going to tow between 6-8 times per year so it suits me fine. I averaged about 12mpg round trip and felt completely in control, even with high winds in lancaster area. I get why people wouldn't want to tow near the max capacity with this truck... but 4000lbs is not only totally reasonable, it felt easy

 

And you're at sea level. What about starting at 6000 feet in Colorado and going over 12000 foot passes, might feel differently about 4000lbs.

 

The 2015 tacoma 2nd gen was at about 5000 rpms at about 60 mph during the ike gauntlet...

Start at 6:10

https://youtu.be/UVC-JZ-5i2Y

 

Same review for 2016

https://youtu.be/DCkBmiZV09w

 

Yep, only difference being the 3rd gen was able to maintain 60 mph easier with more hp. I believe it also got better mpg.

 

That was kind of the point this post: If this truck is engineered to run at those RPM under normal use then it should not be a concern if it is hitting high RPM. The 3rd gen has some hefty coolers. I wonder what the temps are while running something like the Ike stress test.

 

I think some common sense should apply here. Although I may haul a load up a steep hill, I wouldn't ask it to do it at 60 mph.
That's my take.

 

I believe towing a load of any significant weight its nuts if you do not have trailer brakes. Also it does not matter what kind of truck you have, if automatic you operate it in manual mode while towing and never use overdrive. Operating in manual mode lets you keep the rpms below 3000 easily on a consistent basis and prevents the transmission from "hunting" and overheating. IMO max towing capacity in the US is based on overly conservative numbers. In Europe Toyota publishes max towing capacity based on whether or not trailer has brakes or not. Very different numbers. I am considering buying a Taco to tow a 2200 boat and trailer plus wifie, faithful dog and truck bed load of about 600 lbs (wifie a very small part of this weight) for a total weight of about 2800 to 3000 lbs long distances 2x per year. The trailer has brakes. Don't think I will have a problem. BTW I don't think I'd ever towing anything with a Taco greater than 5000 lbs trailer brakes or not.

 

Just posted in the towing thread but I LOVE my 3rd Gen for towing. I towed approximately 4k (enclosed aluminum trailer and vintage race car) from Gulfport, MS to Petersburg, VA, not too flat but not too hilly either. Transmission temperatures ran almost what they do when not towing (199 degrees or so) with an occasional surge to 210...never higher. I AVERAGED 16.1 mpg and for a short while saw almost 18 mpg. The truck is well broken in, we just returned from a 6700 mile trip out west (not towing) and we averaged 26.6 mpg and that included a lot of mountain driving.