Towing with 265/70R17

I was wondering if anybody had experience with towing long distances with their 265/70R17's. I tow with a 2012 dcsb v6 4x4 about 3 to 5 times a year 400+ miles in one shot and I want to know how your trucks do. obviously the mpg's are going to be less than stock so that is not a concern. My concern is more of gear hunting, stopping, and anything else etc etc. The trailer is about 1500 to 2000 pounds and the terrain consists of rolling hills in addition to large mountains. When I tow I generally do about 60mph but never exceed 65mph. I am not getting a All terrain but 90% sure it will be Michelin LTX Defenders. The truck looks funny with stock tires but if it is going to make towing a hassle or a massive drain on the truck then I would rather stock size tires...thanks guys.

 

I can only address the gear hunting. Don't drive in overdrive use d4 or 3. If you try overdrive and the transmission keeps shifting then definitely slow down and put truck in a lower gear. Know the vehicle top speeds per the vehicles manual to guide you.

 

Do you think driving that long in D4 will cause excess heat on the tranny? Thanks for the info.

 

Install the transmission cooler on my truck

 

No, it will make it run cooler.

 

Heat is created by running with the torque converter unlocked, and by the actual gear shifts. You can feel and see it when the torque converter unlocks -- the engine speed will bump up by a bit. If you find that it is spending all of its time with the torque converter unlocked, downshift by one gear. If it starts hunting for gears, downshift to keep it from doing that. It is preferable to run the engine at a constant higher speed than for it to hunt. It is ok for the torque converter to unlock while climbing hills, since it will lock up again at the top of the hill. Just keep it from hunting, and keep it locked on the flat.

 

I'm keeping to stock tire sizes. I doubt the human eye can see the difference between a 65 and a 70 so unless you want a tire that's only available in a bigger size, why change? I pull a 2 horse trailer so everything matters.

 

Thanks for that...if I decide to go bigger I will just keep it in D4. I have the towing package which I am pretty sure has a tranny cooler but I will doubt check. Like I said I expect a performance loss with larger tires even though they will be highway tires but ultimately I don't want a massive performance loss.

 

I don't recommend keeping it in 4th unless you NEED to in order to keep the torque converter locked or prevent it from hunting. For instance, if running on a flat or downslope it holds 5th fine, leave it in 5th, but shift it into 4th as you are approaching a hill -- i.e., before the extra load of the hill comes on.

 

I have 265/70/17's and tow boats quite often in Florida. It's some of the flattest land around and I use 4th gear exclusively. I tried to justify keeping it in D and letting it occasionally hunt when I would come to overpasses and such. Then I got a OBDII reader to track my MPG's when towing and temperatures too. I tow a 17' Boston Whaler and 19' Mako, neither of which are over 3,500 lbs. I have found that by keeping it at about 2500rpm in 4th, I actually never have gear hunting and it yields about 13 MPG's with about 62mph. Yes, I have towed around 70 mph but I can attest that at the end of the day, the Tacoma is happy between 55-60mph in 4th.

 

I've got 265/75/r16s K02s and tow with no issues long distance at least once a week. I've put about 20k or so on the tires so far and they've been great.