what gear to drive in when towing?

Mine is. Tow package has dual electrical hookups.

 

I don't have a link but I have seen a Youtube video from The Car Care Nut and he advises against using a AT for engine braking. The AT is the most complex component in a car and repairs are expensive. Brake jobs, while not cheap, are part of regular maintenance so using up some brake pads at a faster rate, as long as they are not overheating, is the less risky way in terms of overall long term cost of car ownership.

 

Leaving the transmission in drive will not lockout 5th and 6th gear when towing 2 tons. Thats very hard on the tranny towing that load in those overdrive gears. Your going to have a lot of heat. I would even recommend in drive if towing 1/2 that load.
Even GM states never to tow in od.

 

I’ve owned both, but what does it matter? It doesn’t change what the owners manual says.

 

I used my gen1 tundra the same way for engine braking as this tacoma...never a transmission issue in nearly 300k miles in 19 years on that truck. Both were asin transmissions.....just way less complicated on the tundra.

 

If you’re going to tow 2500+ (heavy for Tacoma) in D, the trans will tend to lock/unlock and shift unnecessarily creating more heat than it would if it stayed locked in s4. Although the manual states that s mode is to be used for engine braking and charging when towing, the side benefit is a more normal trans life because of more normal fluid temps.

 

I personally would only engine brake with an auto if I was descending a mountain or a very steep hill on a trail. I do it more often than that with a manual though.

 

What matters is that multiple people in multiple threads have quoted screenshots of where it says in the manual, to which you always reply with a spirit-of-the-law argument.

It doesn't matter why the manual says don't tow in D, the fact remains that it does say don't tow in D. So I personally don't tow in D.

Not that you even need the manual to say that, because as an AT owner who puts 3-5 thousand towing miles on the truck per year, I can say that it's pretty obvious when the transmission is unhappy. And it ain't happy in D.

 

Believe what you want.

 

This is the answer you seek. Use S5 and/or S4. Don't tow in 6th gear.

ECT is optional but works well for most towing situations.

 

Read it again more carefully. It's talking about engine braking while towing; not towing in its entirety. Also read the section in the manual specifically about s-mode (page 212 in my copy). It says s-mode provides 6 levels of engine braking force.

 

I tow my pop up in S4 with ECT on. On super flat s5, but my area is hilly (not mountain pass hilly, but not flat).
I don't use ECT otherwise really.

 

Being between the taconic's, and berkshire's, my area is sort of hilly, it can be near sea level to over 2k feet on the roads here. Towing 2k lb., or less in S5 works out perfect. Truck seems always happy. I go down to S4 for going up, and down the bigger hills.