Toyota Tacoma as a Tow Vehicle

Verna

This discussion was created from comments split from: Towing with a Honda Odyssey Van.

dinzzy

We love the Tacoma.  I bought a Scan Gauge to monitor the transmission temp.  It also will monitor many other aspects of what your truck is doing.  It has taught me a lot about my truck and how to drive it and keep things cool.  

A side note...my truck was delievered 1 qt low on tranny fluid.  This is an issue with the new Tacoma's.  I called Toyota corporate to complain.  They gave me a premium extended warranty for the entire truck for a period of 8 years or 100,000 miles.  So if you suspect it may be low take it in to the dealer to check out.  If it's low they will document it and then you can advocate for the extended warranty to protect your expensive investmfent.

Coolparrot

I rememder talking with you about this at the vintage trailer show at Hement last month. I will definitely check this out when I buy a new Tacoma for towing. Grrat info.

lightningdon

Dinzzy, are you running an auto trans or manual in your Taco?

dinzzy

Yes it's an auto Trans....the new 6 speed.

lightningdon

Lot of complaints about the auto tranny out there. When I was looking to order my Tacoma, that was the number one complaint. Glad I got the manual transmission.

DurangoTaB

 We tow with a 2012 Tacoma TRD Off-Road, towing package, manual 6sp tranny.  I love the truck...except when I'm towing over our windy mountain passes...constantly shifting.  A neighbor of ours who owns a car repair shop said your shouldn't tow with a manual transmission for that reason (at least not in the mountains).  It's rated at 6500# towing capacity, but I often have to shift into 2nd to get up these Colorado mountains...I'm jealous of Andrew and his V8 Lexus SUV (HP outweighs torque...).

Marceline

DurangoTaB said:

 We tow with a 2012 Tacoma TRD Off-Road, towing package, manual 6sp tranny.  I love the truck...except when I'm towing over our windy mountain passes...constantly shifting.  A neighbor of ours who owns a car repair shop said your shouldn't tow with a manual transmission for that reason (at least not in the mountains).  It's rated at 6500# towing capacity, but I often have to shift into 2nd to get up these Colorado mountains...I'm jealous of Andrew and his V8 Lexus SUV (HP outweighs torque...).

That seems like a really odd comment ("shouldn't tow with a manual transmission"). I've always thought that a manual transmission was better on that kind of terrain because the driver can control when to shift. For example, if you see a big climb ahead, you can downshift slightly in advance and get things rumbling before you tackle the hill. The automatic isn't going to downshift until you've already lost momentum. Ugh. My Santa Fe has Shiftronic (overrides the automatic to allow manual shifting) and I use it all the time on hilly terrain. Sure, it's more work, but I think that it's better than relying on the automatic, which is never going to shift at the right time on hills.

Verna

I love my automatic transmission. I tow in 4th gear because that's what I was told to tow in so the transmissions won't be constantly shifting back and forth. I do downshift to 2nd on the country gravel roads to the campground I'm Camp Hosting at because of the washboard-y bumps, up hills down hills going 10 to 15 mph (I don't want gravel dings in the front of my T@B.). It's been working for me just fine. No, I don't go off-reading except for a few campsites in AZ and that's not very bad. 

Bandit

Where at in AZ moving there in Dec.

Verna

Anywhere I land!  I winter there and I change from Southern to southeast to western. As long as it's warmer than home, I'm happy. 

Bandit

I like it 

Ratkity

I like the towing mode that my '15 GMC Canyon has. It not only prevents shifting to 6th gear, it allows the rpms to go higher when going up a hill instead of shifting up and down. I haven't taken it on any elevations higher than 3500', so keep that in mind. "MMMV" MY mileage may vary

DurangoTaB

Biggest issue with a manual...wearing out the clutch

Ratkity

DurangoTaB said:

Biggest issue with a manual...wearing out the clutch

I learned to drive on manual transmissions (3-on-the-tree Mercury Comet, 4 speed VW, school bus, tractor double-clutch). To this day, it feels weird to hold the steering wheel with my right hand. With that background, it's hard for me NOT to engine brake. I do it on my motorcycle all the time. I have to remember that the ABS brake system does not work if you are engine breaking on the bike (don't know about TVs).

The only clutches that would wear were the school bus ones. That old 74 mustang clutch didn't die for over 10 years and I towed with it (usually moving like a nomad - schools, post-docs and fellowships). The mustang was 4 speed. Loved that old rusted piece of pinto-hybrid!! Alas, memories.

ericnliz

@Ratkity, Now, that's funny. I also had a '63 Mercury Comet. Her name was the "Red Flash". I inherited it from my younger brother when he went in the service. Cost: $200.00

Marceline

Ratkity said:

DurangoTaB said:

Biggest issue with a manual...wearing out the clutch

I learned to drive on manual transmissions (3-on-the-tree Mercury Comet, 4 speed VW, school bus, tractor double-clutch). To this day, it feels weird to hold the steering wheel with my right hand. With that background, it's hard for me NOT to engine brake. I do it on my motorcycle all the time. I have to remember that the ABS brake system does not work if you are engine breaking on the bike (don't know about TVs).

The only clutches that would wear were the school bus ones. That old 74 mustang clutch didn't die for over 10 years and I towed with it (usually moving like a nomad - schools, post-docs and fellowships). The mustang was 4 speed. Loved that old rusted piece of pinto-hybrid!! Alas, memories.

I learned to drive on a stick (VW squareback) and drove manual transmission vehicles my entire life until I bought my Santa Fe new.
The only clutch that ever needed work was a VW Cabriolet that I stupidly allowed my leadfoot boyfriend to drive. If you're not riding the clutch you shouldn't wear it out. 

Marceline

Ratkity said:

I like the towing mode that my '15 GMC Canyon has. It not only prevents shifting to 6th gear, it allows the rpms to go higher when going up a hill instead of shifting up and down. I haven't taken it on any elevations higher than 3500', so keep that in mind. "MMMV" MY mileage may vary

That sounds like a major improvement. 

Gavin

Just completed my first journey towing my 2008 t@b from Trenton to Riverhead LI. My 4cylinder Tacoma yielded 20 mpg. 4 speed auto downshift to 3rd on inclines. Haven't encountered any major inclines yet.