Range when towing

Is that a vented cap? If not, you won't be able to pump much out of it.

 

Got all the fittings and hoses together and started my install today. Bench tested everything everything to confirm no leaks.
Appears it will take about 20-30 minutes to feed into the main tank. Got all the plumbing installed. The tank installed in a temporary fashion. I’ll button that up this weekend.
I thought I had some left over sae weatherproof plugs from another project but couldn’t find them, so for now I just butt connected the wires to the solenoid. Got wiring up to the cab and was interrupted by my better half, so paused for my 45 minutes of me time after work tomorrow.

 

Finished up the wiring, and another logistics fail. I thought the switch I ordered had arrived, but the package I set on the workbench last week was for the wife. Dang usps, delivery not till Saturday of this week. (How does it take them two weeks to deliver something one state away and ups can get something across the country in two days?)
For now the switch is hanging from the fuse lid hole until i get the one I ordered (it has double sided tape to attach to dash rather than drilling through dash, wasn’t keen on not being able to go back)

So project list and cost including tax:
10 gallon tank: $163.88
3/8 mnpt - 3/8 barb 90’: $3.76
3/8 barb - 1/8 mnpt: $1.54
1/8 mnpt close - $.82
1/8 fnpt 12V solenoid (viton seals): $21.40
1” - 1” - 1/8 fnpt tee fitting: $10.68
14” of 1 inch fuel hose: $8.72
12V lighted switch: $7.50
Other things used left from other projects:
3/8 fuel hose
Wire
Fuse holder

 

All in 218.30 for a 45% gain in range. We shall see how happy I am down the road.

 

Urine samples sticker might work.

 

I’ve been pretty impressed with towing mpg with my little pop up trailer.

My 06’ with E rated 285 Toyo’s is gets about 12.5-13mpg. I’m driving about 75 average and total vehicle Cat scale weight was a little over 9k.

 

Can we see some pictures of this setup?

 

This is still my temporary tank securing. I have some aluminum I plan to fashion some brackets out of to secure it, but have not gotten to it yet. So for now 1 inch webbing.
I used it on the way to hueston woods a couple weeks back, waited for half a tank, flipped the switch, and by the time we got there around 40 mins to an hour later up around 3/4 and the auxiliary tank was empty.
We’re heading to Kentucky for a trip soon, that will be a true test to see if I can make it all the way to the destination ~250 miles.

 

I just managed 10.2 on the last trip. There were Lots of twisty up and down. It required Lots of throttle to get up and then brakes on the downhill. 3k#

 

Is there any way to get quicker transfer? Really cool idea and execution I really like it!

 

The solenoid is the main holdup. I believe the orifice is 2.5mm. So a larger solenoid would provide faster flow. I wanted it to be under an hour, and be cheap.
A pump would be fastest.

 

This time happens while on the road right? So you just have to remember to start it when you have enough space in the main tank right? There are a couple of landcruiser long range tanks that use pumps and the transfer time is about the same as this. Nice work.

 

Correct. I have a scan gauge which shows gallons used. It works out to be right around 1/2 tank on the gauge. Flip the switch and it drains(fills depending on how you look at it) as you’re driving along. Like I said, not certain on exact time, somewhere between 30 mins - 1 hour.
According to calculation, 12 gallons of water should flow through a 2.5 mm orifice in 1 hour, not sure if gas is faster or slower, but it’s definitely less than an hour to drain completely.

 

The solenoid I used was 1/8 npt fittings and a 2.5mm orifice. Going up to 1/4, or 3/8 would be a significantly larger orifice cutting time down substantially. I was concerned about size, and also they were more $.

 

So after this latest trip up to Cleveland I am extremely happy with this addition. The previous two trips would require 3 fill-ups. One to get there, one while in the area before leaving, and another on the return trip home.

with the extra 10 gallons of capacity, I was able to get there, do all our activities while in the area, and fill up at my leisure before leaving the campground.
1 fill up vs 3. I imagine I’ll be equally or more happy on our longer trips this summer.

 

I managed to get 9.5 MPG while towing around 70-75 and maintaining that over the hills. I let cruise do it's thing.

On the way back we had a bit more time. I hung out around 67mph and I had an open road so I could get a run on the hills and and let the speed drop 5mph or so on the climb. I got 11.8 MPG (12.2 if you add 5% for tire size) on that stretch.

Cat Scale 10k#s

 

That's a good looking rig.

 

Nice mileage, on our 430 mile round trip I averaged 9.6 there and 9.4 back. Pretty much all 4th gear as fast as I could go without the tq converter unlocking. 60-70 mph

 

I was in the flat lands near the MO river when was knocking on the door of 12mpg. I was playing around with OD. On the flats I do think I could pull my load with OD on. I have 2 hours of the Ozarks in every direction from home. Driving with OD on won't ever be an option for most weekend trips. I think I could do pretty good with the camper if it was flat. The hills and curves kill my mileage. I have to give it the gas to get up the hill coast down the other side and then on the brakes till kill the speed before the turn and then start the next climb.

 

Love driving those type of roads.

You'd probably benefit more than most with a re-gear, as costly as it is. The extra low end would help with the acceleration needed for the constant corners/hills.


Did you ever figure out what gears you have? Plug the vin into toyota owners may show it, parts.toyota.com too (but a bit of a pain to navigate) or call the stealership with your vin.

If 3.91's you can grab front/rear diffs from a Sequoia with 4.10's but with your 275/70's I'd probably step up to the easier to source 4.56's as you tow a lot, even though 4.3's are the numerical sweet spot.

 

I have hung out in the Santa Cruz Area. I know you have some roads like that. Your trees are taller.

I have in the past. I believe it is 3:91 and I think that is true of all the chubby double cabs.

I think if I was trying to stay in overdrive I think a regear would allow me to stay there more often. Even with a regear I don't think overdrive is going to happen often.

When I am out of OD I have never ran out of power between 4 and 3. My theory right now is that I am probably getting slightly better mileage with the taller gears and tires with OD off. I still have a lot of testing to do.I am open to a regear down the road but it would need to be a pretty significant improvement to justify.

Oh and I forgot to factor in my tires size with that MPG calculation.

 

Very, very familiar with the Ozarks and worth it regardless of hills/mileage. It's ALMOST as pretty as the Smokies

 

That is what we think as well. The Smokies are just a little bit taller. A little bit mossier.

 

There's a member who likes to post "your post is meaningless without pictures". I'm going to make one that says "your mpg figures are meaningless without size/weight/speed/terrain info". I recently towed a 26 ft 6k lb TT across TX and got between 7-8 mpg doing around 65 most of the time. West TX is hilly and was very windy and fairly flat east of San Antonio. Surprisingly, mpg was only slightly better on flat land. If I'm towing something that heavy it wears me out faster and I need to stop more anyway. I was really disappointed as I was expecting to get closer to 10mpg. Reading some of these posts, I guess between 7-8 is not unreasonable. As far as using the computer for your mpg, mine is nowhere close to accurate, especially when towing. If you want and accurate mpg, you probably need to track your miles and fill ups and do the math.

 

I just got back from the Colorado River towing my boat for the 1st time w/ a 'new to me' 2006 DC. On the way out there I got 15.3 MPG. Not many grades to pull. My boat is pretty small/light & minimal wind drag, guessing probably around 1600 lbs boat/ trailer. I was pretty light on gear, full cooler, 5 gallons of water, Honda EU 2000 generator, small floor jack, a bunch fishing tackle, small tool box, battery charger for the boat, and a fair bit of camera equipment.

On the return trip, I came home on a different route that had a lot more hills/ grades and got 14.3 mpg. I didn't run the AC very much because I did most of my traveling super early in the morning, and it hadn't got that hot out there yet. Oh yeah . . . I kept it between 65-70 mph FWIW.

 

Are you talking about a 5.7? We don't have those around here. That size box trailer would destroy my truck at those speeds.

 

great MPG there. Most boats are going to put a travel trailer to shame in the MPG department.

 

Yes. 3rd Gen 5.7 CM. Another relevant piece of information.

 

@bmf4069

 

No sir. I got threatened with the ban hammer if I shoo anymore over-sensitive 3rd gen members.