Who is Towing Above Tow Capacity?

My 2017 Tundra Crewmax is tow rated at 7200 pounds. I tow a 32 foot travel trailer which has a dry weight of 9,000 pounds. I never tow with full fresh water or waste water tanks.

I have towed the camper for several thousand miles without issue. In tow mode with the transmission in the recommended S4 position, there has been plenty of power. I have installed a fan-driven external tranny cooler, bypassing the factory-installed cooler. I constantly monitor the tranny temperature with a Bully Dog and seldom does the temperature get above 195. Every now and then, on a hot day and climbing a steep grade, it has gotten over 200; then I look for a pull-off, have lunch, and let it cool down.

My vacations typically are for a month or more. When I get home, I drain and replace the fluid that's in the pan, which usually has no more than 6,000 to 7,000 miles on the fluid. That's way more than recommended change interval.

I don't use Toyota brand fluid, but Valvoline full synthetic multi-vehicle fluid. I expect Toyota fluid has a longer life than Valvoline, but I doubt it matters under my conditions.

Is anyone else like me? Are you towing heavier than your door panel's rated capacity?

Here's a tranny build shop YouTube link that rebuilt a seriously-abused AB60F tranny -- way more abused than my towing conditions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jrwkr-SUhQ

 

Oh boy.

Let me go get a beer and some popcorn.

 

2nd and 2.5 gen towing performance is feeble.

 

This thread is going to be fun!

If a Gen 2 or 2.5 can pull the space shuttle. Then anything is possible!

 

My Lawyers will love you for this, God forbid you're ever in an accident when towing with it. SMH

 

What size tires? Any differential gear mods?

 

I only tow a rzr but leave it in s5 and set the cruise at 75 and the temps settle around 205*. When I stop they go to 225-230. No clue what the previous owner did but he towed a camper. Still not gonna change the fluid until a 100k because I’ve spent to many decades dealing with this and realize the internet just scares people into thinking vehicles are delicate flowers that will shatter the moment you don’t follow their guidelines.

The real concern you should have here is overloading the truck and the wear and tear on it from that and the safety impact of doing such.

 

You know what’s way more than needed, a 3500 series truck. Real men just use a tundra.

 

Is 205 at the TC or the pan? There are 2 temp sensors

i find when towing the TC is usually 3-4 degrees warmer consistently. The pan is often at 199 while my TC will peg at 203

 

Pfffft

 

What do you guys use to monitor trans temp?

 

Have you looked in your owners manual for you actual tow rating for your VIN? The 7200lbs, on the door jamb sticker, is the truck's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). This is not your towing capacity. This is your vehicle and payload (people, fuel, items inside/on the truck/in the bed, and hitch and tongue weight).

The manual will have your tow ratings, which I'm guessing will be somewhere around 8800-9200lbs based on VIN (your 1794 is slightly different than my fully loaded Limited).

Are you saying your truck itself is weighing in at 9000lbs? Have you been to the CAT scales to confirm any of your numbers? If not, encourage you to take that journey. It'll tell you what's real vs not and may be surprising in a few areas.

Happy camping.

 

I use a piece of bacon on the Xmission tunnel inside the cab.

If I smell delicious bacon frying then I know the ATF is right around 325°F, just like Mr. Sweers intended.

If the cab is getting smokey then I know I need to goggle AAMCO near me.

 

Bacon doesn't lie. It's too good to do so.

 

Where’s @GODZILLA ?

 

Your GVWR is 7200 lb. Your tow rating is probably north of 9k. What build code is on your door jamb sticker? It’s the bunch of letters with a dash in the middle at the bottom of the sticker that has your GAWR (4000 lb FF, 4150 RR) on it.

My big fat ‘21 crewmax is still rated for 9400 lb. With 1270lb of payload, that’s good for me and 1100lb of tongue weight.

 

I could have wrote this.

My specs are similar except I drag a 5th wheel RV.

 

I read about this all the time, but I've never actually seen any litigation because of over capacity.

 

I’ve never heard of litigation but I have heard of insurance not covering the owner vehicle’s. The claim was the accident would have been avoidable had towing capacities not been exceeded.

It makes sense because that number isn’t about what it can pull its about what it can safely stop and control.

 

What makes a 3/4 ton truck a safer tow vehicle than a 1/2 ton truck?

It's not because it can stop faster. The trailer does it's own stopping.

 

Please link to this. My understanding is that this is an internet myth.

Insurance exists because of your negligence. They have to pay for negligent acts. Knowing you are speeding, knowing you drank too much, knowing your trailer is too heavy, etc—these are all negligent acts. The ONLY thing insurance denies claims for is fraud.

Remember the Ram HD truck with too big of a truck camper in his bed that ended up breaking his frame? His insurance covered it. Because it wasn’t fraud on his part; it was gross negligence.

 

I'm thinking if you had consecutive insurance claims/accidents on your RV, then you could be cancelled...but I think a sane person would realize at that time, that RV ownership is not for them.

 

I don't have a link because it's not national news, but a few months ago my best friends wife wrecked his new Ranger by hitting a travel trailer at an intersection on her way home from work. He a notification on his Ford app (I think for airbag deployment) so we hopped in my truck and ran down the road to help.

Totaled the Ranger, spun it 180º. Also spun the trailer she hot 180º and rolled it on its side. His wife was dazed and didn't know what had happened, so she assumed she had a seizure and said that to the cops on scene. Of course tgey wrote that down and marked her as at fault. Other stuff in there that makes he and I doubt she had a seizure, but that's personal stuff that doesn't need to be on here.

The tow vehicle was a little undersized SUV and my buddy had taken pictures of the scene. He provided those to his insurance and upon reviewing the pics they marked it as not at fault in they're system and are pursuing the other party for damages. They're reasoning; the trailer should never have been there in the first place because the tow vehicle wasn't rated for it. His premium isn't going up and he doesn't have to pay for anything related to the accident.

Towing over ratings leaves you liable.

 

I hate these threads.

 

So it shouldn’t have been there because it looked too big, or it shouldn’t have been sticking out in the intersection?

Can you get a screenshot of some details from the insurance company from your best friend?

You may get a limp-wristed attempt from an insurance company to deny a claim, but my understanding is that insurance exists for your negligence, and they will pay up to the policy coverage limits you pay for. Will they drop you or raise your premiums? Sure, those are possibilities.

Insurance covered the Ram 3500 truck camper guy for being overloaded.

Everyone on the forums: “Insurance is going to deny his claim because being overloaded makes you liable!”

His insurance company: Insurance covers $17k repair to Pavel’s broken Ram 3500 frame