Towing with 35's

That's real expensive for gears and labor, I would shop around. If you don't mind me asking, where are you located? The place I went to in Hawthorne, CA did a great job for both of my trucks.

 

I have 295/70R18 Cepek tires. There around 34 1/2”. A lot of 35” tires run under 35”. I pull a 29’ travel trailer (dry weight 5,063) (hitch weight 608) with my 2014 tundra. If I’m on back roads I’ll use the tow/haul mode. Highway I don’t. But I don’t have any problems. But the furthest I drove with the camper was about 1 1/2 hour drive one way. You could try some short practice trips to see how your truck does. If you have doubts, like was said , rent something that could easily handle the tow.

 

I wonder how close the tires size needs to be for that calculator. I'm actually on 315 not 35's, and I see a 315/70 is 34.4", but do I need to measure at the actual tire to account for current psi? Seems like a tire that's low in psi (for example) would alter the height and therefore the calculations?

I'll have to check around for sure on pricing as I thought the $1800 was a lot to invest for desired goal!

 

@Tundratimetb Don't over think about gears. 34.4 is close enough to 35's and change in PSI is minimal. Usually, if you go to 33"+ in tire size, you usually re-gear so you don't stress the tranny. Here's a simple formula to get you close as possible to stock RPM's that matches your current tire size. 4.88's or 5.29 would work for your application.

https://www.justdifferentials.com/Articles.asp?ID=251

 

Your rpm gauge also needs to be accurate. Mine is off by about 150-200rpms, which would lead to miscalculation of ratios.

I use my BT scanner and the torque app for rpm if I want to know what it really is. It also has a gps function.

 

Used to have a dodge 1500 with the 4.7 magnum on 35’s that I towed cars with. Same class as the tundra more or less. Can’t complain with the setup. Don’t really know how to justify it, but I would tow again with it.

Tires are really whatever for towing tbh. I’ve rocked all different sizes of tires on my vehicles while towing and only notable difference you’d really get is mpg.

For the tundra... it’s not really a trailer horse by all means, so I’d recommend regearing

 

In thinking about this. Ive run 35s before and towed a little with it. Towing with overdrive off on 35s wont be that bad. Driving empty in overdrive on 35s is worse. With OD off, you’re basically in the powerband peak so the torque loss from big tires is minimal

 

Optimal towing setups can always be improved. If it’s at the sacrifice of dropping your suspension and swapping out tires just for the couple year round trips doesn’t seem worth it. You’ll just be spending money for something that can already perform the job adequately as is.

I’d be worried about going up and downhills with the tundra. Highways should be cakewalk. Tundras aren’t very heavy and I think that your year of Tundra have the inferior brakes. Before anything I’d check to see if your trailer brakes are performing well.
edit: nvm you got the good brakes

 

Weight distribution hitch would also probably work wonders for the Tundra. They bottom out easy. It’s nice having the weight towards the front while towing.

 

Thanks for all for the replies everyone. It's awesome to get all of the help and involvement. I found out it does have the weight distributing hitch with the trailer. Previous owner actually pulled it with a v6 Tacoma (said the WD hitch helped a lot), so I might be over thinking the effort needed. I'll check out that conversion closer to see what gears I would need to go with. Sad that these are the "good" brakes. I've always found them very mushy and barely stop (but it sounds like that's a Tundra thing). I may look into some Power stop Z36 to upgrade to (and a good working trailer brake). I thought about rear firestone etc bags but I hear that doesn't work well with WD hitch?
I think at this point I'm strongly leaning towards leaving current height/lift, getting better brakes, and alignment (already needed) and call it good.

 

Forget the bags. Its twice a year

 

Yup, copy that!

 

If he was pulling it with a tacoma, then you are ahead of the game.

 

Gear oil is only $50, that doesn't register. Too late if thats where you took your truck but shopping around is a smart move for gears. The truck isn't broken so you can afford to gather estimates.

The shop I went to offered to do the rear for $200 if I brought in the 3rd member. I didn't have a lot of time back because I lived 2 hours from the town my truck was in and my carrier was broke. $400 was pretty fair for the work.

 

Ehh, the guy who did mine is reputable enough. He builds transmissions for drag racing. good enough for me.

 

The rear brake adjustment on these trucks makes a huge difference in braking feel. How's your parking brake? If it's nice and tight then your rears are adjusted well. If not, start there. Second thing is the LSPV. https://www.tundras.com/threads/better-braking-brakes-easy.33217/

We've had so many members kind of blow us off on these two things and when they finally do it, they are amazed at the difference. The brakes will still suck, just much less than they did before

Do all that and then get good pads. Powerstop and EBC are both highly recommended by trusted members here. I'd like to try the hawk LTS next time I do mine.

 

Im still super happy with my z23 powerstops.

i figured the z23’s might help the rotors last longer than the z36’s. When i double footed the brake pedal trying to miss the deer i dont think the abs tried to interfere, but it slowed down in a hurry.
I also have the 13wl’s.

 

This^
My truck had the smaller front calipers and pads(13we). Upgraded to 13wl. Brakes felt a little better. Replaced and adjusted rear brakes. Brakes felt a little better still. Adjusted the LSPV. Much better feel to the brakes!!

 

I was reading about the parking brake & LSPV, I'll have to keep checking it out, sounds promising. Thanks for the good options on upgraded brake pads too. It's interesting to hear how much of my braking sounds like typical stuff for us. I need to check the PB and also gear calculator while driving (top of the list). FWIW, I have a sloped driveway and do use the parking brake to keep from resting against the tranny and clunking when going out of Park and it works for that.

This might need it's own thread, but my immediate issue is that my first press of the pedal it's pretty soft (still works fine enough but pretty low in the pedal stroke, but if I give it a quick pump first I have much higher biting point/better feeling brakes (until you have to really mash).
My first obvious thought would be air bubble (and still may be), but I get consistent brake performance (just needs a quick pump like on pre ABS/disc cars). And if I keep the pedal pressed firm it doesn't sink down like air bubble.
I will be getting this all checked out, but I fear the process from the chain stores I've dealt with.

 

Luckily, don't have personal experience with the soft pedal, but I've heard that activating the abs can sometimes help. Go on a dirt road and hit the brakes hard enough to skid and see if that helps.

Your parking brake sounds fine. It can be adjusted a bit firmer manually, but it won't be a huge difference.

 

I checked the LSPV and it's basically all the way near the top end already. I'll have to take a closer look with the calculator to see what gears. The brakes actually felt pretty good, I'll have to checkout pad/shoe wear front and back to see if it's wearing evenly etc. And I checked in neutral, the parking brake held on slanted driveway so probably good enough.

 

There are brackets to raise the LSPV on lifted trucks. With your amount of lift you probably need a custom one even longer than the one I linked.