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5th gear ok while towing?

Discussion in 'General Tundra Discussion' started by Coffee*8), Sep 20, 2020.

  1. Sep 20, 2020 at 12:34 PM
    #1
    Coffee*8)

    Coffee*8) [OP] New Member

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    Chris
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    I recently purchased a 5.7 tundra to replace my 4.6 tundra. Use it to tow a 5500 pound travel trailer.

    With the 4.6 needed to keep it in 4th gear or lower, just would not pull in 5th or 6th.

    The 5.7 has much more torque and is also geared lower. If going on a relatively flat highway it will pull in 5th gear. Is 5th gear ok if going 65+ mph?
     
  2. Sep 20, 2020 at 12:35 PM
    #2
    BravoDeltaRomeo

    BravoDeltaRomeo Old Man Little Blue Finger

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    I use TowHaul and S5 going over the prairies, S4 when I get outside the prairies
     
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  3. Sep 20, 2020 at 1:01 PM
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    Ericsopa

    Ericsopa Old man and the sea

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    Lots of factors involved.....headwinds, hills, trailer frontal area, etc. I tow my 4500# boat (high profile) in 5th @ 60-65. It'll downshift to 4th when it needs to. 5th should be fine @ 65. If it has to shift a lot to maintain your desired speed, then it's better for you to put it in 4th. If you're driving in mountainous areas, there will even be times you will want to hold it in 3rd for a while. Excessive shifting between gears is what you want to avoid.
     
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  4. Sep 20, 2020 at 2:03 PM
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    Danman34

    Danman34 New Member

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    5th is technically an over drive gear. As long as you’re on flat terrain without a massive headwind you should be ok with a 5500 lb load.
     
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  5. Sep 20, 2020 at 2:23 PM
    #5
    snivilous

    snivilous snivspeedshop.com

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    I tow in 5th and 6th all the time. I see no reason higher gears can't be used. Use whatever gear makes the truck happy and gives you the power you need.
     
  6. Sep 20, 2020 at 3:41 PM
    #6
    Eaganite

    Eaganite New Member

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    According to what's written below your avatar looks like you have a tranny cooler, you should have no problem with that towing situation. Although my boat is about 1000 pounds lighter than your trailer, I also had my box and back seat area full of stuff and have drove 75mph.

    I live in Minnesota a mostly flat state, the last time I was towing on return home Labor day weekend I decided to experiment and shifted to S-6. The truck didn't seem to mind at all, a few times on the interstate traffic slowed I would go back to S-5 till things opened up a bit then back to S-6. But here's the thing, on the way up (165 miles) was in S-5 truck said 11.2 mpg. On the return trip is when I used S-6 for the first time towing and after getting home truck said 13.5 mpg.

    I know there are variables to affect mileage but all the same an improvement of 2.5 mpg is significant. Oh and BTW I was monitoring my tranny temps, pan never hit 200F.
     
  7. Sep 20, 2020 at 3:58 PM
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    Kanobi13

    Kanobi13 New Member

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    One way must be slighly up hill.
     
  8. Sep 20, 2020 at 4:07 PM
    #8
    snivilous

    snivilous snivspeedshop.com

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    Or the fact he was in 6th gear at a lower rpm helped...
     
  9. Sep 20, 2020 at 4:09 PM
    #9
    Kanobi13

    Kanobi13 New Member

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    Yea still going one way up hill lol
     
  10. Sep 20, 2020 at 4:26 PM
    #10
    Hbjeff

    Hbjeff New Member

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    I tow in 5th gear on the flats (4500lb load) if there is no headwind

    If the trans isn’t kicking down I’m fine with it. The constant gear changes will heat it up too.

    Edit- i also run the bullydog in prem tune and i swear it holds gears better that stock on highways
     
  11. Sep 20, 2020 at 6:37 PM
    #11
    Coffee*8)

    Coffee*8) [OP] New Member

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    Ok so sounds like as long as the truck can pull easily in the gear than it is ok.

    Is basically what I thought, but knew 5 was an 'overdrive' gear as far as the transmission is concerned.
    During my initial trip with it, as long as was using under 120hp in 5th gear I let it stay there, but if wanted to use more than that shifted to S4.

    But as far as temps go I attempted to not put in the cooler because Toyota says the truck can tow 10k pounds (as is) and I am only doing about 60% of that.
    Went on a 3 hour trip pulling the trailer a couple weeks ago, Philadelphia to Gettysburg (no external cooler). Has hills but no mountains. I only had the torque converter temp programmed but was at 217 at 70mph initially, then would tick up a degree every 10 minutes. When temps got near 230 constantly would stop and let the engine idle till the temps fell to around 200, took 10-15 minutes. Going over hills temps would quickly go to 245 and I would back off the throttle at this point, but think they would have kept climbing if I didn't. Temp would then fall back to the ever increasing baseline.

    After that first towing trip I decided to put in the cooler, even if Toyota does not think it is needed.

    I found the codes for the pan temp and added those, so now will have the full story.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2020
  12. Sep 20, 2020 at 6:47 PM
    #12
    snivilous

    snivilous snivspeedshop.com

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    My temps don't climb unless the torque converter unlocks. They'll stay at 190 regardless how fast or hard I'm pulling, but once the converter unlocks they climb pretty fast.
     
  13. Sep 20, 2020 at 6:55 PM
    #13
    Coffee*8)

    Coffee*8) [OP] New Member

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    Same experience as I had with my 4.6 with external cooler. 190 ish temps unless tq unlocked. But highest temp I ever got was 223 tq temp going over a mountain. 3k rpm forever in second gear. Reached 220 rather fast then paused. Would add a degree every couple mins after that.
     
  14. Sep 20, 2020 at 7:04 PM
    #14
    Jtundra81

    Jtundra81 Just a member

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    I tow with my 2019 no external transmission cooler a 4000lb trailer .
    I tow on s4 at 60mph, I am always at 218 at torque unless i slow down and accelerate I see up to 235 and goes down after.
    I think your converter was not locked when you saw these numbers
     
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  15. Sep 24, 2020 at 10:52 AM
    #15
    Fishhead

    Fishhead New Member

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    I use tow/haulass and alternate between S4 and S5 depending on terrain
     
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