New to tundra towing

First time towing with tundra
2016 double 5.7 sr5 4x4
16’ v nose 2260lb dry weight with only 1500lb cargo
Traveling to from Florida and Connecticut I-95 I-75 I-85 I-81 I-84
Down shifting excessively to third gear I think on grades I would only need to have been as low as fourth. Rpms sometimes approaching 4K and have to back off throttle until road speed drops back to 15mph slower than traffic before up shifting again
Cruise control impossible to use in the hills and tow haul only seems to make rpms stretch out longer
Just looking for some feedback here as more trips are planned

 

I just made the trip from Connecticut to South Carolina 3 weeks ago towing a 7500 lb. camper. Didn't use tow haul. No struggles and plenty of power. Didn't have to shift once. I have to go back and get my car trailer 10000 gvw but probably only 8500 lbs. Make sure you have a working brake controller and air bags or helper springs

 

3600 rpm is peak torque I believe, so 4k rpm shift point seems legitimate. Is the torque converter locking up in 5th & 6th and what temp is the tyranny running at? The load weight described should be well within the capacity of the truck. Have you tried driving it in sport / manual mode 6th gear setting to see if it holds higher gear longer?

 

Welcome from Ohio.

 

I agree with no tow haul in the freeway. That seems odd for it to be shifting down that much. Like Walleye says. The manual shift mode may be what you need.

 

My toyhauler was 9k and my new camper is somewhere around 7k. We pull 2000-4000 miles a year. NC to PA, NC to SC, Eastern NC to Western NC. Lots of different grades, speeds, interstates.
-I always run in tow/haul, always.
-I always run in manual shift mode, usually 5, but sometimes 4 if consistent grades.
-I always run 89 octane or higher.
-I never use cruise. Toyota says not to when towing and I've never had good results when I tried, constant shifting.
-I never run over 70 mph.

I never notice erratic shifting and I feel the Tundra does a great job of managing the weight. My TC will lock up in 5th gear given the right conditions, if I notice that it's not locking I will bump down to 4th gear. Grade and wind have a large effect on your shifting.

 

Hey thanks I’ll try using sport mode next time I just wasn’t sure if there was something wrong with our tundra
I’ve been working on nothing but diesels for the last thirty seven years and didn’t expect the Difference to be that noticeable I was trying to keep rpms too low in a pull
On a side note I forgot to mention that this truck came with a Gibson dual exhaust on it and I was thinking it may have adverse effected performance as still factory tune and was looking for another opinion on the Gibson system

 

That's a pretty light load compared to what some of us tow on here, I've pulled 7500lbs up I95 and I81 before and had no issue. You might have lost some low end torque with that Gibson exhaust.

 

I do a lot of work on heavy highway and I don’t think drivers could live without cruise control even in a long pull as long as you don’t have to drop more than one gear

 

I’m open to some suggestions for exhaust examples to gain the performance loss back as long as we don’t get louder we’ve already been discussing the noise level on this last trip

 

I had a dual flowmaster setup on my truck from the PO. Irritating to pull with that. I went back to stock, primarily for quieter towing, and ended up with a bunch more low end power as well.

 

@dirtydeeds seems to be the forums preferred choice for good sound and power.

 

The difference is very noticeable when pulling with a tundra compared to any diesel. The engine needs to be revving up above 3600 RPM to make peak torque, and even then its only around 400 ft-lb. Everything in the drivetrain is turning much faster. It's crazy. If your TC converter isn't locking up it will limit life on your clutch packs. Dual exhaust will almost always reduce low end power and it will not hold a gear as long when towing. An X or H pipe will help this some, but not a true dual then. Try towing with your stock exhaust. Makes you wonder why the heck automotive media choose a trd pro for tow testing.

 

The Gibson dual was already installed when we acquired the truck and at this stage of life loud pipes doesn’t give me the chubby it used to anymore
I’ll probably redo the system before the next trip

 

I have a 2019 1794 with stock exhaust. I also pull 8,000 pounds up a 6% grade. Was thinking of TRD Pro Duals but have read too many complaints about loss of torque, downshifting, etc. Was also looking at the

$1,159 Magnaflow 15306 MagnaFlow 2014-2021 Toyota Tundra Street Series Cat-Back Performance Exhaust System, V8 4.6L, V8 5.7L

Magnaflow 15306 two pipe in, two pipe out both on right side. Reportedly, there is a crossover in the muffler. Does anyone have this set up and how the noise compare with the TRD Pro duals?

 

I tow around 6000 lbs on varied terrain, up and down hills and have had no issues with my TRD Pro duals.

 

Carlheizer,
Have you monitored the transmission temp on your 2019? I have one and am interested in how the redesigned integrated transmission oil cooling is doing on towing. Mine seems to run hotter than my 2008. (ScanGuage data).
Thanks,
bc

 

Welcome from NY.
What do you haul?

 

Jim,
Nothing heavy. A fishing boat (about 2K) and my UTV/trailer (1400#). In my area (East TN, WNC) there are long steep grades on the interstates crossing mountains. My 08 had the big oil cooler. In 2019 they removed auxiliary cooling and replaced with "integrated engine/transmission cooling" with no fitting for oil takeoff for an auxiliary cooler. My old one never got much over 205F. New one will hit 225F and it is not summer yet.
Thanks,
bc

 

I actually have not towed yet. Just bought it. I will monitor tho when we go.

 

Blaserdude, how to you monitor transmission temps anyway? OBD reader?

 

I have a ScanGuage II that I used on my 08. Reprogrammed the codes for 2010+ models (have codes, available on their website). That said, it was reading the torque converter output, not the pan. The torque conv. oil heats rapidly when the converter clutch unlocks then cools rapidly when locked. Now it reads the pan which changes slower than the converter. May not be apples to apples. The Ultraguage MX reads both as does the Torque Pro app for android.

 

Gibson Performance tells me that the muffler I’m running has a internal louvered cross pipe for the duals

 

That should help with backpressure on the valves. Keep in mind, the 5.7 L gasoline engine still needs to be in that 3500 to 4000 rpm to develop its torque. This is a major difference from pulling weight with a turbocharged diesel. Fuel efficiency is also going to degrade more under load compared to a diesel.

 

Ten4

 

Man 20* swing and not summer yet. I wonder why Toyota changed up the cooler design.