Towing travel trailer with a lifted truck

Are there any feeds i can read about towing with a lifted truck?

Im looking at an 06 tundra with tow capacity @7,100. it has a 6" lift..

trailer im wanting to tow will be around 3,000 dry.. I will be driving over mountain passes

thanks!

 

Gears. The big tires are the killer

 

could you explain a little more? i dont know much about it.. are you saying that its hard on the gears?

 

Differential gears. What size are your tires?

 

I think a little explanation would go along way in helping fully understand this chart. Mainly the inner portion, i think the tire size and gear ration at the top are pretty simple but what are we using the inside for? What are those numbers representing? I guess more context is needed to fully understand what your trying to say but just posting a graph.

 

That was just the first graph I found. It’s basically the sweet spot for rpms based off tire size and diff gears. The trans will shift like intended with correct gear size. That’s the basics of it. There are lots of articles that go in to depth on the internet.

 

285x75x17 idk what my gear ratio is

 

Yea I did some googling after you posted it. To the OP this link goes more indepth to what this chart represents and how to best use it to calculate what gear ratio you need for the various tire size.
https://www.revolutiongear.com/gear_ratio_chart

 

that’s actually not that big of a tire for a 6 inch lift. Shouldnt be an issue then. I was imagining a full 35 or 37 with a big lift.

What’s the lift setup?

 

I dont know what the lift set up is lol.. i wish i k new more about this stuff but i dont! here's a picture... owner says he tows a trailer with a jeep on it and its good no prob.

 

can you help me calculate the gear ratio? idk anything about it 285x75x17

 

A bigger concern would be someone getting hung up in the space between those steps and your truck

 

There is an option for Gear Ratio Calculator on the main page. If you know your stock tire, your current tire and whatever the original gear ratio was put it all in there and it will tell you what your current ratio is with the larger tires and what you need to be closer to the stock, it will also explain the previous graphs as well.

I don't know what your stock tire size was, but check your door jam it should/may list it there. I also don't know what the gear ratios were for the Gen 1 Tundra...try a google search.

 

The lift will create some more wind drag but like they said its the bigger tires that bog it down. Lowers the RPM of the engine, sometimes enough that it is out of peak power/torque at your desired speed. I my high school days that meant driving on the highway out of overdrive gear because it didnt have the power with 38s.

I think it will be fine with that size tire though.

But if you want to do the math here you go. 1st gen guys might have to correct my numbers.

Stock tire size: 30.5" 265/65r17
Bigger size: 33.5" 285/75r17

Stock axle ratio 3.91

33.5 / 30.5 = 1.1 or 10% off
1.1 X 3.91 = 4.30

You would need a 4.30 axle gear ratio to bring the engine rpms back up where it was originally.

If you go with a huge tire you might want to go even farther and use a gear ratio that will bring up the rpm higher than stock because at that point you are fighting not only the larger diameter, but the extra rotating mass of the tire. For example, math says to use a 4.88 gear ratio with a 37" tire. But you probably want to use 5.29 because of the extra weight.

Probably a bit long winded, but those charts dont tell you everything. Like on a gen 2/3 they have a double overdrive transmission with 4.30 axle gears with a 32" tire from the factory. That chart says you can run 44" tires with 4.30s.

 

Ooooh my apologies, i should have asked for the setup first. What year is the truck?

04 will have 4.10s. 05-06 will have 3.92

 

its an 06

 

what do you mean?. are u serious are are the steps just too much lol

 

How often are you going to be towing this trailer? Is it a boat or travel trailer?

 

Definitely not safe for dogs or small kids jumping in and out of that vehilcle. They can easily get a limb in there and if they fall back....snap their leg.

I don't get the point of a 6" lift if you have nerf bars hanging 8" down from there. You aren't gaining any clearance and they don't really go together (lift for off roading and nerf bars for grocery runs). Those bars probably give you less clearance than stock suspension with no bars.

If you don't need a 6" lift (most don't), consider dropping down to 3".

Sorry for the thread derailment.

 

Not that often.. i would like to live in it and would try to find a perm spot to keep it.. but may move around a little.. its a travel trailer with just under 3,000 dry... my estimated combined gross weight will prob be around 9,500.

 

This makes a lot of sense thanks! i would ideally prefer a truck with a 3" lift instead.. I dont own the truck but i am looking into buying it... I love everything about it except the high lift... do you know how much it would cost to drop down to a 3"?

 

No clue...sorry

 

Honestly, I would keep shopping around and pass on this truck. Your unfamiliar with lifts, you would prefer a 3" over the 6...You would be better off finding a truck that is bone stock and then making the subtle changes you would like. Just based off the pic you posted I would be leery not know the history of this truck. And like others have said the mounting of the nerf bars are super weird, that alone makes me question what else might have been bolted on squirrely.

 

i like the truck because it only has 170k and the frame/undercarriage is the best i've seen yet(no rust!)... its priced at 10k which seems like a good deal and hard to pass up! however i live pretty far from the truck and cant inspect it myself.. i'm hoping maybe i can find a local to look at it for me... i live in california and the market value for these trucks is freaking ridiculous!!! same truck would easily be 14k out here! thanks for you advise.. i definitely need to think about it!

 

Hi everyone, i am still looking into buying this truck and i need help deciding if i should buy it. If i'm looking for the right truck to tow with i should probably pass and find something without a lift. However i do really like this truck and i like the lift but i just want to be positive its the right truck for me. The owner of this truck tows a 6,000lb jeep with a trailer and says he has no issues... The trailer i will be towing is only 3,000... so far all of you have said that it will be fine...i just wanted to open up this discussion a little and get a few more opinions so i am more confident in my decision to buy or not buy. thanks!!!

 

The previous picture was what the truck looked like when he bought it.. it has a new step on it that is much better

 

@Luv2_4x4 I have a 32.8 inch all terrain with a leveling kit on a 2006 tundra. Sometimes I pull a flatbed loaded to about #3750. This is a 16 foot car hauler loaded with four ATV’s, all riding gear, twenty gallons of fuel, spare tire, tools and some other items. Never pulled over a mountain pass but have pulled in steep hill Country going to the Oregon coast. It gets steep out there and the hills at the top have tight corners to go around and you can’t Maintain speed going up a hill. In other words, it can get sketchy so you have to go slow when towing. If you gain speed going up the hill you have to slow down to go around corners there. Truck does fine, often downshifts to 3k and sits there, only one hill out there downshifts to 3500-4k. If you shut off overdrive at about 60-65 mph in a mountain pass, I would imagine the truck would do fine. Consider changing your oil more often (I do 3000 mile intervals) when towing regularly. Maybe even more often than that. Usually, if you take care of these trucks they will take care of you!

 

Like @hb Jeff said, changing the gear ratio to match the tires is hugely important. It will lower engine temps, transmission temps, etc. That will be my next mod for better towing experience and overall easier on the engine. I can tell you that even going just barely two inches over stock in tire size, there is a loss of power and you will notice the tire size difference. For me I will eventually drop to a 4.21 or 4.30, likely lower than I need to go, but for towing this will likely be best. Ironically I plan on getting a tad bit smaller tire next time to eliminate rubbing so I will probably go to 4.21 and not 4.30.

 

can you explain gear ratio to me.. i don't know what that means. it it something that you manually adjust or is it the the speed and gears you are driving in? like 1st, second third gear, overdrive ect.