I'm the new owner of a 2006 Toyota Tundra 4.7L Access Cab with 12500 miles on her ... just picked up the truck yesterday for a really good price. :-)
It has the SR5 package but no other extras ... no tow hitch or transmission cooler (as far as I can see). I need to outfit this truck to tow an 18-foot center console boat, with a tongue weight of less than 250 pounds (I can lift it, so I suspect it is much less) and a trailer weight (boat, motor, trailer and fuel) of up to 2600 lbs.
My questions are these:
Do I need a transmission cooler? Most of my trips will be 80 miles one way at the most, and usually 45 miles one way. I do live in San Antonio, so conditions are hot. It's almost 100 here right now. Any recommendations on style or type? I am leaning toward having one installed at the Toyota dealership to be sure it is covered under warranty. I recently had a nightmarish issue with a tranny cooler that I allowed U-Haul to install on another vehicle, so I am definitely not going back to them.
What receiver hitch would you recommend? In the short term, would it be safe for me to tow the boat with the bumper-mounted ball? The bumper says it can tow up to 5,000 lbs with a 500-lb tongue weight, but I have my doubts.
Are there any other concerns that I should be addressing when prepping the truck to tow?
Thanks -- sorry for the flurry of questions. I am really happy with my truck, just want to make sure I take care of my Tundra right.
18 ft boat with a man liftable hitch weight... I'd say you can go with the bumper pull. If the boat sits nose high, you might want to have an aftermarket hitch installed and use a drop shank to level it out. I wouldn't worry about a tranny cooler for your application, but I thought all 2006's came with one. Just pop the hood and look to see if there is a small radiator in front of the main one.
You will need lights for the trailer. Should be a 4 wire harness somewhere back there.
If it were me, I'd install a hitch myself (easy and cheap). Then I would have Toyota install a tranny cooler (if it's not there) and at least a 4 pin wiring hook up (7 pin if it's not too expensive). That way you're set for everything. In the mean time, I wouldn't hesitate bumper pulling if it has a light hookup.
I just looked at the trailer/bumper alignment, and I will need an aftermarket drop hitch to get it level. The tongue weight is already a bit light, so I am leery of changing that geometry for the worse.
When I look under the hood of my truck, I see a thin black set of cooling coils that run the width of the radiator (in front of it), but are not as deep vertically. I assume that is my AC Condenser, since tranny coolers are generally square and smaller. I do not see a smaller cooler in front of the condenser. Beneath those black coils, I can see silver ones lower down, which I assume are the radiator as well.
I checked with Toyota on the cost of the parts for the tow package cooler. Those run $553 for the parts alone. I am afraid to use an aftermarket cooler -- the one I had done by U-Haul on my last vehicle had to be redone by three or four other folks (on the road) before it stopped leaking. And it still would occasionally leave a drop of ATF on the ground just to tick me off.
Looks like I do have a 4-prong electrical connection already, so I have what I need to connect my boat trailer lights. I just need the hitch.
I would get an aftermarket hitch and install it myself. Although any hitch place can install it for fairly cheap. I got a quote of $176 installed for my 2005.
That is way too high for a tranny cooler. I don't think you have to have one for the boat you want to pull. Toyota can be overly expensive. I would continue to shop around and find someplace you trust to put one in eventually.
get a hitch off ebay, they are cheap. make sure the trailer wiring is there, if not go to wally world and splice it in. no biggie. the boat isnt big enough to worry about a trans cooler or anything unless perhaps u are going up and down mountains all the time but then again the boat isnt that big so it still may not matter.
also, if u realy wanted to cheap out, with that light of a load, u could get by with a step bumper reciever hitch like this one eBay Motors: Hidden Hitch Universal Step Bumper Reciever Class III (item 120209807603 end time Jul-10-08 21:54:18 PDT)
walmart has them super cheap. my dad bought one for his silverado to tow his motorcyle's cargo trailer in an emergecny...paid like 39bucks for it at wally world and it gives u the reciever like a frame mounted hitch and lets u raise/drop as necessary with a drawbar...
Thanks! I found a place here that will install a Class III hitch for $170, which sounds like a good price. I see the 4-prong wiring connection under the truck bumper -- do I just need to get an adaptor to plug into it?
Setting up a 2006 4.7L Tundra to tow a boat
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