Towing in what gear?

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by crah

I think that's why I brought up the question in the gear to tow. Either though towing in S5 was not a complete nuisance, the shifting was getting old, and I averaged about 9-10mpg. Using cruise control was out of the question. Now when I tow in S4, at 2900 rpm (64-65mph), I can easily get 10mpg and use the cruise more. I just have to shut off the cruise on hills. After 5 hours of driving, I figured out the type of hill I need to shut off my cruise on so it doesn't kick down to 3rd. Maybe I found the sweet spot in S4. I think most people (including me) are more comfortable towing at a lower RPM. I think I was getting about the same MPG's or little less with S5 but regulating my foot pedal a lot more, and shifting quite a bit. S4 I can sit back and use cruise control most of the way, but also have to see the RPM consistently at 2900.

Wow! The towing section is coming back to life!!! Sweet. Must be camping season; yeah.

It makes sense what you're doing, and from what they say.........higher rpm's while towing does not necessarily mean higher fuel consumption. And in some cases, can actually drop fuel consumption.

Another reason why your truck holds 4th so good, is that you're pretty close to the peak tq numbers at 401 lb/ft at 2900 r's. Peak is at 3600, so i'd say you're in the upper 300 range.
I just tried S-5 today at 70 mph, and i'm actually doing 2400 r's empty. So 2700 must be when i'm in the TC.

When my dad's towing his beast 5er, he just sets the cruise at 70 or whatever in D mode/tow haul and lets it do it's thing. I personally do not like this, as when descending a hill it will go to 6th. Then of course it's back to 5th shortly after. I would rather contol what gear it goes into manually myself. But beleive it or not, my dad gets virtually the same exact mileage as i do but his 5er is 2k lbs heavier. Go figure.

[crah]

Originally Posted by Only Toyota for me

Wow! The towing section is coming back to life!!! Sweet. Must be camping season; yeah.

It makes sense what you're doing, and from what they say.........higher rpm's while towing does not necessarily mean higher fuel consumption. And in some cases, can actually drop fuel consumption.

Another reason why your truck holds 4th so good, is that you're pretty close to the peak tq numbers at 401 lb/ft at 2900 r's. Peak is at 3600, so i'd say you're in the upper 300 range.
I just tried S-5 today at 70 mph, and i'm actually doing 2400 r's empty. So 2700 must be when i'm in the TC.

When my dad's towing his beast 5er, he just sets the cruise at 70 or whatever in D mode/tow haul and lets it do it's thing. I personally do not like this, as when descending a hill it will go to 6th. Then of course it's back to 5th shortly after. I would rather contol what gear it goes into manually myself. But beleive it or not, my dad gets virtually the same exact mileage as i do but his 5er is 2k lbs heavier. Go figure.

It's definitely camping season. I would normally have posted in the Tundra forum as that is where I normally browse the most and it has a lot of activity. I figured I give the towing section a shot to see what happens. Hopefully the towing section will wake up a little more. I could have always posted on rv.net, but I didn't want to hear about needing a dually diesel for my trailer. Way too much wrong advise over there, but fun to browse. Too bad there are a lot of people with good advise also, but it's hard to keep out the unwanted or incorrect advise.

Anyways, what you dad does seems believable. The Tundra has plenty of power to pull. I would leave it in drive with the tow haul mode on if the cruise control wasn't so sensitive. I wished the range was more in the 5 mph drop before dropping down a full gear. I know you're not supposed to use the cruise when towing, but it's nice to do on long distance hauls.

I'll report back on my full mileage to and from the Grand Canyon after my next trip. It's not this weekend, but actually next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Happy camping.

[TundraBay]

Considering that once you're up to speed, you aren't towing the weight so much as pushing the wind, I'd expect very similar MPGs for a given frontal area even if there's a big difference in weight. The equation changes a bit if you are driving in hilly or mountainous areas, or if there is a lot of stopping and starting due to traffic, but once you've got that weight up to speed, there is little extra effort keeping it moving. One of Newton's laws.. . .

I drive right on 60. I use D and Tow/Haul. I use the cruise. With some hills, not too much, I'm getting 10 MPG. When towing I use super -- 91 Octane. Partly because that's the only one without Ethanol where I do my big tows.

[fivecodys]

Well.... darn it!.....you fella's were right.
I am in 5th gear 2,100 RPMs at 60-62 mph. (flat land)
So the gear change was from 5th to 4th not 6th to 5th.

We went up to Shaver Lake, CA this weekend.
We stayed at Camp Edison. What a nice place.

This is my second trip to Shaver Lake with this rig. It did a great job again. Going up the 4 lane (very steep climb) I was going 50-55 mph and neither the temp or tranny guage never moved off center.

Gotta luv it!

Have a great week.

Bill

[TundraBay]

I know this is off topic, but rather than start another thread (well, maybe I should search, first) do you find the fact that the gauges don't move reassuring, or indicative of the fact that they aren't really indicating much at all? I'd like to know what my actual temps are, and come on, the engine (and tranny) must be heating up a little bit?? Is it conceivable that the cooler and radiator are THAT effective?

Thoughts, guys? (and if I don't get a response, maybe I'll post this question over on the Tundra main page)...

[fivecodys]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

I know this is off topic, but rather than start another thread (well, maybe I should search, first) do you find the fact that the gauges don't move reassuring, or indicative of the fact that they aren't really indicating much at all? I'd like to know what my actual temps are, and come on, the engine (and tranny) must be heating up a little bit?? Is it conceivable that the cooler and radiator are THAT effective?

Thoughts, guys? (and if I don't get a response, maybe I'll post this question over on the Tundra main page)...

Funny you mention that because we were joking this weekend that maybe the gauges aren't capable of moving right of center.


Bill

[tomhole]

Someone who tows more than I do should drop $160 on a Scanguage II and see if it displays those temps with actual numbers. That would answer the question.

Tom

[droolingmess]

"This is my second trip to Shaver Lake with this rig. It did a great job again. Going up the 4 lane (very steep climb) I was going 50-55 mph and neither the temp or tranny guage never moved off center."

Hwy 168 to Shaver Lake has claimed many a pickup in the summer heat. Do they still have all the water stops along the west side of the hill? Used to be you could not get a big rig past the top of the hill due to all the hair pin turns. There was talk about getting worst turns straightened out don't know if it got done or not. If you get tired of that hill try Bear Lake up by North Fork.

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

I know this is off topic, but rather than start another thread (well, maybe I should search, first) do you find the fact that the gauges don't move reassuring, or indicative of the fact that they aren't really indicating much at all? I'd like to know what my actual temps are, and come on, the engine (and tranny) must be heating up a little bit?? Is it conceivable that the cooler and radiator are THAT effective?

Thoughts, guys? (and if I don't get a response, maybe I'll post this question over on the Tundra main page)...

I beleive the trans temp guage to be similiar to the coolant guage; that if the temp goes above a certain temp it will move. I would however, like to know where Toyota set this certain temperature. They claim 230 is too warm and 250 is HOT, and you should pull over & shut off the truck.

I find the coolant guage just fine, but the trans guage i would like to install a digital one so i know what the actual temp is. But i would assume it's fairly adequate. Toyota has always done a fine job on their cooling systems from my past 21 years of ownership.

I think Herbicidal on this site has done it, and it's not too expensive to do.

[fivecodys]

Originally Posted by droolingmess

"This is my second trip to Shaver Lake with this rig. It did a great job again. Going up the 4 lane (very steep climb) I was going 50-55 mph and neither the temp or tranny guage never moved off center."

Hwy 168 to Shaver Lake has claimed many a pickup in the summer heat. Do they still have all the water stops along the west side of the hill? Used to be you could not get a big rig past the top of the hill due to all the hair pin turns. There was talk about getting worst turns straightened out don't know if it got done or not. If you get tired of that hill try Bear Lake up by North Fork.

Yep. They still have them. They have portable tanks that they keep filled with water. Nice place to check your brakes too.
Still alot of very tight turns up near the top and all the way into Shaver Lake. I have to be very careful as the fiver does not track like my TT did. I have too many times found my trailer over the center line. I met a truck pulling a house boat and we darn near hit each other.
Scarred the pi$$ out of both of us.

Bill