towing questions for first time tower

[enrique]

I have had my 01 Tundra Limited for about a month now. Looks like this weekend will be my first chance to tow with it. i have never towed before and since I got the truck used I have no info(owner's manual) on towing with it. I need some help to say the least. I will be towing on a flat bed from uhall. Towing a newer model camaro up and a second gen rx7 back. Trip will be from San Diego to Milipitas and back. Any help on what gear to tow in and in what situations. I guess I need to tow with overdrive off but that was about all the info I could find. thanks for the help.

[Ray Keetch]

I'm certainly no expert as many seem to be here but have been towing my Llamas around for some time.
I find this vehicle tows very well, as you mentioned I keep it out of OD.
Other than that it's common sense.

Check to see if the Brake TSB's have been done. If not I'd get it looked at before towing any distance in hilly terrain. Otherwise I'll guarantee vibration due to overheated rotors!

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by enrique

I have had my 01 Tundra Limited for about a month now. Looks like this weekend will be my first chance to tow with it. i have never towed before and since I got the truck used I have no info(owner's manual) on towing with it. I need some help to say the least. I will be towing on a flat bed from uhall. Towing a newer model camaro up and a second gen rx7 back. Trip will be from San Diego to Milipitas and back. Any help on what gear to tow in and in what situations. I guess I need to tow with overdrive off but that was about all the info I could find. thanks for the help.

Your trailer with a car on board will likely be in the 5000 lb range (give or take about 500 lbs). This weight is toward the upper end of the Tundra's real towing capability but there is margin left. Since this trailer won't have an form of weight distributing hitch, you will be putting a lot of weight on the truck's rear axle so don't try to carrry more than a few hundred pounds in the bed.

WRT to the transmission, your goal is to minimize the amount of time that the transmission torque converter clutch is unlocked because a lot of heat is generated from TC slippage with an unlocked TC clutch...and heat is what ruins an automatic transmission. Your trailer with car aboard is definitely heavy enought that the TC clutch will be mostly running unlocked if you let it upshift to OD. The weight is also high enough to be seriously stressing the front planetary gears if OD is used...and the front planetaries were a weak element in the '01 transmission. Turning OD off allows the TC clutch to lock in direct drive (3rd gear) so there's less heat and more torque to the rear wheels...and the front planetary gears aren't being used. Unless you need to stop the transmission from hunting on long grades, don't put it in 2nd gear.

I expect the UHaul trailer will have some form of surge brakes so braking shouldn't be much of an issue. However, if the trailer doesn't have some form of brakes, then you definitely want to have the TSB done on the truck brakes and you'll need to be very careful about using the brakes heavily.

Be careful how you position the car in the trailer (if you have some fore-aft positioning flexibilty)...your goal is to have about 15% of the trailer's total weight sitting on the hitch. Having a trailer that's too front heavy puts too much load on the truck (and may exceed the hitch rating); one's that's too rear heavy can lead to a very unstable towing situation and the possibility of uncontrolled trailer fishtailing/sway. If possible get the loaded trailer onto a scale to actually measure how much weight is on the hitch.

[KLS]

A couple of things to add to Ray's posting....

1) Be sure the trailer has brakes. Do not accept one without brakes. That is too much weight for the truck's brakes to handle. For a vehicle hauling trailer, you probably need brakes for the weight of the empty trailer, i. e., 1000# or more.

2) Do downshift to 2nd if needed for a long downgrade. Never ride your brakes down a long hill. They'll overheat and you could crash. Downshift early and only brake intermittently moderately hard. Then, get off the brakes and let them cool. Your engine will keep your speed near what you need if you downshifted into the right gear.

3) Never towed before? Hitch up that empty trailer and make some maneuvers in an empty parking lot. Practice turning...be sure to start your turns as wide as possible, drive as far as possible into the turn before you crank the wheel over, then crank it hard. Practice backing...lots'a luck.


Ken

[bananaears]

Originally Posted by Ray Keetch

I'm certainly no expert as many seem to be here but have been towing my Llamas around for some time.
I find this vehicle tows very well, as you mentioned I keep it out of OD.
Other than that it's common sense.

Check to see if the Brake TSB's have been done. If not I'd get it looked at before towing any distance in hilly terrain. Otherwise I'll guarantee vibration due to overheated rotors!

Llamas? And I thought I was the only one here.. right on. I tow mine around with my, new to me, 02. Take them up the coast for some hiking and down into Big Sur. Only had my rig for a month and I've had no problems towing. I'll have four max in a trailer and the OD off. Downshift when necessary for up or down hill(especially) so you don't have any overheating issues with the brakes. TSB brake work is very important to check on. Had mine done and noticed a big difference. My first tow session was vibrating nightmare. thought I had screwed something up. Since the fix its smooth. Everyone else here is right on, so go with there advice