[andykisil]

Hi guys,

My buddy and I towed his Doral 19.5ft boat.
The total weight of the trailer and the boat was about 4,000lbs (est)

First of all, the pin connector for the brakes and the turn signals was a 4 pin, while the tundra had a 3 pin male connector. So we had no brake lights or turn signals. Because of this the trip was slower than usual.
As a resulth though, I got the best MPG I've ever seen on the truck; 17.3L/100km for a 60 km trip along up and down rural roads with speeds between 60-80km/h. I'm confused and happy at the same time.

I was suprised at a couple of things too:

The tranny worked best if you kept it in 5th manual mode. This way it would not hunt for the right gear going uphill. Even in 5th, it would sometimes downshift to 4th. In 5th, the RPMs would stay between 2,000 and 2,500 which was fine for me.

The engine had to really work to get up to higher rpms where the powerband is. Comparing this to the domestics which I've towed in (F150 4.6, 2500HD 6.0, and 3500 6.6 diesel), the tundra doesn't have that low-end grunt that they do. I'm not saying the truck doesn't have power, it just has to spin the engine higher to get it. Still accelerated like a champ though.

Considering that the boat wasn't completely balanced on the trailer, the suspension handled the ride very well ... much better than the F150 or the 2500HD would. So thats the good news, nothing bad to report.

Good luck,
Opinions welcome

 

[Stripped Honda]

the tundra has a 4 pin plug my boat also has a 4 pin and it works perfectly.. so i would check your trailer wiring ... the fault is probally there i also tow my boat uphills and i find using the tow/haul function works really well and it gets the best gas mileage for me when i am in this mode ....

 

[tkious]

The Tundra has a 4 pin connector as well as a 7 pin. The 4 pin has 3 male (left, right, and running), and 1 female (ground) pins. Your friend's boat probably has a 5 pin. The 5th is for the reverse light, which will deactivate the surge brakes on the trailer for backing up. You can hook up the 5 pin to a 4 pin and everything should work except for the backing up. The best bet is to get a 7 to 5 pin adaptor and use the round 7 on the Tundra. You can also jump the running lights on the truck side to the backup wire on the trailer to deactivate the surge brakes if you are in a pinch and only have a 4 pin on the truck, then just turn on the lights.

 

[LeeinAZ]

I posted the following in the 4.7 vs 5.7 Thread the other day. I would also like to ad that I also found using the Tow/Haul mode worked the best. The engine never seemed to be working hard and all shifts were smooth as silk. I just left the transmission in D for both trips. I use the 4 pin socket on my boat, and the 7 pin for my travel trailer in conjunction with a Prodigy brake controller. The two sockets eliminate the need for an adapter that I had to use with my Chevy. The Tundra is impressive and is the best tow vehicle I have ever owned.

Posted on 4-28:

It's been just two weeks since I bought my 5.7 DC. Yesterday I pulled my 20' pontoon boat, traveled about 150 miles and got 11.6mpg calculated. My boat only weighs 2900lbs. Today I pulled my 25' travel trailer, which weighs 5300lbs, and the on-board computer was showing 10mpg. I used the Tow/Haul mode on both. Using the TH mode changed the shift points in the transmission....would upshift around 3000 rpm. Last Tuesday we took a 400 mile trip, just the truck, and calculated 18.9mpg for the trip....and that was at 75-80mph for the whole trip. I would say that if you are planning on towing anything, get the 5.7. I personally don't feel the 4.7 would have had enough power to pull my travel trailer, which had a combined weight of 11,400 pounds. The 5.7 pulled much better than I had anticipated, the water temp and trans temp gauges never moved from their usual positions....and it was 102 degrees here yesterday and 100 today. Love my Tundra!!!

 

[LeeinAZ]

I made my third trip yesterday pulling my pontoon boat....186 miles and calculated 12.8 mpg overall. Same trip with my 97 Silverado averaged 11.2mpg.

 

[Sequoia2003]

The engine had to really work to get up to higher rpms where the powerband is. Comparing this to the domestics which I've towed in (F150 4.6, 2500HD 6.0, and 3500 6.6 diesel), the tundra doesn't have that low-end grunt that they do. I'm not saying the truck doesn't have power, it just has to spin the engine higher to get it. Still accelerated like a champ though.

The Hemi is the same way. No low end grunt, but at high RPM's she will pull like a raped ape!

 

[rcdave]

I towed my 6000lb boat the other day. My experience was the opposite versus others in this thread. There is tons of low end grunt available. Just off idle through the powerband. Pulls my boat like its not even there.

 

[mln]

IMO the 5.7L has decent lowend torque once underway. However, it really shines in the higher RPM range. The 4.30:1 gearing and low first gear really helps get you moving from a dead stop.

My buddies were amazed at how quickly I could merge with freeway traffic while I was pulling my trailer. I let one of them drive it and he said my truck pulling the trailer was quicker than his SCSB V-6 Silverado empty. Not exactly an apples to apples comparison but he was impressed none the less. I agree, it will get with the program right quick!