Anyone here towing with a Tundra?

momto4girls · 06-26-2017, 11:16 PM

My husband has a "company truck". I put it in quotes because we actually own the truck. It's paid for. Done. And it belongs to us--not the company.
He is on what is called a Runzheimer Plan through his company. The vehicle has to be a truck because he has to be able to drive through rock quarries and asphalt plants. The plan requires him to drive a truck that is no more than 4 model years old. Runzheimer means they give him a non taxable monthly allowance to cover costs plus insurance. It's not enough, of course.

He could sell his Tacoma right now for almost as much as he paid for it a couple of years ago. (We bought it used with about 1000 miles on it.) The resale value on Tacomas is amazing. So... we could bank the money and lease. And pay for braces for the 11 yr old, and a car for the 16 year old, etc. Since he has to trade cars every few years anyway, a lease MAY make sense for us. At least in the short term.

So we are ((considering)) a lease. The lease deals appear to be better for a Tundra than a Tacoma in our area.

I'm curious what kind of gas mileage we would get towing the TM with a Tundra. My husband feels like towing greatly affects the gas mileage of the Tacoma. I'm wondering if having "more truck" means that towing would not affect the gas mileage as much. What do the expert towers say? He had a Tundra before this Tacoma. He likes driving the Tacoma better but will buy/lease whatever makes the most sense financially.

HoMiPa · 06-27-2017, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momto4girls

He could sell his Tacoma right now for almost as much as he paid for it a couple of years ago. (We bought it used with about 1000 miles on it.) The resale value on Tacomas is amazing

I'm wondering if having "more truck" means that towing would not affect the gas mileage as much. What do the expert towers say? .

You sure are right about the Tacoma holding it's value. When I started my 'new' car search a couple of weeks ago, the Tacoma, Armada & Expedition made my short list. Then, when I was finding used 2016 Tacomas priced MORE than their original MSRP, I was like "that's CRAZY!". Anyhoo, ended up with an Expedition...

My uneducated, non-scientific, non-expert opinion would be that 'more truck' would mean less work towing, and therefore, although the mpg would be lower, the difference between towing and not towing would not be a great deal, unlike with the Tacoma, that would have to work a little harder.

**Bill** · 06-27-2017, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momto4girls

I'm curious what kind of gas mileage we would get towing the TM with a Tundra. I'm wondering if having "more truck" means that towing would not affect the gas mileage as much.

My experience is exactly what you suggest. "More truck" means lower mpg when not towing, but adding a trailer does not hurt this mpg very much.

TM advertises "one extra gallon to tow 100 miles". With my F-150 5.0L V-8 6-speed, the hit when I add the trailer is less that half of this amount. Crunching the numbers suggest that I lose about 1 mpg when I add the TM, and this seems to agree with the trucks mpg readout. Even for our 2500-mile cross-country trips, this means I burn about 11 extra gallons of gas as I cross the entire country. Hard to complain about that.

Yay for Trailmanor's low weight and low profile!

Bill

**Bill** · 06-27-2017, 07:17 AM

Incidentally, running the same numbers with a vehicle that gets 25 mpg non-towing shows that mpg would drop to 20 with the trailer. Both of these numbers are better than the truck gets, of course, so if mpg is your top priority, you would choose the smaller vehicle. If you add other priorities to the mix, your choice might be different.

Bill

momto4girls · 06-27-2017, 12:43 PM

okay--this is good to know. Thanks!

The Tacoma gas mileage isn't is good as it ought to be IMO. It's not a dramatic difference. For whatever reason we can lease a Tundra for cheaper than a Tacoma (we are in the process of scrutinizing terms and conditions). The cheaper payment would probably make up for additional fuel cost.

momto4girls · 06-27-2017, 12:45 PM

Holly, we drove out of state to get the Tacoma we have. The prices here are insane, too.

HoMiPa · 06-27-2017, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momto4girls

Holly, we drove out of state to get the Tacoma we have. The prices here are insane, too.

Yup, I just drove 7 hours, one way, to get my Expedition. But it was worth it!

**ShrimpBurrito** · 06-27-2017, 10:48 PM

MPG varies significantly with terrain, ambient temperature, alcohol content in gas, tire tread and inflation, speed (the biggest factor) and even wind (this was surprisingly a significant factor in the plains states), but that being said, I can report my experience with a Sequoia, which is on the same platform as the Tundra. Granted, I have an 2005, which is the 4.7 (or 4.something) liter engine, whereas the new Sequoias and Tundras have the 5.something liter engine.

I get 18-20 mpg on the highway without towing. While towing the TM, I get 12-14 mpg, going no faster than 60 mph. Bump the speed up to 70 mph, and fuel economy takes a big dump -- it's been 10+ years since I've gone that fast with the TM for any significant distance, but I see to recall economy went below 10 mpg, maybe even to 8 mpg. That happens with all vehicles though -- fuel economy goes way down after roughly 60 mph due to vastly increased aerodynamic drag.

Dave

HoMiPa · 06-28-2017, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Granted, I have an 2005, which is the 4.7 (or 4.something) liter engine, whereas the new Sequoias and Tundras have the 5.something liter engine.
Dave

I also think mpg varies greatly in model years. Newer engines are significantly more fuel efficient, squeezing out a lot more power while using a lot less fuel.

I haven't towed my TM yet with my 2016 Expedition, but just regular driving, my mpg is way better than my 2006 Tribute, despite having a much more powerful engine, and a much bigger vehicle pushing through the air - like 6 mpg better. We won't even talk about how much better it is than my 1988 Bronco.

On my return trip from picking up the Expedition, I drove through the Green Mountains, the same route I will be taking next weekend with the TM, and the same route I took with the TM being towed by my Bronco a couple of weekends ago. Coming over Hogback Mountain, I didn't even realize I was over it until I was heading down (it was, after all, like 2am, so I wasn't as 'aware' of my location as I would be in the daytime) - the Expedition didn't even seem to put forth any effort, hence the reason why I just didn't even notice I was climbing. My Bronco on the other hand, I know when I am climbing a mountain, towing a trailer or not. I don't expect my TM to effect the Expedition's mpg by very much at all.

oldstick · 06-28-2017, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momto4girls

okay--this is good to know. Thanks!

The Tacoma gas mileage isn't is good as it ought to be IMO. It's not a dramatic difference. For whatever reason we can lease a Tundra for cheaper than a Tacoma (we are in the process of scrutinizing terms and conditions). The cheaper payment would probably make up for additional fuel cost.

I agree with this. I would go Tundra too over the Tacoma for a TM if I had to make that choice today.

I love my Tacoma and it is adequate for the TM (but not great) and I'm not getting rid of it anytime soon. But I doubt it gets much better gas mileage than a basic Tundra for everyday driving.