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!

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.

jdickey · 06-29-2017, 06:30 PM

I tow a 21ft Triton boat and also a 20ft Starcraft popup trailer, and my Tundra will average 15 with the boat and 14 with the trailer. Tundra is the best 1/2 ton towing vehicle you can buy. It sponsors the BASS pro fishing tour, and almost all of the pros claim it has been their best towing vehicle that they have used.

**rickst29** · 06-29-2017, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momto4girls

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.

BTW, I've towed my TM (overloaded 2619) with both the 4.0 V6 (the predecessor of your 3.5L) AND the smaller of two Toyota V8 engines (which was 4.7L in that year.) The V6, shifted down by one gear my than the "automatic" selection, pulls the 2619 BETTER than the V8 ever did in Toyota-chosen "automatic" mode.
Based on my Toyota experience, the main issue with the Tacoma (while pulling your 2720) might be his choice of gears: If he lets the slush-box choose, it will prefer lower RPMs and sluggish response. Also, it will likely run "unlocked", with the transmission driving loose and using fluid coupling.
In towing smaller TMs with a Taco or 4R V6, it's best to always downshift by one gear on hills. By itself, it often choose 5th, (or 4th) when higher RPMs in the next gear down would be better for everything:

The tranny would lock up and run efficiently , instead of wasting gas to cook the tranny fluid;
the resulting gas mileage might be better than the lower gear.
the responsiveness would be VASTLY improved.

Toyota V6 engines love to rev high, and they're indestructible. Don't try pulling the trailer with the engine lugging at 2800 RPM, pick a gear with 3500 (or even higher, on big hills). The Tundra V8s guzzle 30% more gas all the time. With the Taco, you're able to get great performance at Tundra-like gas consumption when you need it, and while burning significantly less gas when you don't.