Any Towing Reviews with New Tacoma V6 Manual 4x4?

[kstanf150]

Originally Posted by 02SE
Originally Posted by kstanf150


Manual tranny is not an option on the 2019 models
Not even in the base model 4 banger


So I was curious, and just went to Toyota's website, and built a TRD Offroad Tacoma with the V6, and 6-speed manual.

Oh, and they have them on the dealer lots, too...



You are 100% correct
Tried look at the their site on my phone and didn't scroll over far enough. I apologize

 

[SwampSurvivor]

it seems Tacomas and Jeep Wranglers are probably the only manual transmission vehicles that dealers actually stock. Otherwise, it's special order or looking over 100 miles away to find one

 

[dareo]

Towing with manual and a v6 sucks. My old T100 3.4 took a lot of clutch abuse just to pull a broken 4 runner across town.
I rented a giant heavy dump trailer and my 8 speed auto 6.2 setup pulled it well, and still got 10 mpg on all the dump trips.
The only manual truck id want to tow with would have to be a cummins diesel.

 

[supton]

But aren't those two very different vehicles? 3.4 with 180hp vs 420hp (?), 3/16 ton vs 3/4 ton?

I get the point, manuals really do need a granny gear for breaking static friction, which a torque convertor shrugs off.

*

Last night I was poking around, and started wondering if I wouldn't mind a Frontier instead of a Taco. Apparently the depreciate nicely, but aren't that bad on reliability, and a few got sold as manuals even.

 

[oilpsi2high]

So I've given this some thought, and I think the Tacoma might be the way to go. Here's why.

#1. A full-size truck is complete overkill for towing 5000 lbs. I make do right now with a 16 year old pickup truck that has 235 HP. I love the size of my Dakota and really don't want anything bigger.
#2. I've been driving manuals for 12+ years now. Everywhere from downtown Manhattan to backroads in the middle of nowhere. Traffic doesn't bother me one bit. I figure I will stick to daily driving a manual transmission and keep my skills sharp.
#3. Resale - if the truck ends up sucking that badly, the resale market for the Tacoma looks to be the best out of any pickup truck.

Towing videos with the manual don't seem to exist, so I guess I'll have to make my own. Any suggestions for routes in the Adirondack park to do some towing tests?

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by DriveHard
Not anymore...most autos will lock the torque converter for everything except sitting at a light and while shifting.

I'd check on that first. Toyota (or Aisin?) seem to dislike lockup for some reason. I get the impression that they'd rather run unlocked in a too-tall gear instead of forcing a downshift. Problem is, every transmission is different this regard, as is trans programming per model and probably model year.

I know my Tundra does not use lockup in gears 1,2,3 (says so in the A760 literature no less). It will lockup in 4,5,6 but it prefers to not downshift but rather run unlocked when asked for more power. I also don't think it likes to lock up below 2k or so in 4th, it seems like with any amount of throttle it doesn't care for it altogether.



My Rx 350 has a similar V-6 and an Aisin 8-speed (different but if programming is similar) and my biggest issue is it's way too quick to upshift and downshift. Off throttle it's in a BIG hurry to upshift as many times as possible. Barely tap the throttle and it downshifts twice even when calling for a minimal increase in speed - many times just trying to maintain speed on a slight incline. Let off the throttle and again it upshifts to 8th gear as quickly as possible.

I drove my wife's Pilot yesterday and while the 1-2 shift on that ZF 9-speed sucks Honda did a much better job of making the vehicle drive better. Hit the gas and it will hold the current gear even with moderate throttle inputs and play with TC lockup if it needs a bump in RPM and it won't downshift until you hit the kick down point with the throttle. It's a much better way of doing things. Not sure if the programming in the RX is similar in the Taco but that's my experience with a Toyota V-6/Aisin product.....

 

[dareo]

The T100 was rated for 5k towing and heavy payloads. So it was a beefy midsize at least. The 3.4 made good torque but the manual gear spacing required you to burn the clutch to get things moving. I used 4 low on a hill for one spot. This was an old 4 runner probably 3500lbs flat towed with a strap at 25 mph or less. Now i loved the manual T100 in non towing, it was a good driver. The comparison to my full size was fair because the dump trailer was over 6k empty and over 8k full creating similar weigh to tow ratings.

If you love midsize, and a big part of me does, i would take a long look at the 2.8 duramax colorado canyons. Better discounts than tacoma, way more torque, nice 6 speed auto. If your really going to tow often. I just tow something once a year or less so i suppose i could get by cooking the clutch a bit here and there.

 

[oilpsi2high]

Funny enough, I parked next to a silver TRD Sport at the boat ramp today. I checked and it was a manual!

Didn't get to talk to the owner but I saw him towing a fishing boat, probably 3000 lbs or so.

I have pretty good finesse with the clutch. My truck has the super tall rear end, plus the 1st gear on the NV3500 is also tall. Sometimes you need to slip it but never to the point where I can smell anything burning. Just keep the RPMs as low as possible. I also use 4LO at the boat ramp and when backing in a straight line.

I'm not impressed with the Duramax. Too many emissions problems, and now problems with the timing pulleys falling off (GM says 150k before timing belt change. Yeah right.)

I think I tow enough to qualify for a full size when all is said and done. GM is adding the 6.2/10 speed to the RST trim. Getting one of those at 20% off would be awesome.

 

[02SE]

The Canyon/ Colorado also seem to have a tendency to set off the airbags for no apparent reason. Quite a few complaints about that from what I hear from my friends who are still in the automotive repair field.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by 02SE
The Canyon/ Colorado also seem to have a tendency to set off the airbags for no apparent reason. Quite a few complaints about that from what I hear from my friends who are still in the automotive repair field.


I believe in deeper offloading situations were odd stresses involved not just driving down the road.

 

[4WD]

From what era … Newer ? I owned 3 GMT355's and never heard that …

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by madRiver
Originally Posted by 02SE
The Canyon/ Colorado also seem to have a tendency to set off the airbags for no apparent reason. Quite a few complaints about that from what I hear from my friends who are still in the automotive repair field.


I believe in deeper offloading situations were odd stresses involved not just driving down the road.


Been following a few videos of what they are doing off-road with that Colorado ZR2 … impressive!

 

[buster]

I don't think I would ever want a manual in a truck. I've driven nothing but manuals the last 20 years and I'm tired of them. The manual in my Mazda 3 is nice too, but in traffic it gets annoying.

The only advantage i see of a manual in the Tacoma is long term durability, however, Toyota transmissions are pretty much bulletproof anyway.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted by 4WD
From what era … Newer ? I owned 3 GMT355's and never heard that …


The current models. According to my friends and former colleagues, some of whom work at GM dealerships, some of the deployments have have just been while driving on surface streets, or pulling into a driveway, or in some cases light off-roading.

A quick Bing search brings up numerous complaints.

 

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by buster
I don't think I would ever want a manual in a truck. I've driven nothing but manuals the last 20 years and I'm tired of them. The manual in my Mazda 3 is nice too, but in traffic it gets annoying.

The only advantage i see of a manual in the Tacoma is long term durability, however, Toyota transmissions are pretty much bulletproof anyway.

I have a manual in my XTerra, because that's what was available in Off Road trim when I was looking, but if I had bought new, I'd go with the automatic. A clutch combined with the extra weight of a trailer in traffic or uphill (or uphill in traffic......) gets really tiring.

 

[oilpsi2high]

No issues with my 4.7/manual, even with the 3.08's. Plenty of hill starts with the 4500lb boat in tow. Not much stop and go traffic around the lakes though, just lots of hilly terrain at 40-55 MPH.

 

[oilpsi2high]

I will be reviewing a TRD Pro with the 6-speed manual in a few weeks while towing a boat. Weight is around 4500 lbs (I'll stop at a scale to confirm.)

Anything in particular you want to know about it? I'll have it for about a week or so. Plan on tow test, daily driving and some off road trails if I can find any.

 

[supton]

Run it in reverse up a hill? Not sure there is a worse test than that for towing. Sure, going uphill at speed would show heating problems or lack of horsepower, but I'm not sure problems are expected there.

 

[Xeno]

I commend you for getting the manual gearbox. I love the feel of rowing your own gears, not to mention less moving parts, thus better dependability of the manual gearbox.

 

[SeaJay]

In the last years that the manual transmission option was available on GM half ton trucks, the towing rating was lower on the manual tranny. I think they had too many warranty complaints on worn clutches on vehicles used for towing. The auto held up better when towing heavy loads.