I have a 2010 DC with the 5.7 and when I am towing my trailer I always use the T/H. I have never had a problem with it searching but around here there are enough hills and grades to keep it constant.
2010 Toyota Tundra SR5 Double Cab 5.7L
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YOU will get answers all over the board on this. I have a 2011 DC/5.7L, pulling around 8Klbs. I never use T/H. It tried to keep the engine at 4000RPM most of the time. I use select and lock out 6th gear. My shift points are about 3000 RPM, the truck has plenty of power, and my cruising speed is a comfortable 60MPH/2000RPM with no hunting, even on the hills. It works fine for me, YMMV.
My advice is to go to Tundra Solutions and post your questions there. You will get answers from those who actually have your exact truck. Best place to get any info on a Tundra.
Hope this helps
Ron
Ron & Sandie
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Bob Landry wrote: YOU will get answers all over the board on this. I have a 2011 DC/5.7L, pulling around 8Klbs. I never use T/H. It tried to keep the engine at 4000RPM most of the time. I use select and lock out 6th gear. My shift points are about 3000 RPM, the truck has plenty of power, and my cruising speed is a comfortable 60MPH/2000RPM with no hunting, even on the hills. It works fine for me, YMMV.
Your method is fine for towing in the Plains States, where you don't need all the power the 5.7 can give, but by using "S" mode, you are missing out on the features that T/H mode has to offer.
T/H mode shines at its best at high elevation, especially on 2 lane steep roads.
By shifting at 3000RPM vrs. 3800-4000RPM, you are only using 200 of the 380HP and about 350lbs of the 400lb of torque.This won't make much difference in the Plains, but it makes a big difference in the mountains.T/H mode is all about using all available power and making towing easier.
When using "S" mode the driver has to work harder, which adds to fatigue over time.
Again if towing in the Plains with cruise on, you won't see much difference. But, if towing in the mountains, without cruise on(which is most of the time), you will have to work harder in "S" mode.
T/H mode changes the relationship between the gas pedal and how much throttle you are giving the engine. In T/H mode you don't have to use as much foot pressure on the gas pedal to increase RPM's, You also don't have to press the gas pedal as far as would using "S" mode.
When going down mountains, T/H mode makes towing safer and easier on the driver.
If using "S" mode, you must take a hand off the wheel and manually down shift.On a curvy road, this can make you tired and lower safety.
When going down steep mountains whith T/H mode on, a simple tap on the brake will down shift from 6th to 3rd gear with each brake tap. This works as long as you are not exceeding the speed that Toyota sets for each gear.
In "S" mode, if you are going to fast for the gear that you want to down shift into, the tranny will "beep" at you and will not allow the shift to occur, thus you will have to brake a little harder to bring the speed down to accepctable levels for the shift to occur.T/H mode works the same way, except you won't get the beep, the ECM just wont let the tranny down shift until you reach the right speed.
If you need to slow down quickly to take a curve,especially if you need to go below 3rd gear, "S" mode works very well for that case.
I help run the largest non-corporate Tundra web site(a little under 20,000 members), we don't advertise or accepct advertising. If anyone wants the web site address, PM me.
Interesting information and most of it I did not know. I've tried to gleen towing information on the Tundra sites, but most of them consist of members who seem to have their own interpretation of how the truck operates. Consequently, any given question is likely to generate a lot of different responses. I guess the facts have a difficult time getting past the testosterone. I would love to see your site. PM sent.
I have a 2007 Tundra 5.7L and travel all over Nevada and Utah, which have plenty of hills up to 9% to deal with. I have used T/H or "S5" on exactly the same terrain, and I have to admit, I would rather use S5 everytime. I have compared fuel mileage, and S5 wins (although not by much) every time. My shift points when ascending hills or general acceleration is always right around peak torque RPM's, and on one particular 17 mile long climb, I just leave the truck at the peak torque RPM figure and let it do it's thing. On the downhill side I just use manual shift and let it go. T/H is fine too, but highway 14 in Utah is 9% and extremely curvy, so I like to manually work the select shift on the way down. I may be doing everything wrong according to Toyota, but it has worked great so far..........
skyhammer wrote: When going down steep mountains whith T/H mode on, a simple tap on the brake will down shift from 6th to 3rd gear with each brake tap. This works as long as you are not exceeding the speed that Toyota sets for each gear.
Interesting, will have to try that, first I've heard of it.
I prefer the Tow/Haul mode as I don't think I'm smarter than some of the Toyota engineers that put that stuff in there to begin with. I think it works fine, actually pretty well with the changes to the shift points.
- Ken
2010 Toyota Tundra 5.7 CrewMax Limited, TRD Swaybar, Timbrens, Bilstein HD shocks
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