Toyota Tundra enough truck for an Elite II?

[rideandfly]

Sounds good being able to monitor transmission oil temps.

Etrailer has oil coolers available for the 2019 5.7l Tundra. It would not be difficult installation for DIY or a local shop.

Personally, I would install one if our Tundra did not have one installed.

 

https://www.etrailer.com/tran-2019_Toyota_Tundra.htm?style=5.7L+V8+Engine

[Geronimo John]

On 6/6/2022 at 3:11 PM, csevel said:

I am certain when its time to do brakes, I'm going big ProComp slotted. 

Please keep us posted down the road when you go the BPC's.   I would like to do so as well on my 2019 F-150 EcoBoost.

GJ

[Geronimo John]

On 7/18/2022 at 3:08 PM, Bill Slater said:

I tow .my Elite 11 with my 2001 Toyota Sequoia 4.7 and it has worked just fine

My 2005 Toyota Sequuoia 4.7 did not have the power to tow my OEII out west.  But flatlands it was fine.  

GJ

[Geronimo John]

2019 F-150 3.5 EB, 10 Speed, FX4 Lariat:  Houston to OR to AK and back over four months, 15,500 miles, 61 fuel stops (Love the 36 gallon tank!), 1,149 gallons of fuel (87 octane 10% ethanol) costing $6,097 USD, and ran speed limits minimum and almost always higher.  Got 13.5 overall MPG.  90% of the miles were towing Ollie OEII.

GJ

[Lee Cappelletti]

We have a 2015 Tundra and an Elite II...

Never had a problem and it seemed like plenty of power when going over passes...

Smooth comfortable quiet ride, so the dog and wife can "snooze" while Im driving...

[Rivernerd]

On 9/27/2022 at 9:02 AM, Rivernerd said:

I plan to monitor transmission pan temps when towing (after we pick up our Elite II on November, and in warmer temps next year) to inform our decision whether to install an aftermarket transmission cooler.

I have inferred from posts on the Tundra forums that Toyota is claiming that transmission temps up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit when towing are "acceptable." 

I finally had a chance to monitor transmission temps when towing our Elite II up some hills with our 2019 Tundra 5.7L on a hot (95 F+) August day.  Pan and torque converter temps hovered around 230-235 F most of the time, but shot up to 265 after one long, steep pull.  Ouch! 

That said, the "High Transmission Fluid Temp" warning did not appear on the info screen.  For what it's worth, I am advised it does not appear until 300 F is reached. 

Given Toyota's position that their 2019-2021 transmissions (and Toyota trans fluid) can handle temps up to the point where the warning appears, I am holding off installation of the expensive aftermarket transmission cooler.

Have any more of you Elite II owners with Tundra tow vehicles had the dreaded "High Transmission Temp" warning appear on your truck?

[MAX Burner]

1 hour ago, Rivernerd said:

Have any more of you Elite II owners with Tundra tow vehicles had the dreaded "High Transmission Temp" warning appear on your truck?

We just towed our LEII in triple digit heat through northern NM and southern CO a couple weeks ago with no tranny issues,  The Tundra performed well and we have no complaints....  All good.

[ScubaRx]

4 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

We just towed our LEII in triple digit heat through northern NM and southern CO a couple weeks ago with no tranny issues,  The Tundra performed well and we have no complaints....  All good.

Do you have any idea what your transmission temp was running?

Our Silverado 3500 has a transmission temp gauge, after selecting tow/haul the volts meter is replaced with the trans temp gauge.

[Steve Morris]

If the Tundra is like the Land Cruiser with the 5.7 V8, there is no transmission temperature gauge. I use a Carista Bluetooth OBD reader and the OBD Fusion app on my phone to monitor items that are not shown on the dashboard.

On the "Gear" indicator, I have it set so that it adds a ring around the gauge when the torque converter is locked up. On my 8-speed, the top two gears are overdrive. On flat open road I can use 6th and keep the TC locked, but in any hills, I downshift to 5th. Long hills I use 4th to keep the RPMs up in the 3000 range to keep oil flowing though the transmission cooler. On the winding road up to Lake Guntersville, I was in 2nd! 🤪

So far, here in the east, I haven't had the pan or torque converter temps higher than around 220°. (Note that my colored indicator ranges and maximums are arbitrary, and not something from Toyota.)

[John E Davies]

11 hours ago, Rivernerd said:

I finally had a chance to monitor transmission temps when towing our Elite II up some hills with our 2019 Tundra 5.7L on a hot (95 F+) August day.  Pan and torque converter temps hovered around 230-235 F most of the time, but shot up to 265 after one long, steep pull.  Ouch! 

That said, the "High Transmission Fluid Temp" warning did not appear on the info screen.  For what it's worth, I am advised it does not appear until 300 F is reached. 

Given Toyota's position that their 2019-2021 transmissions (and Toyota trans fluid) can handle temps up to the point where the warning appears, I am holding off installation of the expensive aftermarket transmission cooler.

Have any more of you Elite II owners with Tundra tow vehicles had the dreaded "High Transmission Temp" warning appear on your truck?

My LC200 probably has a stouter cooling system than your Tundra, I routinely saw TORQUE CONVERTER temp around 225 -230 on steep grades, the pan temperature was always a few degrees lower and lagged a long time behind the TC. Just cruising on the highway, they always matched closely, when the TC unlocked it started to climb immediately and the pan stayed where it was for a while. You need to be sure that you are reading the correct sensors. If your PAN is actually getting to 265 and staying there your trannie is at risk.

I never had any sort of trans temp warning. This is with 3.90 axles and 6 speed trans. 

Add a cooler and sleep better. Get rid of the OEM fluid and do a full system change with full synthetic and new pan filter and gasket. It is super easy for an owner to do since you have the scan tool …. but only if the trans pan bolts are not rusted solid! It took me four hours to remove my pan. This is why a lot of shops won’t do this step IMHO. If you don’t plan on dropping the pan, spritz all the hardware with penetrating oil every other spring. Don’t forget to spray the thermostat bypass cavity.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

 

[John E Davies]

10 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

If the Tundra is like the Land Cruiser with the 5.7 V8, there is no transmission temperature gauge. I use a Carista Bluetooth OBD reader and the OBD Fusion app on my phone to monitor items that are not shown on the dashboard.

How much is the app after the initial $10 purchase to be able to get that glorious gauge display? I bought a Carista and used it one time to turn off the Auto window open feature, then cancelled the payments.. 

We woke up one morning to discover that the sunroof was retracted and all the windows were down due to accidentally bumping the remote repeatedly. Carista was the only device that I know of that can alter the Toyota settings.

Thanks.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Steve Morris]

On 8/14/2023 at 10:04 AM, John E Davies said:

How much is the app after the initial $10 purchase to be able to get that glorious gauge display?

I bought the Carista OBD Reader around 2014, and at that time there was no subscription; buy the reader and get the app free. It still works without subscription today!

The above display is from the OBD Fusion app. There is no need for a Carista subscription to use ODB Fusion. However, on top of whatever ODB Fusion costs, you'll need to purchase the $10 Toyota Advance Pack for all the sensor PID hooks.

Here is a link to an extensive thread on MUD on how to do all of this. I found it very confusing. There are dashboards available to download from thread participants, but they do not scale. So if you have an iPhone 14 Max and the dashboard was made for an iPhone 8, things will look wonky. I spent several hours fiddling with modifying someone's dashboard to get the above on my iPhone XS. Some of the dashboards are quite extravagant!

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/diy-smartphone-scan-gauge-obd-fusion.1269979/

 

 

I have OBD Fusion running on my phone on a vent phone holder, and my 11" iPad over top of the Toyota screen using Waze or Gaia for navigation.

[John E Davies]

1 hour ago, Steve Morris said:

 

 

I like the Altitude data, where does that come info from, the Toyota sensors? It can't be accurate if it is barometric pressure based. I really liked my Garmin RV660 LMT for towing, it could display (actual) gps based altitude (elevation) and also the grade in percent. Tho the latter would often default to zero if there were not three satellites in view for a while. I gave away the gps with “Mouse” because it was tied into the backup cam, I might buy another Garmin unit because of those features. Sorry the thread is drifting badly.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Steve Morris]

@John E Davies GPS speed and elevation come from the cell phone, not the truck. 

[MAX Burner]

On 8/14/2023 at 1:25 AM, ScubaRx said:

Do you have any idea what your transmission temp was running?

Absolutely no clue whatsoever.  The Tundra is new to us and we're researching for an after market tranny cooler and temp gauge console.  Any good ideas?

[Rivernerd]

48 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

The Tundra is new to us and we're researching for an after market tranny cooler and temp gauge console.  Any good ideas?

You should have a factory external transmission cooler installed in your 2022 Tundra, as part of the tow package.  It's the 2019-2021 model years (like mine) that don't have it.  It is no surprise to me that you have had no transmission temp issues, given that you should have the external cooler already installed.

My 2008 Tundra had a transmission temp gauge in the dash, along with the engine temp gauge, oil pressure gauge, etc.  Does your 2022 have that gauge?

[MAX Burner]

1 hour ago, Rivernerd said:

My 2008 Tundra had a transmission temp gauge in the dash, along with the engine temp gauge, oil pressure gauge, etc.  Does your 2022 have that gauge?

We've got the factory transmission cooler - but maybe a larger one would be better.  But we do have the engine temp and oil pressure gauges....

[Tom and Doreen]

11 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

We've got the factory transmission cooler - but maybe a larger one would be better.  But we do have the engine temp and oil pressure gauges....

On the 2023 Tundra, and likely the 2022, the right side gauges are configurable.  The transmission temperature is one of the items that is selectable.  I believe that there are actually two transmission temperature sensors but I believe that only one of them is readable even with my ScanGuage.  

[rideandfly]

Good find!

Page 91 in my 2022 manual states same thing, Pitch and roll screen has been there since new, probably a default setting.

[Rivernerd]

16 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

We've got the factory transmission cooler - but maybe a larger one would be better.

Before even considering a larger aftermarket tranny cooler, I would reconfigure the factory gauges (as instructed by Tom and Doreen, and ridenfly above).

If that doesn't work, you can get a scan gauge to provide transmission temp data under load.  Veepeak sells an inexpensive one on Amazon for Android phones that plugs into your OBDII port, and reports tons of engine and transmission data to your phone via the OBD Fusion app:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011NSX27A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you have an iphone, Veepeak also sells a somewhat more expensive version.

I installed one in my 2019 Tundra, which reported transmission pan temps as high as 265 F recently, pulling up a hill on a hot day.  Even with synthetic ATF, that is higher than my comfort level.  I'll bet that even when towing your Elite II up a hill, you won't see temps above 230 F with your factory trans cooler.

Which ever solution you choose, please report your results on this thread!

[rideandfly]

Here's what I'm learning on the Tundra Forum for 2022 & 2023 Tundras. This feature is available if you have the 12.3 digital dash and our SR5 does not. Like @Tom and Doreenand @Rivernerdsaid, a Scan Gauge will work for those that do not have the 12.3 digital dash. 

With the OBD readers you can view on the Iphone, going to check out different units that's available, too.

Check video at about 1:40:

 

[MAX Burner]

7 hours ago, rideandfly said:

Good find!

Page 91 in my 2022 manual states same thing, Pitch and roll screen has been there since new, probably a default setting.

Excellent find!  The P&R gauges have been there since day-1; will reconfigure when I get back from the MC ride...  Many thanks!

[MAX Burner]

7 hours ago, Rivernerd said:

I'll bet that even when towing your Elite II up a hill, you won't see temps above 230 F with your factory trans cooler.

Which ever solution you choose, please report your results on this thread!

Concur, 100%.  Will report back as soon as data is captured.  Thanks a ton!

[Robin Boyd]

I’ve been working on getting a quote on a 2024 Tundra Pro. The tow capacity is roughly 12,000 lbs. 4 wheel drive. V6 twin turbos. 589 hp add the inverter and it over 400+ hp with tons of torque. 

[Patriot]

2 hours ago, Robin Boyd said:

I’ve been working on getting a quote on a 2024 Tundra Pro. The tow capacity is roughly 12,000 lbs. 4 wheel drive. V6 twin turbos. 589 hp add the inverter and it over 400+ hp with tons of torque. 

What will your truck cargo/payload capacity be when loaded ready to camp? This was a very important number for our style of camping. We really considered the new Tundra, it fell too short in payload capacity. 1400 + lbs was not enough payload capacity to allow us to lawfully and safely carry our gear ready to camp. With our 1 ton diesel payload is not a concern. It really boils down to how you plan to travel and camp.
 

Patriot🇺🇸