Best tune for heavy towing

Hello all, new to the forum, lots of great people/info here! Have a 2015 tundra ltd 5.7, and towing a 28 ft 5th wheel half tonner. Tows good, but when I put the fishing boat behind, could use more power in the hills. Love this truck ,it tows better than any other trucks I've had other than a diesel ton truck. But with cost of fuel, maintenance, etc. I just can't make a diesel pay for itself (and don't like all the new emissions, I'm old school I guess). Really just looking mainly for better transmission control and gear lock capabilities , as gear hunting is a pet-peave of mine,lol.

-OVT sounds great. Like the shifting capabilities. Where do I buy? Is it plug and play I'm not real computer savvy, definitely not a tuner myself! Website alone is confusing. Any OVT experience anyone?
-DAP ? Sounds good on their website, not a real good of description of benefits other than normal hp gains.
...Even for daily driving, I dislike the constant torque converter unlocking everytime you give it just a little more throttle while cruising.
... Would like to be able to lock in chosen gear, not just have a gear limit is "S" mode, I find it sort of meaningless in stock form.
Any input would be great , thanks in advance!

 

Get the vftuner, or Bullydog.

Vf is the ultimate solution. more $$ and harder to install, but worth it.

on a budget, bulludog specifically makes a rune for towing. It’s inexpensive, works well, and is relatively easy to install.

 

Thanks dirty deeds, I will look at the bulldog. I like simple... The OVT sounds great, but it doesn't sound like plug and play, and I'm not a tuner myself. Thanks again ,I now have some research to do!

 

Gimme a call with any questions. And to order a Bullydog. 760-877-4234

 

Lol! I know. But two things in my favor: I'm right within the towing capacity of the tundra , and I have been towing heavy equipment my whole life.... Yes I know a lot of people personally that should not be allowed to tow one trailer much less two hahaha. Two...if you have ever mechanically worked on or seen how the other half ton trucks are built(especially Chevys,drove them my whole life before switched to toyota) ,,,,,, you could understand why I will only do it with a tundra. There is a reason why many forums say the tundra is built heavier than some of the other 3/4 ton trucks. The brakes alone are much bigger than most other 3/4 tonners.
That being said, it is not for the inexperienced tow personell. Firestone air bags also make the truck sooo much more stable; benefits more for the left right swaying than the rear end sagging. Not to knock other brands, but try putting a couple 50 pound bags of sand , softener salt , etc in the back of a new ram with the coil suspension... That truck sways so bad its dangerous. The company I worked for bought a whole fleet of them for the salesmen. They were scared to drive them with any payload In the back. We put firestone air bags on them and it made them a totally different truck!!!! Actually loved the ram after that, has many more amenities than my tundra. Wished tundra would step up in that area compared to the big three.
P.s. we could not find any shop to install the air bags on the 1500 rams. They sold them to us but would not install. Apparently dodge holds licensed shops liable for any accident if overloaded. No shop would tell us exactly why but, it was a very touchy subject with every shop we went to. Ended up installing them ourselves. Shame , they are a great truck once they are slightly enhanced. Thanks and any suggestions to help beef the tundra more greatly appreciated.

 

Also TJ, we are along the Mississippi river between Iowa and Wisconsin, it's a lot of hills!!!! Can't believe how this tows in "beast" mode. Just wish I had better gear selection control. And so far, I've gotten better mpg than the diesels in our group. But they walk away from me in the steep hills.so much more torque with a diesel.

 

I have VF Tuner with Direct Shift and Gear Lock. The best feature in my opinion. You can use most of the torque available for that gear i.e. 6th gear, 5th gear before you down shift. There's a safety low RPM limit of 1500. If the RPM falls below 1500 and you did not manually downshift, then, the ecu will take over and downshift the transmission.
You can go the VF Tuner website and check their products or you can find a VF Tuner authorized Pro Tuners in your area and they can load the tune for you. This is probably the fastest route cause they already have the laptop registered, they get updates regularly. They just need to buy credit for your VIN, the cost of the tune pack and of course, the shop will charge you for their service.

 

As the owner of a tundra powerstroke and duramax…and recently traded Cummins…try again!

My power stroke gets better mpg towing a 13k pound trailer than the tundra gets empty. Hand calculated repeatedly. The duramax is in constant regen so towing is comparable to the tundra empty. All three trucks have 35” tires with stock gearing and stock tunes.

 

Seriously,it ain't by much, but 2mpg better than the 6.0 power stroke, and .5 better than the 2005 Duramax. I'm sure the newer ones may be better, and also with an tune they probly would reverse scenario. But stock its still alot better than you would think. No one in the group has a Cummins. I'm sure the 5.9 would probly walk circles around all of us. Mileage wise too.... Inlaw just traded Duramax in for newer gasser, he is not happy with it after coming from the diesel.
Too bad tundra never put in the hino diesel. When they built the plant in Texas, it was supposed to roll out dually's too, until the big three stepped in...... Thats a whole nuther thread for discussion.lol

 

the boat+trailer actually weighs only 2700 package weight. But still can feel it behind the tundra with the camper!!!!

 

I don't care to argue on your towing capacity, but as for pulling hills and such, have you considered 5.29 diff gears? That would certainly help with gear hunting.

 

Pretty cool. I’m surprised the camper frame is capable of a tow rating. A bike rack maybe but a trailer?

 

I have, but most of the time this truck is my daily driver. I am also working on an international 4700 truck that I bought with a coolant issue on the dt466 diesel. When I get the overhaul complete I'm hoping to shorten the frame and possibly use that on the long trips, just for fun. And yes no sense arguing mpg's. I also have driven them all. I only go by penciling it out at the pump. Some trucks ive driven were so far off it should have been illegal to display it.hahahaha. dealers all blame it on break it time. To each his own is all I have to say. More than anything I want the reliability, that far outweighs anything else in my book.

 

Bought camper from family.mhe actually towed and 18 foot. The rear structure is actually very well built compared to many others I've seen. Rest of the structure is aluminum. Only one slide out, so it's not as heavy as many newer half tonner campers.

 

Daily driver?? Hell yeah, 5.29's means daily good times!

 

mileage would have to to go down wouldn't it?? I know tundra and mileage don't go together, but fuel is sooo high right now.
Me driving= 14.5 mpg
Wife = 19 ... Don't ask me how, just doesn't sound as fun though!

 

Not as much as you might think because the engine doesn't get "loaded" much. There is a slight increase in RPM's but this is a DOHC v8, born to rev a bit. I'd research the benefits at the very least.

 

If you want to keep the Tundra go with @dirtydeeds recommendations.

However, and I have owned 2 tundras, they are not the same as a 3/4 or 1 ton. Are they heavier built than the other 1/2 tons? Good god yes. There is not argument from me that the tundra is the best half ton on the market. But when you start putting 5th wheels and towing GN trailers you are really in the 3/4 ton range. And honestly I tell most people to skip the 3/4 ton and go right to a 1 ton. Stability is key and I have towed way over my limit in the tundra. I need purchased Road Master Active suspension to level out the rear.

That set up is just shy of 11k. Tundra pulled it just fine, but stability in the rear end was not there. Now the exact same setup with my 1 ton gasser.

Both trucks look leveled and capable, but they aren’t even in the same category. My GMC makes this setup feel effortless.

Personally I would look at getting a 1 ton. I paid $47k for mine and I half 4300lbs of payload.

 

I'm just glad someone did the math for me.

 

That GMC is a beautiful truck!

We don't tow really heavy loads, but a 4600 lb travel trailer with a hitch weight of 550 lbs, WDH hitch, bikes in the bed, 3 teenagers, and a 25 lb dog put us at 1500 lbs. Our 14' crew max had a payload of 1350 so we were over but the Tundra still towed fine. I believe those numbers were okay because even though we were technically over, the numbers were relatively low. But our kids will continue to grow and we are looking to go with a slightly bigger trailer. So I waited around to see if the 22 Tundra would have better payload and even put down a deposit based on the early numbers released by Toyota. Sadly, the reality was that payload increased 100 - 200 lbs max.

So I was left with some decisions to make. The truck is my wife's daily and a 3/4 or 1 Ton was just too much truck for her. We went with a new Titan XD in Pro 4x trim. It has a payload just shy of 2000 lbs, which gives us a nice cushion and will allow us to get a slightly bigger trailer with 300 or 400 lbs more hitch weight and stay within the payload and towing limits. I would have felt better with a 3/4 ton and 2500 lbs + payload, but it is too much truck for us for the 95% of the time we are not towing our camper.

 

The reason I bought a 1 ton truck is because I wanted the ability to tow a large camper, dump trailer, and potentially double tow the camper + a boat.

I went with a 1 ton instead of a 3/4 ton so that I would have a comfortable buffer.

I'm on of those people who only likes living on the edge when it comes to my sex life and my diet.

I maxed my Tundra out a few times when I was doing my yard and was honestly surprised at how well it did from a power perspective, but not surprised enough that I wanted to do that for long trips in and through Utah.

 

Love the Nissans. And just for reference I daily drive my 1 ton. The GMC independent front suspension makes it very smooth for a HD truck. I bought mine at the end of April and right now I have 26,273 miles on it. So if you ever have to go with the 3/4 or 1 ton my first stop would be a GM dealer.

Best towing performance Ford 7.3l

 

Shawn - where in upstate are you? I'm in Baldwinsville just west of Syracuse. I was inches from buying a Chevy/GM 3/4 ton. But it's a little too much truck for my wife who would be the daily driver and way too much for me because I work downtown and have to park in a parking garage.

 

Awesome! I’m just west of Binghamton in the Corning/Elmira area. And you are right. There is no way you are finding a parking spot. No lift and I don’t fit in most parking garages