Nice vid man!!! Been towing cars with my 2000 tundra 4wd. Close to 200k now and its solid. Longest drive was a 16 hour round trip with a RSX and uhaul trailer. Usually I just tow my eg or ek to track but with a heavier car I saw the truck squat more. I ended installing airbags in the back and it actually helps a lot towing a heavier car. Something to look into.
Yeah I definitely thought about airbags, but I really don’t tow enough to justify it for these two trips. Also, and more importantly, I didn’t seriously think about them until like 2 days before the trip 😂 I bet those civics are a blast on track though. Thanks for watching! - Sal
I have a 2001 Tundra with 150,000 miles. Recently bought a 3,000 lb travel camper in which I utilize the Tundra for towing. I completely agree that once it gets up to speed it does fine . . . it's getting up to speed that seems to take a bit. Thanks for these videos. They have helped me immensely with my 01.
This is sick, I got a S13 hatch and just ended up getting a Tundra to tow it cross country. Went to get a dodge 3500 and the trans blew out 2 hours later, traded it 2 hours after for a tundra and couldn’t be happier. God had plans for me. Great to see she’ll do the job
I have tow two different occasions. One was with a sequoia with the same engine . I tow about 5000 pound from Greensboro to Atlanta and it two pretty well . As you said once you get up to speed it’s fine . The sequoia I was using was a 2004 so it didn’t have the weak overdrive . Then I tow once with my 2002 Lx470 with the same engine . I tow around 5000 from charlotte to Atlanta and I left it in overdrive and it was hunting gear back and fourth . It did well but I’m not if the Lexus Land Cruiser have the same transmission but it is full time 4wd .
This is the video I needed to see. My aunt offered her early Tundra to me (she bought it new in '01). It's got 350k miles but has been well maintained. I wanted to know if it's good for towing a car before committing to it, this video was perfect.
I have the 02 tundra , 4.7 liter , limited edition , and even the same color . I used to tow a 19 ft. Boat motor and aluminum trailer with surge brakes . Apx, the same weight that you're doing . I'm from CT and used to tow it up to Maine for fishing trips .You're right. The gas mileage is what it is. Low teens . The Tundra handled the job with zero issues . I still have the Tundra. Sold the boat . Thx for the video . Good luck with both your rides .
That’s a lot of weight to use a four-pin (no trailer brakes). When I was towing my Tundra with a borrowed truck & trailer I lost my trailer brakes and boy, was it nervy. Appreciate the video. 👍🏻 I plan on towing a 16’ enclosed trailer for my carpentry business.
Yeah I was worried about not having a 7 pin, but I learned that U-Haul trailers only accept a 4 pin and then have onboard "inertia driven" brakes with a brake master cylinder built into the neck of the trailer. When you brake and the inertia of the trailer pushes on your truck, it compresses the cylinder and you can surprisingly feel the trailer brakes kick in, especially under harder braking. Certainly not as nice as a 7 pin, but got the job done for sure. Best of luck with your trip! - Sal
Love your vids dude! I have an 01 tundra with a new frame and no rust, same color as yours. Paint is peeling pretty bad, probably going to start getting it ready for paint in the fall. These trucks are tanks! Aside from some annoying dash rattles and squeeks, I love it.
Yup I love my truck too!! I agree that the dash squeaks are a bit annoying and I’m gonna try to find a solution for that soon. Thanks for watching! - Sal
Another great video and a good looking rig! My 2003 tundra had a factory trailer harness but it was busted so I replaced it with plug and play kit (4pin & 7 pin) and also installed a trailer brake controller… incase I ever want to tow anything lol
That’s a good idea, the uhaul trailers only have 4-pin connectors and then have an inertia driven onboard brake system so I didn’t feel the need to install a brake controller but I’m sure it’s nice to have! Thanks for watching! - Sal
You know, I actually thought about it and even bought a cheap one from Amazon that didn't work at all so I returned it. I'd like to buy a nicer one at some point to monitor trans temp, especially if I do any more towing
@@JDMDriveway I got the scan gauge 2 and have been very surprised how hot the transmission and coolant temp gets while driving around in the mountains in the summer.
Great video. Used to stress about doing 7p with o/d off and rpms being at 3k but I have read several forums and came to the realization that this engine does not care at all even if it was bad for it. It's not bad for the engine cause it's high rpms but very light load.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well. Plus, I can imagine the truck is probably more in the power band at 3000 rpm vs 1500 rpm with overdrive. Now, I use overdrive to pass people on the highway even when I'm not towing! haha thanks for watching - Sal
Great video! reminds me of when i picked up my 87 mr2 project and towed it home using the same Uhaul trailer. My tundra is the v6 2wd and it had no issue. Definitely wasn't doing any passing though lol, lacks a bit in the power department but she has been good to me.
That mustang is so sick, we went to gridlife in michigan, they were there with the falken cars. Great video, looking to buy a 1st gen tundra and tow a landscaping trailer.
Ah cool, I'm jealous that you've been to gridlife. It seems like such a fun time and so much racing and drifting jammed in one event. I think the tundra should be more than capable to tow a landscape trailer. Thanks for watching - Sal
Love your vids man! I have a 2001 Toyota Tundra and I absolutely love it. Best trucks in my opinion, had a 2013 Toyota Tacoma before and would definitely pick my tundra over it anyday! Safe travels to ya man!
Thanks for sharing your trip. I will be towing a U-haul 6x12 enclosed trailer next month from Fla to Pennsylvania with my 06 Tundra. I have watched your videos on your trip prep and am doing the same. I will be getting my hitch wiring checked out at my local U-haul place to be sure it is good to go. There seems to be one circuit that is intermittent. Glad you got home safely!
I’m sure your truck will do great 👍🏼 I’m making another trip in about a week with the same 6x12 trailer. Good luck with the prep and your trip! Thanks for watching - Sal
That's definitely something I would consider if I was towing a long distance again. I've heard great things and kinda wish I had done it for my trip. It is nice to know that they weren't entirely necessary though - probably just would have made the truck a little more stable at higher speeds. Thanks for watching! - Sal
Sick! Yeah it’ll do great, the uhaul trailer doesn’t offer much room for weight distribution unfortunately, but with lighter cars like yours and mine I don’t think its a huge issue.
Looks good Sal. I am hardwiring a 7 Wire plug with a brake controller on my 02 Tundra today. I will be towing a single axle RV with electric brakes this summer. My year model did not come with the plug and play harness for the brake controller. I will try to take a video and post it on here.
Oh nice, I'll definitely check that out if you make a video. I was curious how to set up a 7-pin/brake controller, in case I ever got my own trailer in the future. Good luck with the install, and thanks for watching!
Here you go. I didn't get the end to end install like I wanted. I will try and add more videos of the steps I took to do the install if there is an interest. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bM2Wq1oi2lM.html
@@hjestrada78 I saw your video first and eventually ended up back here. Your install was great and I'm pretty sure I'll just have to learn how to do it based off of that. I haven't located much info on doing it other than your video
Ah gotcha, I'll probably pick up a 2in drop if I end up towing again. I was hoping to move the car back, but these uhaul trailers basically require the car to be all the way forwards to secure it down. I'm probably going to tow the car again soon, so I'll try to move it back a bit. Thanks for watching! - Sal
@@JDMDriveway I just towed my LS RX7 to LS Fest and back using my 05 Tundra for the first time. Previously I had borrowed friends tow vehicles. The only real difference in our vehicles is that mine is RWD. No problems at all and used moving the car on the trailer to balance the pitch.
I think I would have turned the car around, so the cars engine is pretty much over the trailer axles. Less weight on the tongue/ball hitch. I have a 2006 Tundra with a 6" lift riding on 35x12.5r17 tires these trucks are beasts! Thanks for the vid 👌
Yeah, I would have hoped to get the weight distribution a bit better, but thankfully the car is light enough that it really wasn’t a huge problem. Your truck sounds great though, 35s look so good on these with the right lift 👍🏼 thanks for watching! - Sal
I have towed several of my cars coast to coast to coast with my 04 tundra limited 2wd with no problems. The adjustable bilstien front shocks with heavier side wall tires make a big difference. I suggest the torque app with a bluetooth ob2 reader, it gives you great real time info for the truck.
Dang coast to coast, that's a lot of towing lol I looked into the torque OBD reader/app but the IOS version was sold out and I couldn't get the PC version to work with my laptop. I'll have to check it out again to get it to work with my iPhone. Thanks for watching - Sal
I own the rwd version of the tundra mines the same color and it’s a 01 extended cab ya know the drill sr5 and it easily towed a 10,000 pound metal pipe so yup you should really see what the trucks are capable of Edit: my tundra was scraping but it towed it 20 miles
When you say the trailer wiring was giving you issues what was it doing? On my 2000 Tundra I have no brake lights on a trailer but hazards. Do you think that would be the same issue you were having? Nice truck btw too :)
Hmm my issue was that I would only occasionally have hazards. I wouldn't hear any "clicking" coming from the relay box mounted inside the rear bumper so that's why I opted to get a whole new kit. If the blinkers are working, then I would assume that the relay box is good and I would double check the input wires. But if you decide to replace the whole thing, it wasn't too expensive. Best of luck, and thanks for watching! - Sal
Yeah I wish I had more flexibility on the uhaul trailer to do that, but the way it's set up you kinda have to put the car all the way forward to secure it properly. I agree that having the weight further back would make towing a bunch easier on the truck. If I get my own trailer in the future I'll dial in the weight distribution better 👍🏼 thanks for watching! - Sal
I knew they had the upgraded transmission and some more power but I didn't realize they had a higher towing capacity. Makes logical sense haha, thanks for watching!
Ooh that's a good question, and unfortunately I'm not positive of the answer. I do think I have the towing package but I'm unsure of the diff ratio. Thanks for watching
Did you have a brake controller? Do you think one required for this level of towing? I have the 02 Tundra SR5 V6 and I just got an RV that might go above 4k lbs. The anti-sway hitch helps tremendously, but my tundra doesn't have the 7 blade plug in, which means I have to use an adapter, and I don't get to use the brakes which are in my RV. Looks like a tedious task to install a brake controller but I might do it
Yeah I don't know, the uhaul trailers have a built in inertia braking system which definitely helped slowing down but didn't need a 7pin connector. I'd probably consider upgrading to a 7pin, but I haven't looked into the install process at all. Sorry I don't have more experience with it, thanks for watching though! - Sal
@@JDMDriveway for sure! I've appreciated your videos when I got my tundra. Now getting an RV definitely comes with a lot of surprises but I'm still excited for it 😃
From what I understand and what I have heard on the FB group, they revised the design in 2003 so it was no longer an issue. With that said, I'm definitely not a Toyota tech or anything so take that with a grain of salt. Hopefully someone who knows more than me can chime in to give you a better answer. Thanks for watching
Not sure.. I'm pretty sure they're all universal but it was a whatever one you need when your car has separate brake and turn signals. They should be able to help you out at the store though. Thanks for watching - Sal
I have a 2002 Toyota Tundra sr5, access cab with 282,000 miles and it’s stock engine wise. I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to put money Into and do big changes to it or if I should just sell it. It’s never failed on me and my family has had it for over 19 years. I’m contemplating selling it and just getting a new truck or car and mod it or just mod my tundra.
Hey Martin, the way that I like to look at my cars is that I would rather own older and more affordable cars that I can spend my money modifying, rather than buying new and putting that money towards a monthly car payment. Again, that's just my humble opinion. 282k sounds like a lot of miles (and frankly it is), but these trucks are just dead reliable. With that said, there are some very cool modern trucks/cars out there that could be great starting platforms too! It'd be a tough decision for me too lol Thanks for watching! - Sal
D not sell it but if you do sell it get another 1st gen tundra/seqioua!!!!! Before they're unavailable or overpiced!!!! They're the best usa available Toyota products. 02 and older 1st gen yota v8s maxe in Japan
I got mine from my local Uhaul, they were really helpful and set me up with what I needed. Biggest thing is that the taillights on these trucks are separate from the turn signals so the simple 4 pin connector doesn’t work. I’d just go talk to them tho - Sal
Hey Jerry, the channel 208Tyler did a good job of explaining the process and I used his video as a guide when doing mine. If I upgrade my head unit in the future I will definitely make a video. Thanks for watching! - Sal ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YSYWAD5ufX4.html
The bed on the Access Cab tundras is 76” - it is a few inches longer than the biggest bed offered in a modern Tacoma (73”) but I’d say the trucks are roughly the same size. Thanks for watching! - Sal
I have a similar style stereo install on my 03 tundra…. I did a Double din touch screen JVC KW650..Was a super easy install and love having backup camera and apple CarPlay. I got a harness and dash kit from crutchfield and it made it super easy. I tried messing around with 2 Amazon cheap ones but couldn’t get them to work so I went for a more recognized brand and couldn’t be happier.
Hey Kyle, it the Atoto F7. I’m planning to make a review video soon, but I’m liking it and it’s pretty affordable. It’s a little temperamental on cold mornings for some reason, but other than that it’s been great. I also got a harness kit from crutchfield and it worked perfectly 👍🏼 I can see the benefit of going with a name brand like Pioneer or JVC, but I'd seen some people recommend Atoto and wanted to give it a shot. I wish it was wireless carplay, but I didn't care enough to spend the extra couple hundred dollars for it lol Thanks for watching - Sal
Hey Dillan, I just reset my trip odometer every time I fill up and then do some quick math at the next fill-up. Miles driven/gallons filled = mpg. It’s not perfect because it’s hard to fill to the exact same spot every time but I just try to top it off consistently to be as accurate as I can. Hope this helps! - Sal
The brakes held up well! The pads were fairly new, so that helped, but it never felt uncomfortable or sketchy. The uhaul trailers have an inertia braking system which helped under heavy braking, but I'm sure a 7-pin with electronic trailer brakes would be even better. Thanks for watching! - Sal