how come everyone is flashing Me

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

I suggest you go to the dealer with trailer attached and get their opinion.

I agree with Roy. Take truck and trailer to the dealer and let them check it out. "Is there something wrong with my truck? The salesman said I'd be fine." Ask to talk to a technician, not the guy at the front desk. At many dealerships the guys at the front desk (service writers) are on commission much like the sales guys. When I was truck shopping I do recall a discussion about the number of leaf springs on different Tacoma models. Might be worth asking about. If they start to talk about charging you or you think they are blowing smoke, get a quote from a local spring and chassis shop. Raz

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

This isn't really a DRL feature; Mike is describing automatic headlights. They go fully on (so not off or DRL) in the dark and off (or just DRL is so equipped) in daylight. You can get vehicles (including Toyotas) with any combination of automatic or manual and DRL or no-DRL... except in Canada where we must have DRL. Automatic headlights are not even consistent by model: often the base model doesn't have them but a higher trim level of the same model does.

Anyway, just look at the tail lights when the truck is running at night - if they're not on, but something is lit up front, you have DRLs (and not headlights) on. If the taillights are on, then it's not a DRL issue.

Yes, on my HL the DRL/auto headlamps combo was an option I chose to get. But it was both or neither. And the way the switch works, if DRLs are on, auto lamps are on... if DRLs are off, auto lamps are off also. I simply asked if her Taco was the same or not, but based on the latest info from Kayak it doesn't really matter.

I have had a little experience with flashers over the years of driving, but because I grew up in the '70s I actually have more experience with streakers. Ah, those college days.....

[stevebaz]

When people talk about air springs this is what your looking at.
Toyota Tacoma Firestone Air Bags - for 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and more | SuspensionConnection.com

Its a well known proper solution to your problem if you want everything perfect. When done you will probably flip your trailer ball on to the other side of your stinger. then when you tow with the trailer you add some air into the bags. This will ease the load on your already soft springs protecting your ride and ride heigth when you not running the trailer many years from now.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

I have had a little experience with flashers over the years of driving, but because I grew up in the '70s I actually have more experience with streakers. Ah, those college days.....

You sure you grow up in the '70's.... thought if you remembered you couldnt have actually lived through that time frame... or so I am told Although I kind of remember tripping up on dragging bell bottom hems once or twice.

[lpk49]

now-after this whole thread-i came home tonight and no one flashed me. it was raining pretty hard. i didnt like driving in the rain. kept thinking what it would be like to hydro-plane with the camper. i dont know why no one flashed me. 3 other times i was out and they did. thats why istarted this.

im going to go to the dealer anyway. i havent had it a month. they keep telling me to come back if i dont understand something. they better not try to sell me something.

i think these tires are bigger than i usually have. do bigger tires make more noise in the rain?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by lpk49

i think these tires are bigger than i usually have. do bigger tires make more noise in the rain?

Not necessarily, but tire noise depends greatly on tread pattern, and 4x4 trucks tend to have very blocky tread patterns, supposedly for off-road traction but mostly for style.

[lpk49]

yeah-this truck has all that off-road stuff. sales man said i could drive up mt. washington if i wanted to-not on the road. i didnt care about that but i liked the storage when i put the back seats down and he said it would hold value better. it might come in handy in the snow.

so here's where i was today-watching surfers where i used to surf 50 yrs ago. can you see the little black dots? in the top right? those are surfers.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by lpk49

yeah-this truck has all that off-road stuff. sales man said i could drive up mt. washington if i wanted to-not on the road. i didnt care about that...

The Toyota web site says a TRD Off-Road package includes

P265/70R16 BFGoodrich® tires

The BFGoodrich web page for P265/70R16 tires shows 4 models of tire, for quite different purposes. Personally, I wouldn't buy an off-road style (or size) to use on-road, and especially not to tow... high noise is just one factor. Fortunately, any original-equipment tire may not be ideal, but will likely still be a safe and reasonable choice.

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

The Toyota web site says a TRD Off-Road package includes

The BFGoodrich web page for P265/70R16 tires shows 4 models of tire, for quite different purposes. Personally, I wouldn't buy an off-road style (or size) to use on-road, and especially not to tow... high noise is just one factor. Fortunately, any original-equipment tire may not be ideal, but will likely still be a safe and reasonable choice.

From the picture of your Taco earlier, it appears you have BFG Rugged Trail T/A tires. For what you are using the truck for, they are a good choice. My Frontier has BFG Long Trail T/A tires and they work fine also. Our Dually Ford has the LT version of the Rugged Trail tire, so it is the same tread pattern as yours. They actually are considered a fairly quiet tire, but you may notice more noise out of them than the tires on your previous cars. There is more than just tire noise when it comes to perceived noise in the cabin. Bottom line is, I'm sure your tires are fine, they are a good choice for your application and I suspect they will last easily 50 to 70,000 miles on the Taco. Have your shop rotate them when you do oil changes, and all will be good, and keep them inflated properly.

Glad to hear nobody flashed their lights at you on the way home. I suspect you are worrying over something that is not a major issue. Once in a while folks flash at my truck, even when it's not loaded down. Part of what they see is if the happen to be approaching you from a low angle, and the fact that truck headlights are typically a little higher, the light may appear brighter to them. I wouldn't lose much sleep over it.
Having said that, you are in fact almost certainly pointing up a little bit high in the front. I think you know the solution to this....we have all discussed this before .... it is to use a WD hitch that will result in the truck riding more level, among other things. However, as I have said before....your rig, your choice. Everything is a compromise.

[lpk49]

Thanks for the positive on here I couldn't take any more negative right now do you know they only want me to change the oil at 10,000 miles I had trouble with 5000 now it's 10...it can't be good the only rotate the tires a 10000 can it

[lpk49]

At the rate I'm driving so they better be oka

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by lpk49

Thanks for the positive on here I couldn't take any more negative right now do you know they only want me to change the oil at 10,000 miles I had trouble with 5000 now it's 10...it can't be good the only rotate the tires a 10000 can it

Ten K miles is Toyota's standard recco these days. My daughter just bought a new RAV4, and that is what they say for it also. They do a factory fill with full synthetic oil, hence the longer change intervals.

I'll probably get some push back on this, as "oil changes" is kinda like bringing up religion or politics, but I will say that if your driving typically includes getting the engine fully warmed up, then 10K miles is probably just fine on oil changes. I occasionally do lab test oil analysis ( Blackstone Labs ) on my various engines ( trucks, motorcycles, tractor ) and from what I have seen on my stuff, 7500 miles on mobil one synthetic is well within reason ( gas engines ), so 10K would probably work too.
If you do a fair amount of short trip driving, then more frequent oil changes would probably be smart. 5000 to 7500 miles ought to cover it, and again, a tire rotate at oil change time would be smart.
Toyota uses their own branded syn oil....no idea who makes it, but who knows...it could be mobil one.
I use mobil one because it's readily available and proven to be good. In daughters RAV4 I will probably get it changed at 5K intervals at the dealer because she only drives about 3 miles to work...not really enough to get it warmed up all the way.

I suspect you are over thinking some of this stuff K......just use common sense, and enjoy your new truck and the Casita. Remember what I said way back early in one of your threads....."this is all supposed to fun, and stress reducing.....not supposed to ADD stress !"

[lpk49]

i hear you george. thx. when i didnt get flashed last night it was raining real hard. i was only 10 miles from home at one point and i pulled over in a sears parking lot for half an hour. its neat how you can see storms coming on your phone now. i just let it roll over and then went on my way. its a new phone to me...it will be really handy when in the kayak...the storms come up fast where i am.

so-maybe something about the rain made my lights not bother them so much.

so you really think its ok to rotate these tires at 7500 or 10,000 miles? i get free service for 2 yrs but i think i have to go by their rules. i wont be putting many miles on so maybe they will understand i do short trips. most days i go 15 miles down to beach. park for 8-10 hrs. and 15 miles back.



and heres the tires:

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by lpk49

i hear you george. thx. when i didnt get flashed last night it was raining real hard. i was only 10 miles from home at one point and i pulled over in a sears parking lot for half an hour. its neat how you can see storms coming on your phone now. i just let it roll over and then went on my way. its a new phone to me...it will be really handy when in the kayak...the storms come up fast where i am.

so-maybe something about the rain made my lights not bother them so much.

so you really think its ok to rotate these tires at 7500 or 10,000 miles? i get free service for 2 yrs but i think i have to go by their rules. i wont be putting many miles on so maybe they will understand i do short trips. most days i go 15 miles down to beach. park for 8-10 hrs. and 15 miles back.



and heres the tires:

15 miles would really not be defined a "short trip". Generally somewhere around 10 miles or so, the oil is most likely completely up to temp, which is what you are hoping to accomplish as far as getting rid of the cold operation moisture, etc. I would think that 7500 miles will work just fine for both oil change and tire rotate intervals.
Keep a close eye on your local dealer too for sale coupons. I occasionally get stuff in the mail from my Nissan dealer offering oil changes for half off ( among other things ) so that can save you a few dollars too in the long run.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by lpk49

so you really think its ok to rotate these tires at 7500 or 10,000 miles?

Yes. The only purpose of rotation is to even out wear, so if the are tires rotated a few times in their life, they will be fine.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by lpk49

... do you know they only want me to change the oil at 10,000 miles I had trouble with 5000 now it's 10...it can't be good the only rotate the tires a 10000 can it

Vehicle build technology keeps getting better and better, so this sounds right for a 2013 vehicle under "normal driving conditions" whatever that means. I do not own a Toyota so I cannot speak to that specifically, but does your quote refer to a verbal statement from the service writer? Have you read what the Owner's manual has to say in the service chapter?

My 2003 Honda Odyssey's manual states that normal oil change intervals are 7000 miles, but heavy use conditions require you to change the oil twice as often. My Fiber Stream is near the maximum weight capacity for the Odyssey and I tend to tow hundreds of miles at a stretch, so I have adhered to the heavy use maintenance schedule.

However, 30 miles round trip for a pick-up truck within its cargo/towing capacity should be nothing to worry about.

[lpk49]

i'm really confused now because no one flashed at me again today and it is sunny. i'm trying to remember if i moved something heavy to a different part of the truck or the camper but i dont think i did. anyway-i appreciate the help and i do plan on going to the dealer anyway and i have to unhitch tomorrow to go into the city so can mark where the lights hit the wall and also measure the difference in height when hitched and unhitched

george that was great info on the taco...i really like the smallness for parking etc but it seems to pull just fine like the letter said. i don't understand all of it with the shifting etc but its all good news i guess. i wonder if it should be posted out here-would others be interested?

had another great day on the nh ocean front...this is rye harbor:

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by lpk49

i'm really confused now because no one flashed at me again today and it is sunny. i'm trying to remember if i moved something heavy to a different part of the truck or the camper but i dont think i did. anyway-i appreciate the help and i do plan on going to the dealer anyway and i have to unhitch tomorrow to go into the city so can mark where the lights hit the wall and also measure the difference in height when hitched and unhitched

george that was great info on the taco...i really like the smallness for parking etc but it seems to pull just fine like the letter said. i don't understand all of it with the shifting etc but its all good news i guess. i wonder if it should be posted out here-would others be interested?

had another great day on the nh ocean front...this is rye harbor:

The "letter" K is referring to is a post I pulled from the Airstream forum. Some of you may know who Andrew Thompson is from CanAm RV. Large A/S dealer, CanAm are known for setting up tow vehicles that others may not consider, for pulling rather heavy A/S trailers. In his post, Andrew pointed out the Toyota "Tachoma" ( as he calls it ) is a good vehicle for towing, so I copied his post to K in a PM. If a Taco is a good choice for a A/S, then certainly a smaller FG camper is well within it's limits.
I've long been a fan of this class of trucks. The Taco and the Frontier like I have, are a nice compromise vehicle for overall use. Small enough to easily use in the city, reasonable gas mileage empty, and legendary in how sturdy they are for towing and long life. Andrew's post was the following:

======
Andrew wrote:

We have several customers that tow 25-30' Airstream's and some harder toiwng other brands with Tachoma's. Many of these have been towing for several years. One I know of is approaching 200,000 miles.

In mountains it will downshift more than a Tundra but you will never save enough time on mountain grades with a Tundra to make up for the extra time the Tundra will spend in gas stations. The Tachoma has more power than any tow vehicle you could buy 30 years ago and Airstreams still went everywhere.

From a handling safety perspective I prefer the Tachoma to a full size pick up. The center of gravity is lower the width of the stance is the same on both. The suspension tuning on the Tachoma is still truck like, in that it is firm but not bone crushing. In an emergency lane change or panic stop it will outperform any full size pickup when towing a 25'. Of coarse for all the solo miles it is much more nimble.

You can dramatically improve the performance and handling of a Tachoma with a more optimal tire size. Unless you are going to carry something heavy in the bed of the truck the stock springs are fine. If you find the back end low you need to transfer more weight with your weight distribution. If you do not have the TRD model better shocks are a nice addition.

I hope this helps.

Andrew T

[lpk49]

from the above post:

"If you do not have the TRD model better shocks are a nice addition."

i just found the paperwork and i do have "TRD Off-Road Extra Value Package w/ Bilstein Shocks"

so this is good for towing, right. i also have V6 Tow Package for Off-Road Package-and theres a lot in that. this truck has to be ok. its got way more than the rav...

and i like the way it drives pulling better than not

i'm just gonna have fun. i'm not worrying anymore.

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by lpk49

from the above post:

"If you do not have the TRD model better shocks are a nice addition."

i just found the paperwork and i do have "TRD Off-Road Extra Value Package w/ Bilstein Shocks"

so this is good for towing, right. i also have V6 Tow Package for Off-Road Package-and theres a lot in that. this truck has to be ok. its got way more than the rav...

and i like the way it drives pulling better than not

i'm just gonna have fun. i'm not worrying anymore.

Yes, you are correct. What Andy was alluding to is that when you get the TRD package, part of that is a better quality shock absorber with a higher damping value. Both of things are good things for towing. So if a person buys a regular edition Tacoma ( not TRD ), as he suggests, spending the money on better aftermarket shocks is money well spent. The same situation applies over on the Nissan Frontier side of the street. The Nismo package provides better shocks than the non-Nismo. My truck is not Nismo equipped, so I went to Monroe sensa-trac shocks. Much better than stock OE.

You are good to go with your Taco. Indeed....no need to fret over it. Go enjoy !!!