Tacoma wind struggles?

[Cbessler]

Hey everyone! I have a 2018 toyota tacoma trd offroad with a 2014 fwc fleet installed. The wife and I recently hit 6 national parks over 15 days and had a blast. One thing we noticed was the taco and camper struggled in the wind. This was mainly over the plains of Nevada and Utah but was driving our mpg from 15 to 16 to about 9 or 10! Yikes. There had to be a 20 to 30 mph head wind to battle. We had to almost white knuckle the thing at 65 to 70 mph. Much of utah is 80 or 85 mph highways.

My current setup is a 2018 toyota tacoma trd offroad, 2014 fec fleet with ome heavy duty leaf springs, bilstein 5100 rear shocks, 33" tires with stock rims. Riderite air nags with daystar cradles, front spacers.

Was wondering what your guys thoughts on if I should try and streamline the truck more, add a roof rack with a wind faring etc. I'm adding a few racks and pics to see what you guys think? This rack or the prinsu rack. I liked the prinsu more for accessories etc.

I want to regear to 4.88 with Yukon in the front and rear. Waiting to do that

Thanks and let me know your thoughts

 

[JHanson]

I'm assuming you have the V6 and an auto transmission?

The current V6 is a poor performer in terms of fuel economy, and its power band is way too high in the RPM range (as with most non-diesel truck engines these days). Your 33-inch tires aren't helping, but be warned: Re-gearing to 4.88s will reduce the strength of your pinion gear. Perhaps not drastically, but it will be reduced. I generally recommend going no more than one step higher than stock. You'd do yourself more good by reducing tire diameter by an inch or so.

I doubt the rack would make enough difference to notice. If you were going to try enhancing aerodynamics in that area I'd be more tempted to try one of the inflatable "pillows" that completely fill the space.

In wind or on hills you really need to keep the RPMs up on this engine—in the 4,000 range. Your torque peak is at an absurd 4,600 RPM; peak horsepower is at 6,000. That's the kind of power curve Porsches had not long ago.

 

[Cbessler]

Here is a picture of the front sorry so small. Mobile upload

 

[Cbessler]

Here's a front view

 

[Cbessler]

Here it is sorry

 

[Porkface]

Looks to me like you have a fairly large space between the top of your cab and the bottom of the camper. I added a Yakima fairing to the top of my cab to deflect wind from passing trucks up and over the camper. It really helps. Should work the same for headwinds. Haven't measured an effect on MPG but it seems to smooth out the wind going over the camper so mileage "should" be better.

 

[TacomaAustin]

In wind or on hills you really need to keep the RPMs up on this engine—in the 4,000 range. Your torque peak is at an absurd 4,600 RPM; peak horsepower is at 6,000. That's the kind of power curve Porsches had not long ago.

As a former Tacoma owner with a 5 speed mated to the 2.7 four, there were times when it was necessary to only use the first four gears or if need be, downshift to third gear - which meant slowing down to below 50 mph. My current truck is a first gen Tundra.

The six speed auto transmission on the 2018 Tacoma TRD OR has not one, but two overdrive gears. If you tow a heavy trailer or in this case having to push through a wall of air that is moving at you at 30 mph, slow down, take the transmission out of auto pilot and stay out of 5th and 6th gears. I've never driven with this transmission. Does it have a manual mode where you can limit the shifts to first four gears?

While climbing through the hills, especially with a strong head wind, another reason to gear down is the Tacoma's transmission will be less likely to overheat.

 

[Cbessler]

Hey tacoma Austin. Yeah chatted for 4.88 for the 33s to allow the drivetrain for better gearing without searching while on highway speeds. It's pretty sensitive to just drive in 5th or even 4th gear with a headwind. I slow down, try to trail large trucks if it's super bad etc.

Hey porkface. Yeah I have a horse mat under there with another series of mats from mule in portland oregon but looking to maybe remove one of these to drop it closer to the bed rails. I have maybe an inch or 1.5 inches to play with

 

[Vic Harder]

Don't be afraid to rev it. If the torque peak is at 4600 RPM like JHanson says, that is also your peak efficiency. Small engines can really sing at high rpm. It won;t kill them. My Miata cruised at 4K and got 30 mpg.

To throw fuel on the flame, on our last trip to Utah, our 3500 diesel with a Grandby on the back got the best MPG at 85 mph driving from Page AZ to Monticello Utah - 17 mpg. We did have a tailwind, but it still surprised me. Avg mpg is 14 mpg.

 

[rubberlegs]

The six speed auto transmission on the 2018 Tacoma TRD OR has not one, but two overdrive gears. If you tow a heavy trailer or in this case having to push through a wall of air that is moving at you at 30 mph, slow down, take the transmission out of auto pilot and stay out of 5th and 6th gears. I've never driven with this transmission. Does it have a manual mode where you can limit the shifts to first four gears?

Yes, it has a way to limit shifts to lower gears, but so far I've not found a way to determine which gear it's in.

We drive a lot slower, rarely over 60, and have averaged 18 mpg in our Tacoma/Fleet combo. I still dream of constructing a good fairing. There are nutplates or similar under the rubber strips on the roof for a roof rack. Or screw into the bottom of the camper. Ours is the "shorter" cab so it's difficult to get a good angle from windshield to the top of camper.

 

[Cbessler]

Sounds good thanks for the info guys. Looking at adding a prinsu rack with the wind fairing. Then trying to remove part of the mats to get closer to the bed rails and lower the overall height some. Hopefully help with the streamlining of the vehicle. Otherwise I'm a huge sail haha

 

[Wallowa]

Like said....33" wheels on your combo are counter productive...not just in height, CG and wind, but those 33" wheels and tires weigh a ton and they are un-sprung weight which takes more to move down the road....style vs function.

 

[Cbessler]

Sure definitely. Been reading a lot on regearing with my setup. Feel that would help immensely in between climbs/wind issues etc

 

[Missing Link]

PMd you.

 

[JHanson]

Sure definitely. Been reading a lot on regearing with my setup. Feel that would help immensely in between climbs/wind issues etc

As has been mentioned a couple times now, what would really help is going down a size in tires. It's not just a gearing issue. Larger, heavier tires/wheels take more power to accelerate and more power to stop. They're harder on steering and suspension components. And every centimeter you raise the truck/camper combination works against you aerodynamically. Regearing is going to cost you something in the thousands of dollars, and as I mentioned you'll wind up with weaker pinion gears.

 

[wicked1]

I've got a 2012 Tacoma w/ flatbed fleet.
I've re-geared to 4.56. I've got plenty of power. Low MPG, but plenty of power. Easily go 80mph on flats. Can maintain 70 on most inclines. But I get 12 MPG at best... Usually right around 10. (But also have a heavy, high flatbed and other contributing factors)

 

[ski3pin]

The only cost effective way to improve mileage is to drive more conservatively. You will never recoup the cost of "add ons" in mpg savings, especially as you contemplate changes that will have a negative impact on mileage. If you want better mileage watch your driving habits. More than a decade ago I contemplated all the possible ways - streamlining, deflectors, etc - to get better mileage that continue to come up for discussion. All turned out to be exercises in spending money. Learn how to drive your vehicle to get the best mileage. It costs nothing and is the only solution that works.

 

[bajaphile]

My friend has a 2017 Tacoma with a Prinsu and it added a considerable amount of wind noise which I was surprised to hear given the shape. I'd imagine it also creates drag. I'd look into a wind fairing for your setup as mentioned before.

And what it is worth, I have regeared my 97 Land Cruiser from 4.10's to to 4.88's and it was barely noticeable (in my opinion), running 35 inch tires. Sure there is a bit more grunt overall to match the tire diameter to engine power band and transmission shifts, but wasn't anything like night and day. My Ford on the other hand had 3.73's and 35's which I regeared recently to 4.88s and I did notice a change going up the mountain passes for sure. Obviously when you regear though your MPG does drop a bit for highway driving.

I was a Toyota pickup and 4Runner guy my entire life and they worked epic for simple lightweight camping (which I miss to this day), but after putting a Callen on a Tacoma and loading it with camp gear I was less than impressed with the power.

 

[smlobx]

You mentioned having a white knuckle experience driving in windy areas so let me add two additional components to consider…

Since you’re going to get smaller diameter tires (;-) ) please make sure they’re E rated for the stiffer sidewall.

Also do you have a rear sway bar on your truck? It will make a huge difference in high wind situations.

 

[ntsqd]

It is true that going to a higher number gearing does reduce the size of the pinion gear. I put about 150k miles on a set of 4.88's that were already in the truck when I bought it. Sold the truck with them still in it and going strong. Research which mfg of gears people are getting the most service life out of. Break them in on dino oil, and then put in brand name synthetic (Mobil 1, Redline, etc.).

In my case the 4.88's and 33-10.50 tires "corrected" the speedometer. Said differently, that tire size and gearing combo restored the factory speedo calibration. Right now you're traveling further than your odometer is indicating and the trans' shift points are off because of this.

Also know that it is a fact of life with Toyota engines that if you use their full power band that they do use a little oil. I could drive that truck as a DD for months and not use a drop, but take it on a big trip where I was spinning lots of revs (to get over those same NV passes) and at the end of the trip it would be down a 1/4 to 1/2 quart. My current 3.0L is the same way. I do not see this as a negative, just as something to be aware of.