Am I crazy to buy a Gladiator EcoD to tow my Travel Trailer?

[KW80]

I tow a similar size travel trailer all around the Midwest during the peak of summer heat and haven’t experienced issues with engine de-rating whatsoever. The only additional towing equipment I have is an Anderson WDH (small weight penalty vs other WDH options) and the Rampage mirror extensions, it is very stable and never lugs even going up moderate hills if I manually shift and keep the RPMs around 2k.

All that said if I were going to be towing at elevation on steep grades regularly I would install the Insane Diesel supplementary radiator and possibly even an auxiliary oil cooler with a switchable fan as you will be in the boost for long periods of time climbing mountain grades, which will likely push you past the OEM cooling capacity of the Gladiator’s space constrained design. Finally staying as close to stock on tire size and lift will benefit your safety margin as well.

Definitely manageable with a little a aftermarket help and common sense or realistic expectations on speed.

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[maSS-hole]

I tow a similar size travel trailer all around the Midwest during the peak of summer heat and haven’t experienced issues with engine de-rating whatsoever. The only additional towing equipment I have is an Anderson WDH (small weight penalty vs other WDH options) and the Rampage mirror extensions, it is very stable and never lugs even going up moderate hills if I manually shift and keep the RPMs around 2k.

All that said if I were going to be towing at elevation on steep grades regularly I would install the Insane Diesel supplementary radiator and possibly even an auxiliary oil cooler with a switchable fan as you will be in the boost for long periods of time climbing mountain grades, which will likely push you past the OEM cooling capacity of the Gladiator’s space constrained design. Finally staying as close to stock on tire size and lift will benefit your safety margin as well.

Definitely manageable with a little a aftermarket help and common sense or realistic expectations on speed.

You know whats funny, I already have that insane diesel cooler sitting in my garage. That radiator they use is the cooler for the inverter in a Prius. I bought one a few years back for my F150 with the intention of doing the exact same thing, plumbing it in after the oil cooler to cool that coolant before it heads into the motor.

 

[ttn333]

My Lexus GX makes 301hp and 330ft-lbs out of its 4.6L V8 and I am looking for more than that. The Pentastar is a decent motor, and I have had them in Ram 1500 rentals, but it just wont have the low end torque I am looking for to keep the RPM's down while towing. My GX makes 330 ft-lbs at only 3400 rpm while the Pentastar is at 260 and 4400 rpm. My GX struggles as it is.

And really, at my elevation, the Pentastar is only going to be making 208 ft-lbs and 228 hp.

If I dont get the Ecodiesel, Im not getting a Gladiator. I would probably look at the new Colorado or Ranger with the 2.7L Turbo motors. Or the new Lexus GX550 with the 3.4L TT V6 from the Tundra.

I think you have the right idea there. The Gladiator is cool and I love my JTR. But if I were in your shoes, I'd go with the GX550 and it's 8000lbs tow capacity. I wouldn't want to stress over towing something so close to the trucks limit constantly. The GX550 would be great of off roading too, if you're not rock crawling. Only problem is the wait. I've got my deposit in for the GX, but I heard they're having some production problem. Could be a 6 months or longer wait.

 

[KW80]

You know whats funny, I already have that insane diesel cooler sitting in my garage. That radiator they use is the cooler for the inverter in a Prius. I bought one a few years back for my F150 with the intention of doing the exact same thing, plumbing it in after the oil cooler to cool that coolant before it heads into the motor.

Perfect, the rest you can probably assemble yourself on the cheap, then install in your coolant loop using Bulletproof Diesel’s (I misspoke earlier, it isn’t an Insane Diesel kit, theirs is the oil cooler assembly) instructions since they have already validated the approach. If their claim on “up to 20% more power while towing” is even close to correct you should have plenty of safety margin to pull your TT anywhere you want to go at 55mph. For reference I pull on the flats and Midwest hills at 65 without struggling and with plenty of torque/power to pass if necessary.

 

[maSS-hole]

I think you have the right idea there. The Gladiator is cool and I love my JTR. But if I were in your shoes, I'd go with the GX550 and it's 8000lbs tow capacity. I wouldn't want to stress over towing something so close to the trucks limit constantly. The GX550 would be great of off roading too, if you're not rock crawling. Only problem is the wait. I've got my deposit in for the GX, but I heard they're having some production problem. Could be a 6 months or longer wait.

That and its $67000 to start for the Overtrail and I bet its going to be marked up by dealers for a year or two. Realistically, buying one of those would probably be 2-3 years off.

The wife also wants a bed so we can throw our dirty wet crap in. Paddleboards, bikes, whatever.

I wish Toyota was putting the 3.4L in the Tacoma. In my experience, Toyota doesnt mess around with their cooling systems and they work. My GX can be foot on the floor climbing a 7% grade and the coolant wont break 200F. They are still using mechanical cooling fans in all their trucks because they work.

 

[ttn333]

I was trying to get one for about $75k out the door. But it looks like they most likely will come with various options, bringin the price up to around $74k for the lowest price Premium plus unit. There are also dealers that promise no markups. So I'm using one such dealer.

I think the problem with the Tacoma is not power. The 4cyl iforce max puts out 326hp/465ftlb torque. That's plenty for most. It's max tow would still be around 6k lbs. I would imagine this motor would have much better mpg than the 3.4L as well.

 

[rharr]

I was trying to get one for about $75k out the door. But it looks like they most likely will come with various options, bringin the price up to around $74k for the lowest price Premium plus unit. There are also dealers that promise no markups. So I'm using one such dealer.

I think the problem with the Tacoma is not power. The 4cyl iforce max puts out 326hp/465ftlb torque. That's plenty for most. It's max tow would still be around 6k lbs. I would imagine this motor would have much better mpg than the 3.4L as well.

That turbo is working hard to make 326hp/465ftlb out of a 4 cylinder. That is a ton of BTU's that need to be shed by a small mass motor. Which means there are a lot of parts that are going to be living at high temps. That seems sketchy to me from a long term durability perspective. General rule of thumb large low stress components assemblies have less failure, look at airplane engine design, 7:1 compression, low revving, 7 liter monsters.

Chevy is also going down a similar path with their HO 4 cylinder, my advice, stick to a 5.3 and move on.

 

[maSS-hole]

That turbo is working hard to make 326hp/465ftlb out of a 4 cylinder. That is a ton of BTU's that need to be shed by a small mass motor. Which means there are a lot of parts that are going to be living at high temps. That seems sketchy to me from a long term durability perspective. General rule of thumb large low stress components assemblies have less failure, look at airplane engine design, 7:1 compression, low revving, 7 liter monsters.

Chevy is also going down a similar path with their HO 4 cylinder, my advice, stick to a 5.3 and move on.

Those numbers are the combined electric + gas. Thats why I am not too interested in it. The battery is only like 1.8 kwh or something which is not enough to supply a meaningful amount of power or torque for extended periods. Even 10 hp could only be supplied for maybe 8 minutes or so before the battery was empty.

The gas engine alone is something like 268hp/315tq..

 

[ttn333]

Those numbers are the combined electric + gas. Thats why I am not too interested in it. The battery is only like 1.8 kwh or something which is not enough to supply a meaningful amount of power or torque for extended periods. Even 10 hp could only be supplied for maybe 8 minutes or so before the battery was empty.

The gas engine alone is something like 268hp/315tq..

That's not how I've read that motor. I haven't seen anything mentioning that sort of limitations you speak off. If that is true, then there's really not much to get excited over, other than the mpg for better range.

 

[maSS-hole]

That's not how I've read that motor. I haven't seen anything mentioning that sort of limitations you speak off. If that is true, then there's really not much to get excited over, other than the mpg for better range.

I mean its 1.8 kwh battery. 10HP is 7.5 kw. That means, assuming no efficiency losses or anything, and completely draining the battery from 100 to 0%, 10 hp will kill it in 14 minutes.

Its not meant for sustained output, its meant for bursts.

Watch the Tundra IKE Gauntlet. The electric power only assists during the initial acceleration but shuts off at ~50mph and is never used again during the entire climb



The Tundras system is exactly the same electric motor and battery as the Tacoma.

 

[ttn333]

I mean its 1.8 kwh battery. 10HP is 7.5 kw. That means, assuming no efficiency losses or anything, and completely draining the battery from 100 to 0%, 10 hp will kill it in 14 minutes.

Its not meant for sustained output, its meant for bursts.

Watch the Tundra IKE Gauntlet. The electric power only assists during the initial acceleration but shuts off at ~50mph and is never used again during the entire climb



The Tundras system is exactly the same electric motor and battery as the Tacoma.

Thanks. I'll take a look.
Seems like the system should work well except extreme conditions. I generally don't push for max output of an engine for prolonged periods. I'm pretty sure I've never stomped on the gladiators pedal all the way down for more than a minute or two. I think that's a good trade off for efficiency.

 

[maSS-hole]

Thanks. I'll take a look.
Seems like the system should work well except extreme conditions. I generally don't push for max output of an engine for prolonged periods. I'm pretty sure I've never stomped on the gladiators pedal all the way down for more than a minute or two. I think that's a good trade off for efficiency.

Well and thats not even what I mean. If im just cruising down the freeway with my trailer at 65mph, my F150 is putting about 300 ft-lbs sustained at 2000 rpm. Thats why Im more interest in a truck where the engine is able to do that fairly effortlessly. That Tacoma 2.4L would be giving it everything it had at 2000 rpm. The 3.4L from the Tundra/GX would be at like 60% output making 300 ft-lbs.

Same with the Ecodiesel. Just loafing along casually at 2000 rpm with 140 ft-lbs to spare.

 

[maSS-hole]

Do you think it will? The Gladiator EcoD is as heavy as my trailer and has a fairly long wheelbase.

 

[Labswine]

Do you think it will? The Gladiator EcoD is as heavy as my trailer and has a fairly long wheelbase.

That's where the aux electronic braking on the trailer helps. This is why it's important to have. My Gladiator handles my trailer easily and, the one time I had to hit the brakes relatively hard, all came to a stop rather quickly.

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