Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Toyota Tundra

Any comments on the 4.6 engine. I tow a 3000 lb boat and trailer in hilly parts of Pennsylvania. Does this engine have enough guts to do this without hurting engine or transmission. I tow with a Ford 5.7 with 355 gears without a problem now.

I pulled my 21ft Stratos bass boat with my 2000 Tundra with a 4.7. Hardly even new it was back there.

Have a 4.6L in an '11 Lexus GX 460 (5500#)

Detuned to 301 horse...from 380 horse (click link)

Matched up with a 6 speed transmission

Runs great...plenty of balls

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a16579573/2010-toyota-tundra-46-v8-review/

What year Ford do you have now? Thinking you've got a typo and currently are running either a 5.4 or 5.8?

My bad. 2006 5.4 300hp. Time for a new to me truck, heard a lot of good about Toyota, but with the 5.7 engine Looking at a used 2017 with a 4.6. Thanks ,Mike

Make sure the 4.6 has a factory brake controller if you are expecting one to be there. Didn't used to come on them at all, but Toyo started putting them standard on the 5.7. Like the truck, but my 2013 Tundra did not come with near the standard options as say a GM did. Was pissed that remote start was a 500.00 option then, and the 800.00 towing package did not include a brake controller. The Tundra does have a massive set of brakes on it, much better than the 2011 Silverado I traded in on it.

Yes it’s fine. I have a 2019 with a 4.6 and tow a #3500 boat. No issues. I picked the 4.6 over the 5.7 when I bought it new.

I do with they had a lower gear set, but it’s geared for fuel economy. Non issue towing, just set it in S4 and it has lots plenty of power.

I’m not sure about the 2017, but I suspect you cant get a factory tow package with brake controller. ESP makes a really nice mount for the Tundra for a Tekonsha P3 controller that looks pretty factory

Since you are towing a single axle trailer boat I suspect you don’t have brakes anyway. I don’t have them hooked up on my boat and the truck handles the weight and braking just fine.

For 1 - 2 MPG difference, it's dumb to get a 4.6 vs a 5.7. What little money you might save at the pump, you'll lose in resale value. And I don't remember ever thinking to myself when towing/hauling anything, Geeze, I wish I had less horsepower.

The 4.6 has 310 HP, much better than most trucks in the 1990s. I think my 2001 tundra had 235 HP, and it had plenty.
I would get 4.6 in a heartbeat if the price is right.

I agree with you. I've been driving a 2007 Tundra 5.7L since 2010. I follow a lot of Tundra sites and the general consensus on them is that the 4.6 is just as reliable as the 5.7, but has a bit less power. Most say that the power difference isn't a big deal until it comes to towing bigger loads, however there's not much of an upside in MPG. Like you mentioned, 1-2 MPG and again as you stated, the resale value is a bit lower.

Thanks for all the replies. I agree I never wished for less hp while towing, but so far all the ones I like have a 4.6.

For that little weight, I wouldn't sweat the 4.6 at all. Will the seller let you hook it up to your boat and take it for a spin?

Agee with the above.

I'm on my 3rd Tundra, all with the 5.7. I have pulled up to 8,000 with no issues, with brake controller.

My buddy has the 4.6 and a Bass Tracker, maybe 3,500 pounds. I've pulled it up and out of the water and around town just fine.

If you see a 4.6 in your price range and you know you will never routinely pull a large load, and the price offsets the loss in retail value, do it. You won't be sorry.

I've never regretted the extra power, so you know where I land on the discussion.

The trucks with 4.6's have 3.90 gears, the 5.7's have 4.30's. You have to go to a 3/4 ton or bigger to get gearing that low from anyone else. Either engine will pull pretty well. I don't see you having any issues pulling loads that light. My brother has the 4.6 and it has been good for him.



And his initial purchase price will be lower, which is probably part of the appeal. Long term this is a wash.

I'm not sure which model years you're looking at, but the pre 2007 Tundra's with the 4.6 have a timing belt that has to be replaced every 90,000 miles and it isn't a cheap job. Those older trucks have a cult like following, but that is one negative you need to be aware of.

So if he's buying used, he gets all the power he needs, slightly lower operating costs, and a bargain. What's not to like?

I had a 2005 Tundra with the 4.7, now have a 2013 with the 4.6. Have towed up to about 3500 lbs with both - no problems. Plenty of power, good brakes, but they will run in lower gears towing and gas mileage drops. My 2013 doublecab with the 4.6 and 6 speed trans will run 18 - 20 mpg on highway around 70 - 75mph, will drop to 10 - 12 mpg at 65 - 70 mpg towing an enclosed cargo trailer. It almost never gets into 6th/overdrive with the trailer (unless very flat or downhill!) - spends most of the time in 4th or 5th. Actual weight of trailer makes less difference than the wind resistance of the cargo trailer. When towing a low profile open trailer mileage is a little better, maybe 14-15 mpg.

I don't think I've ever seen a Tundra that didn't come with a towing package. Even if it doesn't have a brake controller already installed, it probably has all the wiring in place and a plug inside fuse panel cover down by the drivers left foot that you can connect a controller to with a Tundra specific adapter - pretty easy to find or order from Tekonsha - no splicing wires. I don't use trailer brakes on real small stuff, but put them on my 3500lb gross cargo trailer because I was towing it in winter and wanted better control (it actually started as a 3000lb gross trailer, but adding brakes upped it to 3500).

The tow package on my 2013 came with pretty much everything except the controller - all wiring, 4-way flat and 7-way rv connectors, transmission temp gauge, tow mode selecter for transmission (alters shift points), 2 in receiver hitch, an engine oil cooler and a power steering fluid cooler. I think it also added a higher output alternator and larger capacity battery.

I thought my 2006 with the 4.7 was a little sluggish towing about 3,700# of boat. Regular gas mileage was about 16 mpg. Mpg towing was closer to 10 mpg. Where I live, I often pull my boat up over a pass that’s about 3,000 ft of climb from sea level with a 70 mph speed limit. The truck was able to do it, but if you got bogged down behind a slowpoke, it was a struggle to get around them.

Same boat with my 2015 5.7 is night and day. I get better fuel economy towing than my 2006. I average 15.7 mpg overall. I get about 13 mpg towing.

I have a total experience of one with Toyota. I bought a new Tundra Rock Warrior in 2013. It was an absolute piece of crap. I put a little over 100k on it and had steady problems with it - mostly electrical. It got poor mileage for a half ton. The ridiculous traction control system was such that you had to stop to switch out of it. The front end needed to be pretty much completely replaced at 70k. Had a tiny gas tank. Now I live 17 miles out of town on a rough gumbo road and I spend a lot of time on trails, but that pickup had more problems than any other I've owned. I'd never buy a foreign pickup again.

Uh, Tundras are made in Texas. Mine has a 38-gallon tank.

From what I see on the used car lots, the 4.6 resale value is quite a bit lower. The used Tundras with the 4.6 are about the only ones on the used lot. You hardly ever see one with the 5.7, and if you do it's probably listed almost as much as a new one. I'd pass on the puny 4.6.