TRAILER NEWBIE needs straight talk

Hi Folks

I love my tacoma but am not terribly knowledgeable when it comes to hauling, let alone my trucks capacity, necessary upgrades, nor terminology etc. I dont want to spend a few thousand on a trailer to find out I cant haul it! I am slowly working on a historical timber framing project and we need to haul straight tree trunks (timber frame house).


Background:
I drive a 99 Tacoma, V6 (with the short extended cab).


Objective:
To aquire a 14-17 foot trailer, capable of handling tree trunks weighing upwards of 3000 lbs. (I will acquire winches, wedges, and straps)


-----------------------
The first questions are whether or not I can tow circa 4-5000 lbs.

The second question is....what should I look for when buying?


Can someone help me with a fool proof checklist of things such as:

--engine info (what to look for to determine hauling capacity)
--hitch info (what I need to determine or buy)
--any other info, insight, advice much apprecaited



Thanks
Drew

 

Go to the Towing section on this forum, you should find all info you need.......

 

You can get a trailer that has a 3500 GVW but your going to over load it in a heart beat and thats not good for business leads to major problems. Or you could step up to 7000 lbs GVW whether it's a flat bed or a dump is your choice. GVW is what the trailer can haul safely minus the wieght of the trailer so it can prolly haul around 5500 - 6500 depending on how the trailer is built and length. This is about all our trucks can handle considering we only have a 5000 - 5500 lb towing compacity. So your not going to be able to haul as many logs as you think you can. And I'm just being striaght up with you, your going to have to sacifice some of your load and make more trips to keep things safe and not wear our your trailer prematurely and put a terrible load on your truck. Your definatly going to need a trailer with brakes on both axles so your going to need to get a 7 way wiring harness installed on your truck, and a brake control as well to control your brakes. And for a hitch get a hitch that matches your towing compacity, try to find a trailer dealer or a hitch dealer around you to guide you with your purchases. Hope this helps you I am a trailer mechanic at a dealership so I will try and help you the best I can.

 

I should have noted....we only plan on hauling one log at a time.

Log would be 2-3 feet wide x about 17 feet long. I would hew them down on site to square them off so they sit better and are lighter, but Im not always able to.

Its more than just a practical matter, its a road safety issue too.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/towing/4031-tacoma-towing-bible.html

Here's all you need to know

 

Ok the one log is alot better. But your probly going to still have to get a trailer with 2 axles generally they do not make 18ft trailers with one axle so you will still have that 5500-6500 compacity which will be a good feeling when you get a big log on there. And more than likely your going to end up gettin an 18ft they usually go in lengths my 2 feet 12 -14 -16 and so forth.

 

Buy a trailer that has good brakes, because if you're hauling max rated capacity, you're going to need them.