Frequent Towing an Issue?

I tow 5 days a week. I have 5x8 enclosed trailer loaded with tools. Weighs about 2500lbs loaded. I also have 7x10 open trailer weighs about 800lbs unloaded. The most I have in that trailer was roughly 2000lbs.

Now my gas mileage which I have counted over several gas tanks averaged 13mpg combined. That's towing 5 days a week keep in mind.

The biggest issue when towing with Tacoma are brakes. When i tow I need to start breaking much earlier. It gets up to speed fine, but its significantly slower than when unloaded.

Don't get me wrong I love my truck, I can park it anywhere, turning radius is good and its big enough for me (5' 10" 170lbs) even on longer trips. I am just sharing my experience using Tacoma while towing 80% of the time...

 

LOL see my previous post. Keep the diesel! I tow less than 4600lbs and get 13mpg with Tacoma!

 

This year might have been overkill on the towing...so say I only tow half of that next year - 7k miles. Would it still be alright then? I don't know how much is going to be too much for a smaller truck. A trip to Road Atlanta and back is 2k miles easy towing.

Trailer brakes are a no brainer.

I love my F250, but as a daily, it's not the best. Its a pain in the ass to park, I cant find a carwash it fits in to wash the salt off in the winter, and on top of that, it rides like sh*t when unloaded.

I can't drive my other cars safely in winter as they are sports cars and I don't want to subject them to the salt.

I hate parking the F250, and driving it in tighter areas. That combined with that fact it has 285k miles on it and my SO refuses to drive it leave me wanting a smaller truck.

I guess the better question would be - how well does the Tacoma pull 4200 lbs on the highway, and how much towing is too much towing?

 

you'll be fine towing with the Tacoma... there are always little upgrades that can be had to make it better... u would pull the trigger

 

Part of why I want a Tacoma...this community! You guys are great. Keep the advice and insights coming. I really appreciate it all. I hate how expensive these trucks are, even used...but there's gotta be a reason, right?

 

build quality and resale value and the enormous after market support for these trucks are amazing....you get what you pay for...I'm on my second tacoma after I totaled my first one I could of gotten anything else with that insurance check but I still stuck with a Tacoma

 

^^^^Youd be a good person to ask - will the supercharger help towing a lot? Thats always an option for me later down the line.

 

I have to echo what has already been said. Unless it is all flat land towing, you won't be happy with a Tacoma. I would think hard about an F150 for overall gas mileage and tow capacity.

 

I towed 4800lbs about 4000 miles from seattle to puebla mexico. Lots of mountain passes and high altitude 7300ft here in puebla. I had trailer brakes which IMO for that weigth trailer is absoulutely nessisary. It did just fine a few of the passes were a bit slow but it pulled nicely

Long term? I cant say.

 

You have to keep in mind that the weights you quoted us sound like dry weight. Add in tools/parts/luggage/etc in there, and you may be over 5,000 total. That's a lot of weight to be putting on the Tacoma constantly. Even if it is safely rated for 6,500.

My suggestions is look at a full size. F150 is the first option with the eco boost engine. But keep in mind that when you're towing, the eco boost is basically useless.

You will have a lot more control with the fullsize, and I believe would be happier overall.

 

I have a 4K lb travel trailer and my 2nd gen tows no problem once I get momentum. Slugish off the line. I just towed it to the ocean last weekend about 220 miles round trip, was only getting 10.5 mpg so only about 200 miles per tank. If you do it get a weight distribution bar. For me I don't mind towing with it but I,m putting on nowhere near the miles you are. I'd keep what you have if you tow that often.

 

The supercharger helps alot with towing. In the winter as side job I tow pallets of fire stove pellets each pallet weighing a ton and I haul 3 pallets at a time with a double axel trailer, I have no problem towing that weight but that kinda of weight requires trailer brake control. yes a fullsize would be more suitible but I only do that a few months out of the year but the truck can take it

 

i would keep the truck..and buy a turd of a used econobox..find a used yaris somewhere.

you will cry the first time you hit a hill with that racecar behind you in your tacoma. i hang in race circles..low budget guys..they tow with smaller rigs..and they always wish they had bigger..never smaller.

 

I personally am skeptical about published tow ratings.

I figure they are fudged numbers by the manufacturers where they calcuate what they can get away with publishing safety-wise and to squeek them through the 3/36 warranty period without having to give everyone a new transmission.

If I had to tow a lot, I would want something with a rating that is double or triple what I had to tow.

 

Its not that I tow that often (two weekends a month usually) - but they aren't close trips. That's the big factor is the length of said trips.

Id love to get an econo box - but budget and space limitations prevent me from having a DD and Tow rig. I'm looking to combine those two into one. I've got two road course cars and a miata that I drive - but I can't really drive the miata in winter comfortably - that and I dont want it getting torn up by the salt.

Maybe a Tacoma isn't up to the few times a year long haul (1k+ miles one way) with 5k lbs happens? The track I go to the most is a 160 miles one way from the house, so figure 320 miles twice a month - 640 miles on the low end.

640 miles for 7 months (it is the midwest - do road course stuff in winter
Thats 4480 miles just from back and forth two weekend a month. This year, I've done the Chicago to Road Atlanta haul 3 times - that's 6k plus miles there - so 10,480 miles just from that - going to the track twice a month, and taking the car down to Atlanta three times to race.

Its not that Ive got a trailer behind the truck a lot - its that every time I do, its a decent haul.

For those other 26 days out of the month and through the winter - the tacoma would be the best fit.

 

Good choice if anything there are always upgrades

 

Got to be honest with you you'll wonder where the power went. I have been everywhere with my Tacoma and my camper I guess my weight to be around 3000# loaded I can say it is a pleasure to drive tracks great but the hills will have you in low gears. Trailer brakes are mandatory and the mileage is nothing to write home about. I have no need of a big truck and really am in no hurry so the power is not a deal breaker for me but nothing beats displacement and truck weight for towing if you want to comfortable.

 

When I hauled in the mountains down in tennesse, It was raining and if I ever had to make a emergency stop due to someone slamming on their brakes, I would of slammed into them no matter the distance I was at. I could not stop in the mountains. The power of the truck was horrid as well.

It seems you are stuck on the taco because of the community here... But when you tow with your truck every single time and realize damn I should of got a fullsize, that community won't make your truck pull like you want it too.

 

lets see pics of the race cars.

preferbably with scantily dressed ladies dripping over them.

 

I wish.