Towing Question New Boat

Guys--

I am brand new to the forum so be easy on me.

I have a 2007 Tacoma double cab 4x4 V6 with tow package and 201K miles on her.

I am buying a new boat with a dry weight of 4,400 pounds plus a trailer weight of 1,200 pounds. I suspect after adding the trailer and liquids I am going to me near 6,500 lbs.

I plan to trailer the boat a few times a year (30 miles or so) since the boat will be stored on a lift. I do want the ability to tow it on trips up to a few hours away.

Can I use the Tacoma to tow this boat or is it too heavy? I don't care about gas mileage but I do want to be safe.

I welcome any suggestion or upgrades that may help me. If I'm screwed just say so.

Be kind, be honest.

 

Full size truck mod.

I personally wouldn't want to be towing right at the maximum rating of my tow vehicle. Certainly need a trailer brake controller. But I'm not a fan of towing something that weighs a ton more than my truck. Pulling is one thing. It's stopping all that weight.

I'm no expert and my boat and trailer and all are only around 2000-2200 lbs. If it was me though and I was looking at a boat that size I'd be shopping for a new tow vehicle as well.

 

Really pushing it. Am sure others will say it's fine but it will be a hand full you'll have to have breaks on the trailer but it probably all ready does and most likely a WD hitch that's a lot of weight me I won't tow any thing that weights more then the truck.

 

IIRC i remember *seeing others* mentioning that the 4wd towing limit is at 6600 lbs, but as jtav mentioned stopping all that weight sounds dangerous.

edit for typos in **

 

if you want to be safe i suggest you dont.

 

Most, if not all boat trailers have surge brakes, so as crappy as they are, you will most likely at least have brakes. My boat is about exactly what yours is, and I wouldnt try to haul it with the taco. When we go to the lake I hook it up to my powerstroke.

 

I just had a break controller added to one of our company vehicles. I highly recommend spending the extra $200 and saving your truck brakes and maybe your bumper.

 

Ok, well it sounds like the Tacoma is not well suited for the boat. That's disappointing. i guess I'll have to borrow a vehicle for towing purposes.

I believe i can borrow a Yukon and an Expedition if I need to.

 

Been there tried that... Didn't work good. Smart to get a bigger tow vehicle. I pull a close to the same weight boat and it was all white knuckled tow. Going down the ramp was the real scary part, since trailer has surge brakes front wheels locked up but couldn't stop ended up hitting emerg. brake to stop it. Since then I bought a Newer F150 5.4 4x4 to do my tow jobs.

 

What kind of boat are you buying OP?

 

welcome from the knoxville area!


I would say if you were only towing the 30 miles from the house(or where ever it’s stored) to the dock a few times a year, i would think you would be ok towing really close or right at the limit as long as you have trailer brakes and a controller. But i would not want to tow it a few hours a way.

also how steep is the boat ramp you would be using? I know some in TN are kinda steep and others are not very steep.

 

It's a Malibu MXZ22.

 

There re several boat ramps near me. Most of them have a gently slope.....nothing crazy.

 

yeah. Like i said if only you were going from where you stored it(i’m guessing at home) to the boat ramp 3 or 4 times a year. I would think as long as you have brakes you’d be ok. Would not tow it on trips tho.