Towing Tacoma Vs. Tundra

What lake is that? It looks like the dock that we go to.

 

Great boat, I have a Boston Whaler Dauntless 180, a little smaller than yours

 

If you guys are having stability issues towing, your setup is not correct. I tow 6000lbs 6-10 times a month with my tacoma, each trip is about 500 miles. I am towing a 24ft car trailer with a car on it and lots of gear and many gallons to fuel wheels tools etc. I would like to know how many people are towing 6k lbs as much as I do with the Taco. I have firestone ride rite airbags on the rear because thats where this truck was weak, the rear would sag down. Now I keep them inflated enough that with my gear and trailer and car loaded it has a nice forward rake to it. I drive about 75-80mph with the trailer! I NEVER one had stability issues. Now if you are towing a shitty trailer that is loaded incorrectly and if the rear of your truck is saging, you will have issues. I also tow with my brothers 5.7L Tundra and my companys Ford F450. I KNOW what a difference is, and a properly setup tacoma is FINE as long as you do not load it much over 6500lbs. I am not even getting into braking, because that is easy with a good brake controller.

 

I've towed 4000lbs with a first gen Tundra, and now with an 06 DCab TRD (long). Not much difference when everything else is equal. Maybe a little smoother of the start with the 4.7, but the 5 speed auto in the Taco is pretty slick.

Now, I've just demoed a 2010 5.7l Tundra, and it is truly night and day. 4000lbs behind it is like nothing is there. Tempting... but I only tow 1/2 dozen times a year...

 

Lee's Ford Marina in Somerset.

 

The tacoma's towing kicks ass! I say buy one!

 

here is a picture of just 1 of the cars i tow all the time... Car, 3500lbs, trailer, 2000lbs, and lots of cargo and fuel in the bed.

 

In any case, even with the newer 4 leaf pack on the Tacoma, it's saggy with tongue load... Airbags are OK, I went with the Timbren ( http://www.timbren.com/ ) helpers. They aren't tuneable, but they are cheap, easy to install, and work. Basically just big rubber bushings to soak up the big hits. No more bouncing off the bumpstops...

 

Although that may be cheaper then airbags, airbags are cheap! they are like what? 200 bucks or less? i forgot what i paid.... Also they work totally different then a larger bumper stop, which is basically what that thing is you got. You only see that working if the suspension is compressed enough to hit it on a bump. The point of airbags is to even out the load during normal driving so the rear is not sitting so low and wanting to lift the front wheels off the ground and to have the truck drive more stable, and bumps are not an issue with the airbags as it works like a spring in a way and does not bounce off a large bump stop, they are totally different and cannot be compared when towing.

 

Sounds like a perfect match! The truck can tow it, the chassis can handle it, should be just what you are looking for. Why are you getting rid of the Tundra?

 

Personally I think you will be fine, as someone stated earlier a boat is a very easy to tow as compared to a same weight travel trailer for example. Now there are some people who have made some very good points. You said you have brakes so that is a good thing. Some people on here tow things that are to heavy and unsafe. Your 05 tundra is not much bigger than the tacoma so if you are comfortable you wil be fine, you just may need to go with some airbags if you squat. I do prefer to tow heavy loads with a full size and I dont care what anyone says there is a big diffence with the weight of the truck, the width of the truck, basically the all around size.

 

You didnt say if you were going with a long or short bed, again IMO the long bed would suit you better for towing plus you have more room for your gear on the way to the lake. Best of luck, hope all of us so called experts helped you out.

 

Pulled a double axle car trailer and a 1970 El Camino. Truck did "ok" not bad but I would rather have a bigger truck for something like that. I have AAL, slotted rotors, ceramic pads and the tow package on mine though.

 

The net result is the same... increased resistance to compression. It's like adding another leaf or airbags. As the load increased, so does the resistance... They are zero maintenance and don't require any air. They can't break, leak or fail. An airbag is a big bumpstop as well... it's just you can tune it.

In my application, the Timbren is right against the frame rail at zero load, but not compressed. As soon as there is load it starts to squish. For ME, with my typical tongue load (or heavy load in the box) it is perfecto. I also run a tighter spring up front... so it all balances out.

So I disagree... they aren't totally different. They are a similar way to get a similar result. Lots of trailers and heavy equipment use nothing BUT Timbren for springs... they come in 1000's of configurations for whatever you want to use them for.

I like them, and if they ever disappoint then I'll switch to some Firestone bags and try it the usual way... I just thought they were neat and something different to try. So far, so good.

 

agree to disagree

 

I also use an Airsafe hitch... which uses Firestone airbags for suspension...

 

We pull an 18.5' boat with both my truck (4.0 6 spd.) and Dads 02 Tundra (4.7 I think). The lake we usually goes to requires climbing a really steep mountain. My truck pulls it fine, as long as I stay in first gear. Sometimes I can change to 2nd. With all the switchback curves there isn't any room for speed,only power. Dads truck pulls it a lot easier, even though I don't think the power difference is that much. Going down the mountain is easy. Both trucks are exceptional. Now, that same task is a joke to my papaws 2500 Cummins lol. After I'm married I think I will probably get one after a few years for the bigger jobs/bigger bed. I will always keep my Tacoma though!

 

I agree, the tacoma is great as long as you stay in its capacity range. Although I see a superduty in my future, probably the new F-450 as i will need to be towing a 3 car trailer soon, and i need a bigger bed...