travel trailer towing capability

Hey guys, I have a 2010 double cab TRD w/tow package. Love the truck, but now I'm thinking RVing when i retire in 3 years. Not sure if a tacoma is a good choice when towing a less than 5,000 pound trailer all over the country. You owner thoughts? Good deal on tundras right now and great resale on a tacoma.

 

Its rated 6500. If you get a tundra you get bad fuel economy. But if you tow with a tacoma you may put alot of strain on it all over the country.

 

I tow a 3,000# one with no problems except for the sucky mileage maybe if I slowed down it would help. I think 3,000 to 3,500 would be the max for comfortable towing yeah they will tow more but it becomes more of a hand full.

 

You would probably want a load equalizing hitch and definitely an anti-sway device. Trailer brakes are a must.

Lots of really good information has already be compiled here:

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

Ray

PS: Do you already have an RV trailer? If not, then shop for one of the smaller, lighter units. Maybe one that collapses for towing?

 

We tow a 4000 lb trailer with weight distribution hitch. We have a tow package on our 2011 Tacoma Access Cab.
We went from Chilliwack BC, Canada to Sacramento CA, mostly I5. Definitely had some hills.
We are looking at trading our Tacoma in for a Ford F150 Ecoboost. (We will lose a lot of money, to be sure. We paid cash for our new Tacoma about 7 months ago.)

Things we love about our Tacoma:
---------------------------------
Mileage - not even broken in, about 22-23 mpg on hwy driving, 17 city. Towing drops to closer to 15, maybe a bit more if flat highway most of the way.

Appearance - Classy interior, cool looking exterior, sporty-looking, etc. The Fords are just ugly, we think. Inside and out.

Turn Circle - wheelbase on Tacoma shorter and it turns (for a truck) on a dime. The Ford does not turn that tightly.

Fun to drive - light, peppy


Reasons we want to switch
--------------------------
Towing experience - The Tacoma certainly does tow 4000lbs, since it is rated for 6500.
And on the flat highway it rolls along very nicely. But when you hit a relative steep grade, it definitely wants to be in a lower gear and we take it out of overdrive (auto transmission) which would be 5th gear, I believe. We take it out of 4th and into 3rd, on occasion. If we don't do this manually it starts popping itself into and out of gears. We slow down to maybe 40 - 45 mph on grades like that. We don't have a temp gauge on the transmission, but we should. If we are careful it seems to work fine, though. It definitely can tow that weight, just slowly up the grades.

Roomier Interior - We want a long bed so we are looking at the Super Cab (same thing as Access Cab in Toyota). The seats are more comfortable, nicer, and in fact the entire truck interior is larger in the F150. Much larger.

Driving safety - The Ford has some nice safety features. Our Tacoma spins and the rear end slides on wet surfaces (unloaded). The Ford seems to have less of a problem with that - anti skid or weight or something. The safety ratings seem higher on some parameters than the Tacoma (roll, roof, etc.)


Towing Safety - our trailer weighs about the same as the truck. So when we came to a bit of a fast stop on a very slight downhill slope, it was scary. The truck and trailer both slid a bit and it was not fun. The Ford is MADE to tow. The Tacoma is not.


If we were going to tow only occasionally, we'd gladly keep the Tacoma. But we are going to be towing all over the country. It is quite a sacrifice to give up the gas mileage (the Ford F150 ecoboost only gets about 9-13 mpg towing depending on the weight of the trailer). But it will tow the 4000lbs much, much easier. We are going for the 3.73 axle ratio on the Ford.

 

Mine tows just fine. 2401rg Minnie Winnebago, 5.2k dry. OR 4D DC, Icon 3 inch suspension with reservoirs, no blocks. I tow obviously with an 800lb weight distribution and sway control. Also have P3 brake controller. Truck and trailer combo is awesome.

 

Holy thread revival.

 

I forgot to mention one thing.. Who cares about mpg? I averaged 11.4, so what. It's worth it..

 

I get 11.4 normally without a trailer haha

 

I'm not sure, but I don't think OP will be back.

 

Thread resurrection. It lives.

 

We yell at guys all the time for not searching and posting the same shit over and over. Here is a dude that posted in an old thread. Good on him

 

Brotha's just can't win around here, LOL.

 

Better pics, and no new thread started lol.. It's great to share common interests.

 

I tow my dad's 25' Fleetwood, 4,600lb dry. WD hitch, P3 brake controller, Hellwig air bags. I use a Scangauge II to monitor my Trans temp. It pulls well, just gotta take it easy on the hills. I just keep the water tanks empty most of the time to help keep things as light as possible.

 

Pull a 195rb keystone passport with mine. 23 feet. 65-70mph. Up hill tows fine. Stops just fine.

 

Thank you!!!! i cant stand when people complain about MPG. You own a truck you want MPG go buy a Corolla.

 

I worked on my WD hitch setup. I didn't have enough lift from the trunnion bars because my hitch head angle wasn't right. Now, I hardly need any air in my air bags and it steers much better.

 

I bought a 95 F350 turbo diesel to tow more than 3500 or anything longer than 20 feet.
Hauling 10k extra load, the F350 still did about 14 MPG

taco isn't heavy enough for cross winds with a long trailer nor does it have the torque to haul up hill with a heavy load