1st gen towing

just curious to see what all is towed with 1st gen Tacoma’s. I have the 3.4l, looking into maybe eventually getting a bigger boat. Would like to see some pics of boats, campers, whatever y’all tow!

 

There is a whole towing sub-forum, but generally if you try and tow close to the max capacity (5k), you’re going to have a bad time, depending on where you drive.

If you live or drive in the mountains, anything over 3k will just flat out suck, imo. I towed a popup trailer at about 2500# and that’s really all I felt comfortable towing, power wise. Sure, it “can” tow more, but you’re going to be doing 35 on the highway, lol.

The other thing is if you have an automatic, you 100% need an aux trans cooler. They are cheap ($50ish) and easy to install. You’ll cook your transmission otherwise.

These things just aren’t meant for towing, they never were. They CAN tow, but if you routinely tow 3k# or more and in the hills, get a bigger truck. For short distances on flat ground they’ll tow much more, of course.

I have a 4.0L 4runner that tows my 3800+ # travel trailer (upgrade from the popup) and that does so much better, but even that is the max I’m comfortable towing. I’ve been in first gear going up a few hills, lol

 

Ya I have looked at the sub forums, I was just wanting to see what all the first gens tow on a regular basis. Only thing I have is 15 ft boat but I might upgrade eventually to a 17 ft or so.

 

Yeah, just depends on the weight. Lighter the better. If you’re 250p or less, you’ll be fine. No matter what you tow, tho, I’d get a trans cooler, though. They work well if you do a lot of slow off road driving, too.

I towed my popup for many thousands of miles all over the western states, and it handled the weight just fine (once I got the cooler). Dry weight on the thing I think was 1800, loaded with all the family junk it was closer to 2500. It definitely noticed the weight, especially over the mountain passes on hwy 50 or 80. I would end up doing 45 on the hills. I could have sped it up if I buried the throttle, but I didn't like getting negative MPGs, lol.

 

Well I’ve got a manual so won’t need the cooler. But I probably won’t be towing anything over 3K anyways. 2K to 2500 would probably be my max

 

That weight should be fine. It would be good to check on your suspension though, the rear springs in these things are fairly soft and tend to wear out.


And you asked for pics...




Does this angle make my trailer look big?

 

Over the past couple years I've pulled a 2,100lb camper (old 1965) about 17k miles up and down the west coast. Stick shift, and thermostat never rose above 3/8 as usual; just a little slow up some hills haha. But forget about 5th gear and 3rd becomes your new pal.

 

I Tow around 2000 pounds with another few hundred in the bed Quite Often.

Then I am not out to set and speed records Slow and Easy

 

How much does that weigh?! U haul trailers and heavy even when not loaded

 

They're 1900lb empty, and I had probably 600 lbs of furniture in it. They're good for 2500lbs, but it would be nuts to pull it with a taco. I've pulled a fully loaded one behind my frontier, and it was fine, but certainly not for the impatient.

The guy in the lot at uhaul kept calling back into the office because he was convinced my truck weighed the same as the trailer and I would get into a wreck. They corrected him, and no wreck.

 

Few cars.

 

The most I've towed with my 1st Gen. and the heaviest I would want to with that truck too! Awesome little trucks but not made for towing.