Towing with Tacoma

I recently bought a 2019 TRD Pro (this makes my fourth Tacoma but the first one in the last 12 years). My intention is for this to be a daily driver with trips into the mountains for camping and hunting as well as to occasionally haul my camper (2700 lb dry weight, a little over 3000 lbs loaded up I'm guessing) for those kinds of trips. I have horses and am used to hauling heavy loads so I never consider the manufacturer-recommended towing capacity as anywhere close to accurate but the towing capacity is 6400lb so I figured I'll be okay.

This is my first Tacoma I'm spending money on accessories for (other than a topper) and I'm trying to figure out how much I can get away with and still be able to tow 3000ish lbs through the Rockies of SW Colorado. I'm getting a leveling kit next week, airbags for suspension assistance and am looking at what size tires I can put on it. I read the long, excellent thread in these forums regarding tires and am a little nervous that adding any extra wheel weight is going to negatively impact my ability to tow much.

If it's a bad idea, I'll keep the 265/70/16s (but will probably need to upgrade to E's for towing). If I can get some cooler looking positive offset rims and 33s I'd love to do that. If I have to decide between a cool-looking Tacoma or one I can pull sorta okay with, I can just keep pulling my camper with my Dodge 3500 and work around different kinds of trips with my Tacoma.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

Damn thats beautiful LOL!

WELCOME m8

 

Thanks! It's good to be back behind the wheel of a Tacoma again. These 3rd gens are a lot different than my 2002 Limited Supercharged one, though!

 

Your shell with matching paint 10/10 are you planning to ceramic coat it? I love VooDoo blue. I wish i gotten that color.

 

Do all the Pro's come with the snorkel?

 

I'd be less concerned about wheel/tire weight and more concerned about going to 33s and affecting the already overly long gear ratios.

I tow a 2600 lb trailer easily and get impressive mileage but I don't have mountain crossings on my typical journeys.

If it were me I'd put some miles on it as-is so you can measure your comfort levels when/if you start changing wheel and or tire size and weight.

These trucks can pull 2700 lb over the rockies with 33s and stock gearing.. it's just going to come down to what you're comfortable with as far as speed, RPMs and mileage.

Personally.. I'm looking very forward to the towing tests of the OVTune twin turbo which'll greatly increase lower rpm torque.

Edit: If you're thinking of bigger tires for clearance I'd junk those predator steps as they're a carrier tailhook.

 

I'm pretty new to this so not sure what ceramic coating does but I'll look into it.

 

We tow a 1700 pound camping trailer regularly throughout the western U.S. Loaded down with our gear and supplies, we probably have an extra 300 pounds in the trailer and 300 or so in the bed, making a rough total of around 2300 pounds. I'm running 32's on 17" wheels with a 3" suspension lift and aluminum tri-fold tonneau. We've been all over the mountain west, from Arizona to Colorado to California to Montana, and the Taco pulls great through the mountains. Just don't expect great gas mileage. We typically get 10-15 MPG driving 65-75 MPH, depending on terrain and wind.

Looks like your load will be a bit heavier, but you should be good. Just hit ECT mode, put S mode in 4th gear, and go. Here's our rig:

 

Great advice to just give it some time and miles (I have @ 1500 on it right now).

I looked up that OVTune thing. That looks really promising. I'll definitely keep my eye on it.

I'm not sure I understand what a "carrier tailhook" means. Will it get in the way of a bigger tire?

 

That's a great looking rig. You're right, though, mine will be a little heavier. Heck, I have almost 300 lbs in dogs before adding in any camping equipment!

One question I have for your setup though is if you had to change your speedometer with those 17s. Did your truck come with 16s stock or did you upgrade?

Thanks for your advice!

 

I pulled this from Dallas to Ouray and it weighs 1500 lbs and had probably about 500 lbs of gear in it. The truck did fine, however, I pulled it in 5th gear and didn't push it while driving the summits. I plan on doing it again in Sept.

 

No problem. To answer your question yes, the truck came with 16 inch wheels. That doesn't really matter though. What matters is the diameter of the tire+wheel assembly, which is obviously larger than stock. So yeah, my speedometer, odometer, and MPG calculations are all off. I had a 2018 OR before I got this 2020 OR, and was using the inline Hypertech correction module to take care of that. My experience with that rig is what I based my MPG comment on. Unfortunately, Hypertech doesn't have an updated version available for the 2019 or 2020 Tacoma yet. I'm hoping they'll update the module soon, or that OVTune will figure out a way to manage it through firmware manipulation. It amazes me that in the 21st century, we still don't have an easy way to compensate for this in the vehicle itself.

 

I would keep your stock tires. I think the Auto is geared well enough in that you can keep in 4th and maintain at least 58mph at 2500rpms. You are making good power and you’re rpms aren’t super high either. You could even do 60mph at 2600rpms which isn’t bad imo.

 

We tow our 19ft 4200lbs all over BC, invest in a scanguage so you can watch your coolant and trans temps. We also added a brake controller and friction sway bars to the trailer to make it more comfortable. Airbags are in the plans as well.



I know our 2nd Gen towed a lot nicer after adding load E tires - I've got them ready to go on this spring.

 

Maybe a dumb question but why would the E rated tires help? Stability?

 

Thanks for the feedback. That's definitely a bigger rig than I would be hauling for sure. I've considered sway bars. Definitely going to get a brake controller installed. I'm glad you mentioned the Scanguage as I was wondering if there was a way to monitor transmission temperature. My Dodge has it built in but I couldn't find it anywhere on the factory vehicle information readouts.

 

Thanks.

I was just razzing you about the predator steps. No they won't get in the way of bigger tires. They just hang down low and have a relatively sharp angle to catch on rocks if you're off-roadin'.

Your pro rig looks great... especially w/the SnugTop GB Sport. We don't have any SnugTop dealers here in the mid-atlantic that I'm aware of.

 

You'll be driving right past my house on your way, then. Give a wave when you pass through Hermosa, north of Durango.

Which tires and rims are you running on that truck, btw?

 

May tow nicer but people should realize their ride quality while empty and mpg are going to be negatively affected.

 

My understanding is the stiffer sidewalls keep the wheels from collapsing as much with a load on the hitch and thus not as much friction and tire wear when driving down the road. But I'm certainly no expert.