The Tacoma Towing Bible

Depends on if your getting a car hauler trailer, or a tow dolly from U-Haul . A trailer should have a brakes and need a brake controller. The tow dolly does not need one, as it doesn't have brakes. The tow dolly is all you probably need for a Honda Civic. I've pulled a VW Jetta and a Mini Cooper with a tow dolly.

 

no need for trailer.. rest of my stuff will be packed and moved by movers.

 

Don't Uhaul trailers have surge brakes on them? If so, no brake controller would be necessary, just the standard 4pin for the taillights. Now this is for the trailer only, not the dolly. I don't think the dollies have brakes?

 

Yep. This is true.

 

Why does the V6 have a tow rating of 5,000 pounds while the 2.4L 4 cylinder only 3,500? Is it horsepower, or does the V6 have stiffer springs?
I am looking to buy a wood chipper, and just haul it around the local area on rural roads, 25 mph, 40, up to 50 mph. No traveling on any freeway.
Wood chippers tend to be heavy, unless it's just the piddling little ones with the 30 hp vee-twin Kohler motors. I'd like to get a drum chipper with a regular 4 cylinder engine like an Altec, Asphlundh, ... Often they have I6 engines.

I just looked up the Altec 126A and it says it weighs 3590 lbs, so it is close. I'm surprised how heavy these things are.

https://www.altec.com/site/uploads/WC126-A166a-Literature.pdf

 

Guessing; Weakest link in the drivetrain, Overheating do to loading on hills in the summer. Only guessing on my part.

 

Tow package comes with tranny fluid cooler and oil cooler.

 

Oh that too

 

I have a 2011 with the tow package. On the factory pig tail, it has open ended wires and most of the brake controllers that I see have a pigtail coming out of them. Can I just cut the connector off of the brake controller and splice those wires with the Toyota pig tail?

I know they make another plug and play harness to go inbetween the two but I am wondering specifically about cutting the break controllers plug off and splicing the wires into the factory harness.

 

I'm not clear where the "open ended wires" are?

 

The factory pigtail that comes with the tow package has a plug on one end that plugs into the truck and no plug on the other end. However, most brake controllers come with a pigtail that has a plug on both ends. I wasnt sure if I could just cut the plug on one end and connect it to the wires from the factory pigtail?

 

My P3 came with pigtails on it, so I could butt connect, or solder like I did, into the factory pigtail harness. To answer your question, yes you can. Just make sure the correct wires go where they are supposed to, or you might have variable brake lights, and 100% trailer brake activation upon stopping...

 

Howdy y'all from TX. It's been awhile but need some help here from those in the know. Research overload and down to 2 travel trailers:

1.Flagstaff EPRo 19fb- 20 feet includes the hitch 7.5 wide 3100lbs but cargo weight only 750lbs hitch weight at 360lbs
2. Kodiak 227 ultra light 26 feet includes hitch 8ft wide at 4300lbs cargo 3000lbs and hitch at 487lbs

Completely new to the travel trailer world with a family of 3 (wife and I and 1yr old girl). Looking for extended weekend trips in TX. Flat roads and most trips planned at 4 hours or less travel.

Million dollar question with both prices being equal- Is bigger better? (insert sarcastic response now) How miserable is towing 4000-5000lbs in the tacoma (again flat roads only for us). Any fears with single axel vs double? Any personal experiences with towing similar weights (pros/cons). Thank you guys very much for your candid feedback.

https://www.dutchmen.com/product/kodiak-ultra-lite
https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/travel-trailers/flagstaff-e-pro/E19BH/4362

 

I know how the research overload goes....

I *personally* wouldn't want to pull a 26' trailer often for 2-4 hours in Texas wind very often. Lots of other people would and probably do it often. Many examples here on the site.

While the "aerodynamic" front of the the trailers you are considering is better than a flat front surface like many trailers have, the total side area of the trailer is what creates instability with a relatively light tow vehicle.

As for hitch weight, at least for the Forest River product, the hitch weight is exclusive of is batteries, options, cargo or water. I *believe* their specs do include propane, but you should research for both vehicles.

It might be helpful to you if you compute an "informative" *potential* hitch weight. Take the published dry hitch weight and the published unloaded trailer weight. Compute the percentage. Then check their spec sheet for the "carrying load capacity". Apply the percentage. This will give you an idea of how hi the practical, real world, hitch weights can get. If you are not careful, a 487 pound hitch weight can get to 800-900 hitch weight VERY quickly.

An example I came across: A published hitch weight of 690. 5654 unloaded weight which is close to 12%. Load capacity of 2036 so add that to the 5654 to gives us 7690. 12% of that weight would be about 923 pounds. A big difference.

All that said, I pull a Rockwood 2104s with a hitch weight of 468 lbs. If it's not obvious by the model number, that is 21 foot. We rarely go to places more than an hour away. Most of our short trips are within the Ozark Mountains. You might think that the 3500' "mountains" (hills) would be the problem. But not really. All two lane highway is manageable. But even at 21 ft if there is a cross wind on a 4 lane freeway, I'd MUCH rather have a heavier tow vehicle.

And if I traveled over 2 hours very often I *would* either have a bigger truck or a smaller trailer. But that is just me. Like I said, many people are quite often pulling much larger loads.

Be safe....

 

In short you would be okay with #1 but really pushing it with #2 assuming you have it and your truck loaded. Maybe the Kodiak 201?

 

Would be better re: weight. But don't discount the side wind. Also, I see you have the AAL leaf pack. But you also have sliders (150 lbs) and a high clearance rear bumper (weight). Any additional weight the high clearance bumper adds contributes to the hitch weight as well. I don't know which one you have, but I found this interesting. You might also. Some weight distribution hitches *may* interfere and vice/versa.

I assume you've checked the the hitch weight and load capacity of your truck?

 

How miserable is towing 4000-5000lbs in the tacoma:
The Kodiak 227 has similar specs as our 25' Passport. Ours is about 4,400 lbs dry. It's not terrible towing but that really depends on how comfortable you are with towing. I tow mine around middle TN and sometimes to east TN but never more than 4 hours. It'll tow it up the mountains but I wouldn't exactly say it's fun.. I get around 10-11 mpg. We only go for weekend trips and I never carry water in the tanks. We always stay at full hookup campgrounds or at least places with water/electric. To help with weight, we'll stop at a grocery store near the campground to get food instead of carrying it with us. Same for firewood or at least keep it to a minimum.

I recently added firestone ride rite airbags because the rear end sagged a fair amount so I'm eager to see how well it tows with the airbags. Get a good weight distribution hitch (I have the Fastway E2) and a good proportional brake controller (Tekonsha P3) and you should be fine, especially with the flat roads you'll be taking. Wind will be one of your biggest issues.

I've always heard and preferred double axle vs single axel in case of tire blowouts.

It's just me, my wife wife and two dogs in our camper so if it were me... I'd lean towards the bigger one. Just my $0.02

Edit: also keep in mind you and your family's weight accounts for payload along with hitch weight. A lot of people don't include that

 

The longer you plan to stay in it, the more inches matter. The tung weight of the Kodiak trailer could be an issue with just a factory tow package, also if you put that 3K in cargo in the trailer, you're quickly going to surpass the tow rating of the truck. I'd recommend adding something like the Sumo springs or airbags to the rear of the truck if you go that route. I've had my truck/trailer at 13K GCVW on 33's and 4.56 gears without a problem, so the truck can pull the weight. Though as Mike O mentioned the side surface area of a camper trailer in a crosswind could very well be more problematic. I didn't have anywhere near the side surface area to deal with. There was probably a time or two passing and being passed by Simi's @70mph with a sidewind that made the truck wabble a bit.

Here's the weight ticket for this load of RR ties, on 16' flatbed. I pulled that in 4th gear for 200 miles without issue.



Here's a previous weight ticket for this tailer when it was empty.

 

KRAMERICA noted that he doesn't have near the side wall area with a flat bed of RR ties. Do yourself a favor and believe it when I tell you that the frontal area of a trailer will add considerable "weight" and instability when pulling at speed. With effectively no frontal *OR* side area, KRAMERICA has two less factors for instability in wind or as he mentioned a semi passing.

Also, KRAMERICA mentioned Sumo Springs or air bags. An excellent recommendation. I have Sumo Springs and the did make some difference when I am loaded "heavier". Air bags may not be for you if you off-road hard.

 

I have no problem with what I tow. LOL It tows at 20 ft but open to 27ft.