2018 Taco towing a 4k pound RV

Here's a better pic of the distance I was at. The other was zoomed. I appreciate your input, but I never felt that I would not be able to stop safely in an emergency situation. YMMV

 

Thanks for your input. I love my Tacomas. I DID buy a F150 and had it for a year before the Ford Service Manager recommended I trade it in because they couldn't fix the quality and mechanical problems with it. I might tow 2% of the time and know what I am up against. (That's what this post was about.) I'm not willing to trade 98% of the time with an unreliable vehicle for driving 65 mph while towing for the other 2% of the time.
I hear that the Dodge 3500 dually is a GREAT tow vehicle, but I don't want to pay for that when I tow so little. (Aside from Dodge quality issues.)
I wish I could afford a second vehicle just to tow my camper. It would probably be a Tundra though.

 

Got my Taco in August. I had to tow my 18' bowrider for 80 miles for winterization and was not impressed. I am coming from 2 Tundras.

 

Good write up. My trailer looks very similar and weight.

For anyone reading this I'd 100 % agree and say that a weight distribution hitch is a must for a safe and comfortable tow. Mine has a sway bar also. Which makes it even nicer.
Plus a brake controller of course.

Also the MPG numbers are on par also with what I've seen. I have a V6 with manual and 265 70 17 s

 

Good report thanks for the info....the 5th gear thing is a non issue....it's bad for the transmission to tow in overdrive gears...(5th and 6th are overdrive on these trucks). I tow in S mode 4th ECT on. I also don't like to tow with cruise but thats just me, I don't know if it really matters or not.

I have looked at a few heavier campers as well (Lance 1985 etc) and was curious how the truck would do so thanks for your report it was helpful.

 

i agree, i drove OTR last year in an 18 wheeler and trust me, i wouldn't get close to anyone and if i had to stop fast, then you are going into my trailer...they give you safe following distances for a reason...

 

Just curious how that trailer, which weighs almost 4000 lbs dry, is not a tandem axle.

 

ok never mind... I see it's a heavy duty axle.

 

That's your opinion. My Taco is a great truck for towing. I tow the max regularly and expect it will last for many years doing it too.

 

Here's a better picture of the distance I ran from the 18 wheeler. I appreciate your input and understand that everyone will has different opinions and skill levels. I never felt that I was at an unsafe distance from the truck in front of me and could not stop without causing an accident if I had to.

You probably know more about the axles that I do. I was trying to stay at 3,500 lbs or less on the camper dry, but this is the one we could find. (My first choice was 16 ft and 3,100 lbs before the wife got involved.) Most of the units around this weight just had a single axle though. It was probably the 4,500-4,800 lbs that went do a double axle and I didn't want to be in that range.

 

Glad it helped. I wouldn't have much of a problem with more weight, but sure wish it was more aerodynamic. Lol

I normally don't pull with the cruise on, but when running long straight aways with little traffic, it was just too easy to set it with the adaptive cruise control and let it keep me at a safe distance following my "wind blocker". When going up and down hills or in congested areas, I was controlling the throttle though.

 

thanks for this write up. about a week ago we put a down payment down on a salem FSX 178BHSK trailer with the platinum package.

 

That is exactly what we bought except in the Wildwood FSX flavor. (The "X" at the end of the model number for the 2021 Wildwood FSX line designates the Platinum package.) We originally had a RPod 193 on order, but it kept getting pushed back and had a price increase. I was told we would be subject to price increases until it was actually delivered. We noped out and found this one in stock because someone's financing fell though. It was a big upgrade from a Pop Up camper.
Enjoy!!!

 

If you were to say pull a 1300 lbs teardrop would you still think 5th would be bad ? Honestly S-4 just revs a bit high for me for long trips

 

Thanks for a great write-up! I have 16' Vintage Travel Trailer ('63 Aristocrat Lo-Liner it weighs ~3K LBS loaded) but have yet to tow it with my Taco (I have a Silverado I use as my tow rig) however I'm toying with the idea of using the Taco to tow my trailer on trips where I'll want to do some off-roading or exploring.

Congrats on upgrading from a pop-up! My previous trailer was a Coleman Pop-Up with a 10' box and I knew on my first trip that buying it was a mistake as most of my camping is in the mountains or the deserts so having to set-up and take-down in winds was never fun and dealing with wet canvas sucked. Despite that I had mine for nearly ten years as I liked having the ability to store that thing nearly anywhere! The Travel Trailer I have now has been restored and I've added some modern features. It's small but seems to work well for when I'm camping solo with friends who have their own RV's or for when it's just me and my GF. Storage isn't an issue since my rig is so small plus my house has RV parking which is a luxury I didn't have when I was younger and had the Pop-up.

Camping has sucked this year for sure! I've actually only had my trailer out once this year and that was to a small town (Bridgeport) in the Eastern Sierra's of California and even then I had to make reservations over a month in advance! It seems everyone wants to get out of town and they don't really care where or how. I noticed that people want to buy or rent anything they can which is RV related. Last summer, prior to my camping trip up north I had my Travel Trailer parked in my driveway for about a week while I prepped and loaded it (it's normally not visible from the street where I live) and nearly every day I had people stop and ask if it was for sale or if I'd be willing to rent it out!

Enjoy your new rig!

 

I can't say how bad it would be, but Toyota advised not to tow in Overdrive gears, which are 5 and 6 in this transmission.

 

As long as your rpms stay up so you’re not lugging the engine you can probably get away with towing in 5th at that weight. But if your rpm gets down to 2k or less in an overdrive gear it’s going to hunt for a lower gear. Best towing spot for me is S4+ECT, 2700~3000 rpm towing 3200#. Beautiful sound!

 

I'm used to cruising around 2k rpm so higher than that I always feel like I'm taxing the engine

 

No worries. Just make sure you’re in the correct gear for the weight you’re hauling or towing. If you select S5 and it won’t hold, just drop it down to S4 and carry on. RPM in the 2500~3500 range is not a concern for this engine. It takes some getting used to but there’s plenty of research and posts about the power band, lugging the engine, etc.

Toyota made it so the trans would try to get into the overdrive gears as fast as possible to supposedly get the best mpg. Unfortunately, when you’re towing (or anytime, but that’s another thread) you need to defeat that plan to get the best results. That’s one reason the manual tells you to lock out the overdrive gears when towing. The engine makes it’s max torque in the higher rpm range (4600 rpm) so running at 2500~3000 is no problem.

 

You can do 2600 rpms comfortably. Not taxing engine.