Travel trailer tow

Hello Everyone: looking for input from those more knowledgeable than myself. 2018 tacoma V6. Everything I can find tells me tow capacity is 6700 lbs. Looking at purchasing a camper with dry weight of 3500 lbs. My concern is pulling the weight through mountains and hills out west. Anyone have experience with a similar scenario? Thank you!

 

There are lots of different threads out there that address your question pretty well, most of them in this section. Check out these threads, a lot of people tow teardrop/travel campers with them and seem to do ok(if you don't mind the terrible fuel economy).

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lets-talk-teardrop-trailers.565936/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/gen-3-towing-thread.413026/

Edit: here's another good one, with lots of good info.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/what-kind-of-camper-do-you-have.87823/

 

You'll be fine and the truck will be fine. Lots of people freak out and upgrade to full size trucks when towing with Tacomas because the engine is "screaming" at 4000 RPM on hills but I don't think I've ever seen even one story about a Tacoma breaking down or there being drivetrain damage in a towing situation.

Just know that the engine was engineering to make it's power/torque at 3500+ RPM (you can feel it if you pay attention to the tachometer while putting the pedal to the metal: truck takes off like a rocket right at 3500 RPM) so even though it's loud, it's more than likely doing just fine. I like to shift manually down to 3rd gear (Should be towing in S4 most of the time with ECT on and can shift to S5 if you're on flat ground) on hills once the transmission starts to hunt between 3rd and 4th just to keep it from bouncing back and forth. You just have to embrace the noise.

 

Unless something has changed tow ratings on 3rd gens is 6400, but there are other factors to consider. If you're towing in mountains the tow rating should be reduced by 2%-3% for each 1000' of elevation. If you plan to cross any 11,000' passes then reduce that 6400 lbs by 22%-33%. So about 4300-5000 lbs.

Dry weight of 3500 lbs means you'll actually be towing closer to 4000-4500 lbs once everything is loaded.

Then there is payload. In virtually every case this is the true limiting factor. Tacoma's don't have very good payload ratings. You'll just have to look for the number printed on a sticker on the drivers door, or door jamb. MOST Tacomas will have 1000-1300 lbs depending on the individual truck. Some will be a bit more, others a bit less. It depends on how the truck is equipped. The heavier the truck, the less payload. A 4X4 Double cab will have less payload than a 4X2 Access cab.

Assuming a loaded trailer weight of 4000 lbs calculate 13% of that as tongue weight, or about 520 lbs on your hitch. If your truck has 1000 lbs of payload that only leaves you 480 lbs for passengers and cargo in the truck. Doable, but you'll have to pack carefully. If you're closer to 1300 lbs payload then you're in better shape.

In a nutshell you should be OK with a 3500 lb dry weight trailer. It may struggle some in mountains, and depending on payload you may have to leave some things home. FWIW my Forest River NOBO is 3500 lbs dry. I usually pull it with my F150 which does it with ease. But I've pulled it, and similar trailers with the Tacoma. It works, but that is as much as I'd want behind my Tacoma.

 

Greetings fellow newbie!

A few weeks ago me and Mrs took our first ever trip with our trailer. Our trailer is 3400lbs dry.

We pulled from Sacramento to Coos bay Oregon. Our ‘07 Taco did fine over the passes, but we did tend to hang out with the big rigs going up hill

 

Towing capacity of the Sport 2WD is 6700#

 

I tow a 3200 lbs. R Pod ready to camp in the MTN's and it does good, just go slow up hills I keep it at about 45 mph. I best thing I did was add a larger trans cooler and a WDH.

 

3200 lbs, so near as makes no difference. It'll go up any hill I point it, but it'll rev doing it. I personally think it does fine.

 

Here's one of my posts from "Show us what you tow" thread.

 

Mine as well. 3250 loaded. No issues.

 

My 2012 4LV6 tows my 1955 Airlight (2750 lbs, wet) up nearly all mountain grades doing 50mph in 3rd at 3500 RPM, strong and solid. She's a great truck. (And the trailer spare riding on the front bumper doesn't block airflow sufficiently to impact engine temp.)

 

I was just in the same dilemma as you. We just ended up getting this. It’s 3300lb dry. We just did a trip from Yakima, Wa to Seaside, Or plenty of mountains and hills. 460 mi round trip. It towed great with a full holding tank, belongings, me, the wife, and a 100lbs of dogs. It was VERY hot here last week too! When we left it was 110 degrees. 6-7% grades were a little tough but we chugged right along about 40mph. I probably wouldn’t want to go much heavier than this and I wouldn’t do it without a good WDH. I also used the manual shift, especially up hill. You won’t break any land speed records and you’ll be hanging with the semi’s a lot but I think it did great.

 

Is that a 180?

 

179

 

How do you like it? I’m
Looking at rpods. How does it pull ?

 

I like the spare tire location. If you just stick some cardboard over it you can block the airflow to the radiator completely.

 

We like the huge galley counter space right across the back end. It’s comfortable and ideal for 2. The usual camping weight I’m pulling is around 32-3300# and it tows very nicely. Truck is also at max payload when towing. Caviat: I’m tuned with KDMax and I have Hellwig helper springs. Also most of my towing is on prairie flat land.

 

You think I'm blocking too much airflow to the radiator? I don't. I run a scanguage so I can see a good readout of the engine temp while I'm pulling my 2750lb trailer on a hot day (100º up a long grade for a long time at 50mph and 3000rpm. Certainly doesn't run too hot, yoda.

 

Why do people always call me yoda. I call my truck a yoda I guess I should have been more clear on that or something. Anything that restricts air flow over the cooling system is not great especially pulling in 100 plus degrees but it’s your truck so you do you, airlight.

 

Airlight what temps are you getting on the 100 degree day going up long mountain passes? Just curious to how it compares to my temps.