6100lb travel trailer

How big of a travel trailer could you pull with the Tacoma? I have a TRD OR 6MT so it is rated to pull 6400# with a max tongue weight of 640# IIRC. So how realistic is something like the trailer in the link below? It's dry weight is ~5300#, water capacity is 100 gallons (800#) bringing the total weight in tow up to 6100# which leaves 300# left for personal items, even more if I'm not towing with full gray and black water tanks. Of course the trailer has a max weight of 7560# which is significantly over Tacoma's rated tow weight, but I'd have to fill the trailer with a whole bunch of stuff to get it that heavy...right? Am I missing something?

I know the Tacoma is not super powerful and I'd likely be stuck going 60mph everywhere but I'm OK with that. I don't mind pushing the truck hard just to achieve sluggish performance. I'm just wanting to know if my understanding of the weight limits is correct.

If I did something like this, I'd invest in a weight distributing hitch and a proper brake controller.

https://www.keystonervsource.com/sp...ullet-travel-trailer-floorplan-284rls-tr11055

 

Check out the towing section...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/towing.34/

This will also help...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/

 

can you pull it, sure. should you pull it with a tacoma... Probably not. anything over 2000 lbs, with a tacoma you will feel it, and it will be the tail wagging the dog. yes some are rated for somewhere around 6000lbs but, it really doesnt mean it can do it safely. I have towed with mine, (nowhere near that weight), and I cant stand towing anything with it really. Ski

 

There was a thread similar to this a few days ago too. Most said the same thing and that a Tundra or other half ton would be a better fit.

 

The GVWR is there for a reason. Exceeding it by 1000# is not a great idea. That is a nice TT though.

 

can you, yes. Will you like it, no. I towed a TT that nearly maxed the tow capacity of a 1st gen Tundra for several years...first TT. It did it, but it was miserable in the mountains and/ or strong winds, and I rarely exceeded 55 mph. Upgraded to a 5.7l second gen Tundra and everything was good.

I now tow a 3,500# TT with a 3rd gen. Tacoma. That is about as much trailer as I would like with a Tacoma. Particularly if long trips involving mountains is involved. Want the trailer, get a full size truck, with appropriate towing gear.

 

I didn't realize this was here. Thanks

 

Don't forget you also need to take the trucks payload into account not just the towing capacity. For example my truck only has about a thousand pound payload. If I'm in it plus another person or two almost all of that payload gets taken up. Leaving not much tongue weight available. Since tongue weight should be about 10% of the trailer weight it's really easy to overload the payload of the truck before hitting the towing limit.

 

I tow 3k TT back and forth from the Midwest to the Southwest all the time. It's fine. I don't even mind mountains. The mpg is the same as the f150 I used to tow it with.

Would I tow the max? Nope

 

Travel coaches almost always end up way heavier than you think they are.

My truck is stock and usually will show 20 - 21 mpg on the dash display on a steady highway trip at 65 - 70 mph with no trailer.

I just took a trip to pick up a mower weighing around 1000 pounds.
This was a 200 mile highway run with the trailer, it is a common 5 x 12 utility/landscape type with a mesh gate at the rear and weighs about 1000 pounds empty, I pull it around town all the time with a mower and aren't really conscience of it, for that service the Tacoma is fine.

I have pulled it with an XJ Cherokee, F 150 (302 V8), F 250 (460 V8) and now the Tacoma.

Empty on the fairly flat I could run at 65 in sixth gear with some shifting to fifth or fourth on hills, the dash display settled in about 15 so a 5 to 6 mpg loss - I attribute this to the air resistance of the trailer tailgate more than the weight.

Loaded it was fifth gear maximum and mileage dropped below 14, shifting to fourth as required on hills and also in heavy wind.

I reset the display when I got off the highway, it is 10 miles of straight 40 - 50 mph road, in fourth gear that showed 16.3, with no trailer this would normally show 25 or better on this stretch.

I have pulled the same trailer many miles with both of the Fords and it never made much difference, the F- 150 got 12 mpg all the time, the F-250 got up to 11 on the highway.

The XJ is probably a better puller than the Tacoma due to the torque curve being at so much lower rpm with the in line six. Both old Fords with V8 engines are far superior.

For the entire trip I wondered how the heck do the guys with racks, heavy builds or towing campers do this regular?
Keep in mind this was just an open deck trailer not a travel coach which is essentially an 8 x 8 square of wind resistance to drag along - it will be a miserable cow to drive and suck gas like it's going out of style.

Another thing to consider is the effect of wind on a travel coach, the unit you listed is 32 feet, that is a lot of side area for the wind to leverage against you, even with (required) weight distribution and (highly recommended) sway control you can end up in a tail wagging the dog situation quick.

Finally with the hitch weight, driver and passenger you will be out of payload with nothing in the bed.

Bigger truck or smaller trailer and you will have a more enjoyable towing experience.

 

With a good headwind, I've seen 7mpg

 

Have you looked at the Winnebago Micro Minnie?

 

Nice trailer but I wouldn't pull it with a Taco. My TT is 4000 lbs, not counting the generator, extra fuel and other things I take with me out to the desert. We get good cross winds in the desert and I'm white knuckling it the whole time. Add in 12mpg tops, no higher than S4 (maybe S5 rarely) and chugging up steep hills...

The last time I towed the trailer is the last time my Taco will do this. Bought a Tundra for towing duties from now on. And my trailer doesn't weigh as much as the one you listed OP.

Soooooo... to mirror others here... you probably CAN tow it with your Taco but probably SHOULD NOT.

 

Comparing my old 4.0L Tacoma to my F150 when pulling my landscaping trailer the F150 blows the Tacoma out of the water. What's shocking to me is my F150 has only about 500lbs more of GVWR than the my old Tacoma! Certain new F150s with the higher towing capacity packages can tow on paper 14k!

 

I have no regrets trading straight across my 5.0 f150 with 60k miles for my new Tacoma (We'll never see trade-ins like that again)

I calculated that the taco with 5.29 gears has about exactly the same torque as the 5.0, but lower gears mean lower speed. I have to go about 10mph slower to feel the same.

 

Well I miss my Taco. Didn't really get to choose when it was time to trade it in. Someone made the decision for me. If it wasn't for that guy that day I'd still have my Tacoma
Honestly an F150 fits my truck needs more than the Tacoma and gets better fuel economy.

 

You need a new truck to tow that trailer.

 

Knarly Ben ! ... glad you're ok

 

In the real world 4500-5000 lbs is a sensible max for a Tacoma and I'd like to keep it closer to 4000. And even with that you won't be able to put anything in the truck other than a driver and one passenger. No cargo in the truck, everything in the trailer. If this were a one-time, short distance pull I'd do it carefully with nothing in the truck but the driver. But nowhere near 6000 lbs for a travel trailer you're going to pull a lot.

Tow rating is only one of several factors to look at. It is your payload that is almost always the limiting factor. There is a statement printed on a sticker attached to the driver's door jamb that reads something like "The weight of passengers and cargo should never exceed XXXX lbs." Find that number, it is your payload, and it is different for every truck depending on what options it has on it. Most 4X4 DC trucks will be 1000-1200 lbs. Some as low as 900, and some as high as 1300. If you have a base model Access Cab 4X2 it might be 1500.

Then figure 13% of trailer weight as tongue weight. Plus, any trailer over 5000 lbs requires a weight distribution hitch which weighs about 100 lbs. The tongue weight of a 6100 lb trailer plus the WDH will eat up 900 lbs of your payload. With most Tacoma's that leaves 100-300 lbs for passengers and cargo in the truck. My wife and I are 360 combined.

7000 lbs is approaching the practical limits of most 1/2 ton trucks for exactly the same reason. Many are rated at 10,000+, but start running out of payload at around 7000-8000 lbs.

Trucks have a payload rating, and a tow rating. You can max out one or the other, but not both. If you're hauling the max payload, you can't tow a 900 lb utility trailer. If you max out the trailer, you can't haul anything in the truck.

That is where 3/4 tons come in. The tow rating on most 1/2 tons is pretty close to, and sometimes overlap what you can tow with a 3/4 ton. But 3/4 tons have enough payload to tow those trailers AND haul near the max payload.

You'll have 2 propane tanks, at least one battery which will be 100-200 lbs. A full tank of fresh water on my small TT is almost 300 lbs. That is before food and other gear.

If you want to tow 7500 lbs you'll have to make careful choices even with a 1/2 ton. Not all of them will handle that. I also have a 2014 F150 and I wouldn't pull that much with it. Once you get to 8000 lbs it is time to seriously consider a 3/4 ton truck.