Major towing confusion

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tacomaworld/s/CzksD8U6WV

Hello all, above is a link to thread explaining my confusion. I bought a used 2015 trd sport and I want to buy a trailer for it and want to know if it is or is not ready to go for such a thing.

When I pull the vin it tells me it is a "delux", no mention of TRD anywhere.

It says that it is somehow rated from the factory with 6k towing capacity but I has 0 towing accessories. No atf or oil coolers, receiver is aftermarket, no wiring or brake wiring, etc. Nothing whatsoever. How is this possible?

 

What is your body code? Listed on the door jamb sticker? The TRN/GRN "series" listing in your screen shot is conflicting itself so I wouldn't trust that source. Though its clear you have the V6 from the pics

The auxiliary ATF cooler and oil cooler are both on the drivers side if installed, not passenger side. The oil cooler is part of the oil filter base

 

A tow rating does not indicate it has to have a tow package. The used car dealer saw a hitch and assumed it was factory. A dealer can tell you what was included on a tow package in 2015, but it doesn't appear to me you have the package. On my 2007, tow package included hitch, atf cooler, 130-amp alternator, oil cooler, and wiring with connector in cab near the obd connector.

 

The 6000# GVWR is Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, that is the max total weight rating of the truck plus cargo and passengers (not including a trailer). It has nothing to do with towing.
Since you have no coolers it likely doesn't have the tow package.

 

^ These two gents (DM and Chuy) right here. Even getting the ORIGINAL Sales Sticker isn't 100% reliable. Best thing to do is always physically check pre-purchase or run the VIN yourself. I thank the stars I got a decent Used Car Salesman when I was searching for a Taco. I was in a similar position of making sure what on paper was real. Despite the dealership having the original spec/sales sheet, I was a giant PITA and had him take pictures and videos (as I was purchasing out of state, physical sight-unseen). Had him crawling under, in and all over lol. Good dude overall, still a used car salesman, but honest where it counted.

 

This is the A/C condenser, not ATF cooler:



The towing pkg ATF cooler (or more accurately, auxiliary ATF cooler) if present, is on the driver's side below the horns:



If you don't have the towing pkg, the truck's towing capacity is 3500 lb per the owner's manual.

 

The Tow Package gets you an engine oil cooler, transmission oil cooler, trailer wiring harness with 7-pin connector and converter, electronic sway-control added to the vehicle stability control, trailer brake controller connector, 130 amp alternator, heavy duty battery and a class-IV rated frame mounted trailer hitch.

All of this adds up/combines to get the 6,500 lb trailer tow rating on the truck. If it doesn't have a Class IV hitch on it, (2" receiver) factory or otherwise, it's not tow-rated for 6,500 lbs. i.e.: If you just add a Class IV hitch, the maximum tow rating is not necessarily going to be 6,500 lbs. I believe there is a footnote on the specs to the effect of: "vehicles equipped with tow package"

That said: From past experience I would not tow anything approaching 4,500 ibs with a Tacoma, even with the tow package, unless it was (maybe) a 4WD, 6' bed long wheel base config. It's not the power, it's the "tail wagging the dog" syndrome: in a panic stop, you don't want the trailer trying to push right through you back there. (And the brakes: IMO they aren't exactly confidence inspiring....even with no trailer at times) They do the job but they don't go out of their way to convince you they actually will... or -can-. (IMO)

Towing 6,500 lbs., I'd be in an F150 (or pick any full sized model) minimum, with a weight distributing hitch, trailer brakes and analog friction anti-sway. YMMV

 

There are multiple things to consider. If you don't have the tow package it is rated for 3500 lbs. The biggest thing is the transmission cooler and that could be added. It needs a 7 pin connector for trailer wiring. If you only have a 4 pin, you'll need to re-wire it AND add a brake controller. I don't think any of them come with a brake controller, but if you have a 7 pin plug MOST just require you to mount the controller and plug in to existing wiring.

You can add all of those things and get it ready to tow.

But forget about towing 6000 lbs. The trucks with 6000-6500 lb tow ratings are rated to PULL that much weight. Almost none of them have a suspension with enough payload rating for much over 4500-5000 lbs.

There is a sticker on the driver's door jamb with a statement that reads something like, "The combined weight of all passengers and cargo should never exceed XXXX lbs". That is your true limit. The exact amount varies depending on the truck, but most will be 1000-1200 lbs. There are a few closer to 1300. You'll just have to look.

You then figure 13% of the loaded trailer weight as tongue weigh so a 4000 lb trailer will add over 500 lbs to your truck's suspension. That would leave you somewhere between 500-700 lbs for the driver, any passengers, and cargo inside the truck. That is doable, but you still have to be careful. Two adult men could easily weight 400-500 lbs leaving almost nothing for any other cargo in the truck.

 

Thanks @Williston and @Marshall R for essentially corroborating and expanding my own plans (coincidentally)! My over zealous friends who have a big ol travel trailer were trying to convince me that a 5K lb trailer would be fine on the Taco. While I was shooting for a 3200 - 4000 ballpark unpacked. DCLB 4x4 V6 with tow package or not, I want to keep it well under.

 

I have a friend that used to tow ~4k pounds with a 4WD V6 Tacoma a few times a year (race car) for track days. He said that while it worked, it was far from ideal, and that both the brakes and the suspension were not up to even that. Granted, if you just need to go a few miles, no problem, but towing even 4k pounds longer distances just isn't a good idea with a Tacoma.

 

Hello all, op here. Sorry for the wait, always slammed and can't always get on here.

I've learned alot from here and since originally posting, I know now I do not have an ATF cooler, and I misunderstood the door sticker (brainfart) but still have no clue how toyotas website is telling me 6300 is the tow rating.

Ive since bought a cooler but two things I'm having trouble with

- i am in the midwest, hot summers and cold winters, having trouble deciding if best for me have this thing independent or interlined with the existing radiator setup? If independent do I just cap off the radiator inlet and outlet?

- fluid, I bought this truck used, no idea what fluid is currently in it. I assume the level will need adjusted if I lengthen the travel the fluid has to go right? Does that leave me having to do a flush so I know what is in there? In my mind I install the cooler, warm up to engage the thermostat (getting fluid in the cooler) then adjust the level via the overflow plug? Thanks in advance and I appreciate the replies.

 

Not a towing expert here but I will share my limited experience & echo what some have said re: suspension, above.

Towing anything over 4Kish pounds on my stock 2nd gen TRD OR suspension was unpleasant, verging on sketchy-feeling.

I upgraded the suspension to FOX 2.5 coils/shocks w/ DSC on all 4 corners + Deaver U402 stage III leaf springs on the back, and now can comfortably tow 5K pounds, cruise at 60 mph on the highway without feeling like the trailer is trying to push the truck all over the road.

If I needed to tow 5K+ lbs routinely I would just get a bigger truck, but with a big suspension upgrade it makes towing 5K+ lbs occasionally quite reasonable and safe-feeling.

 

I have towed campers in the past and always installed an external transmission cooler on any vehicles that didn't have them. The instructions for all of them (Tekonsha, Hayden) specified installing them after (down-stream) of the factory radiator tank cooler and to not bypass it. Some believe that this helps to avoid over-cooling the fluid in cold temps. May be true, but I'm of the opinion that unless you live in very cold places, it's not possible to over-cool transmission fluid.

Buy the biggest cooler that will fit. I think the OEM transmission cooler is a little small, and if I was towing again I would install a bigger stacked-plate type that was about double what is there now. The OEM tow package is a bargain for what comes with it. Especially the engine oil cooler and anti-sway software added to the vehicle stability control... not to mention the Class IV hitch and HD alternator.

You do have the 6' bed with long-wheelbase frame unless I'm missing something. That's a very big deal (imo) if you're going to be towing. That was my target just for the better ride and stability I figured it should provide: I couldn't find one that didn't have issues I couldn't ignore.

Good luck and welcome back!

 

One reason to go independent is to avoid cross contamination should the inside of the radiator rupture. Nissan pickup owners 05-10 know about that. You don't have to cap the inlet/outlet, but if you want to keep debris out, you can just put generic plugs. I added a larger cooler but I didn't bypass the radiator. I wouldn't in your case either so that the ATF warms up quicker due to your colder temps in the winter.

 

I put them on three Volvo wagons that I used to tow a medium sized pop-up and never had an issue with the transmissions and I believed they (aux cooler) were part of the reason. Years later I found out that Aisin (Aisin-Warner at the time: 1990's ) was the supplier for Volvo on all of their automatic transmissions but one: the infamous ZF which had big issues, (aux cooler or otherwise). Aisin transmission is a subsidiary of Toyota. I put 300,000 miles on two of the Volvo's and 250,000 on the other and never had a problem with any of them. (3-sp with OD) Just change the fluid in the pan every 60k or so and you're good to go.

 

Right on good info thank you! I'm going to go down this rabbit hole too, right now I just want to make sure my drive train is safe, and then experiment to see what else I need to do, start looking at suspension upgrades as soon as the time comes where I foresee myself needing to haul heavy, for now its for small stuff like hauling dirt and shed materials for my house, and a canoe.

It currently has a six inch lift but it's not the greatest, rough country, cheap. But I bought it like that, eventually I'd like to slowly replace all of it with nicer equipment.

 

Right on thank you!! Unfortunately it is a 5' bed, main reason I wanted a trailer, but this is good info, the downstream after radiator part answer my routing questions fully. Only part I'm left confused about is does the longer travel mean fluid needs re-adjusted? That'll suck if so because it definitely doesn't havent factory fluid in there now, and I'll have to do a whole flush to avoid potentially mixing unlike fluids.

 

Sounds good thank you, yes I am just going to interline it with the existing factory cooler, downstream so it's re-cooled before going back into trans.

 

Yikes, six inches is awfully high. Hard on the CV joints. My lift is about 2" front and back, this is about the max limit before thinks like CV-boot flange rubbing (where one fold of a CV boot starts rubbing on the fold next to it 100% of the time) starts to creep up. Short term it's a non-issue, but medium-long term it leads to the CV boot tearing, followed rapidly by contamination and/or loss of grease --> CV joint damage, eventual failure.

And then there are often other issues with higher lift heights, related to output shaft / driveshaft / rear diff angles. Vibrations of various kinds that are Not Good.

 

Towing-relevant: Anyone interested in truly deep-diving the topic of transmission coolers -- mainly automatic, but even manual trans coolers as well (see the last page or two of the thread) should read this long thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...l-toyotas-write-up-with-many-pictures.526283/

Tons of technical detail and discussion, including the question of whether it's possible to over-cool transmission fluid. (It is. Apparently about 170ºF or so is the lower working limit.)