2024 Tacoma towing requirements, suggestions and recommendations needed

The SR Tundra cannot be sold with the integrated trailer brake controller. (There's lots of third-party options) You also get 2-3k more lbs of towing capacity with every other trim of Tundra than the SR, although payload capacity remains close to the same for all trim levels. This may or may not matter to you, but as adrew pointed out, an SR Tundra gets a much roomier truck with way more towing capacity for about the same price (or less) as you'd spend on a new Tacoma.

 

I prefer to always have a tow vehicle that is significantly higher rated than the weight I'm pulling/payload. I found that when you get towards max numbers for the vehicle it can do it but it drives a lot crappier and is hard on the vehicle. My current old truck can tow 7K and the max I tow with it is 3500 It tows 1/2 it's rating easily and feels great. I'll do max payload/tow for short trips or specific hauling or whatever but for a road trips it just makes the driving experience suck. In the past I towed on a road trip at a vehicle's maximum and it was not worth it. Going up hills, breaking distance, the amount the engine has to work, and the responsiveness of the vehicle all suck.

 

I get a kick out of all these guys saying you need a full size truck to tow a 3000 lb trailer. You’ve hauled an sizeable camping rig before so I’m not going to talk at you like you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m just going to share a couple things I keep in mind as a former heavy haul truck driver in the Canadian Rockies. When you’re a commercial driver, you need to know what you weigh and how it is distributed on your axles.

Whatever rig you decide on, load it up, head to a truck stop with a scale and check your weights on the truck and trailer individually. With what you’re planning on hauling, I’m sure you can load it in a way that you’re not exceeding the Tacomas limits anywhere. Get a good anti-sway weight distribution hitch like the Blue Ox Sway Pro. Keep an eye on your tranny and exhaust temps and use a lower gear when descending steep areas in order to not overheat your brakes. Again, know what you weigh.

All that said, if you really are going to tow a lot. It would be pretty hard to beat a GM half ton with the little Duramax in it. I’ve heard nothing but great things about that motor.

 

Lol:
"You don't need a full size
...
But you should get a diesel Sierra"

But seriously, the bigger truck advice is coming from the fact that he
a) doesn't own the Tacoma yet, and
b) is already planning to go way over on payload (and we all know that number always ends up higher than planned)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0o7v8BiHAM

 

lol, not what I said.

If guy really wants a Tacoma, he should get one. It will work. Would it be tough to beat a little diesel half ton for towing? Sure, but that doesn’t mean the Tacoma wouldn’t be a good tool for the job. Unless you’re being unsafe, there’s no wrong answer here. I’ll quantify a bit here. If I was approaching 30-40% of the total miles the vehicle would see as towing, I’d consider the diesel half.