Tacomas doing work

Moving my wife’s stuff to her new office.

 

Did some 'landscaping' and removed some hedge stumps. The blanket-over-the-rope came into play twice. Once, when one of the stumps split and the rope came off. The rope still slapped the tailgate, but "it'll buff out". The second time, the root on the stump snapped and the stump went flying, but the blanket stopped it.

Gotta play in 4LO, so at least had some fun.

 

Towed my Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII today.

Total weight pulled would be around 5500 lbs (Evo 8 w/ sunroof - around 3300 lbs, U-Haul Trailer - 2210 lbs)

I would only pull this amount of weight if it's an emergency. Not that I expected a Tacoma to be good pulling this amount of weight though. Thankfully, it's only 25 miles instead of a long trip, and I'm not doing it regularly at all. I think I only got 12 MPG, mix stop/go traffic and highway driving.

The truck accelerates and brakes fine, even on slight inclines/declines (e.x. highway on/off-ramps). The steering is a bit sketch due to how much squat this truck has. I could move the car a bit further back for a bit less tongue weight, but due to the nature of the trailer (car has to be on the very front to use the tire straps that straps the car down), I can't move it.

I'm looking into Sumo Springs/airbags to handle the squat (even when towing less).

So if any of you wonder how the Tacoma does towing heavy (for a Tacoma), here are my thoughts about how the Tacoma did.

 

Those U-haul trailers seems like they're about the worst car haulers: heavy, bad straps, etc.

 

On the contrary, I find that UHaul tow dollies are sturdy as shit, but unloaded are a cacophony rolling down the road.

The day I bought my Taco, hauling my daily home (The Taco was a very ugly creature then):


Just the other day, hauling my buddy's TDI to my healing spa:

 

Couldn’t agree more. Bad straps, heavyweight, ratchet mechanism is not smooth, not low car friendly, etc. and you can’t distribute your weight properly.

I used a Trailex and a fancy Futura trailer and they are infinitely nicer than the U-Haul trailer in every single way. But the U-Haul trailer is convenient to rent because there are many available and you can drop them off anytime

 

Hmmm, I had no issues with the one I rented; I had my Tacoma off and on the trailer three times and I had my wife's Mazda3 on it once, it worked great.

 

Could you have turned the car around?

 

Next time do your truck a favor and move the car back on the trailer to center the load more on the trailer axles. The car is to far forward causing most of the squat.

 

I already mentioned that I would have, but I couldn’t due to the way the U-Haul trailer is set up.

The car is strapped down by the tire straps that are attached on the front of the trailer. The tires has to be touching the tire stops (on the front of the trailer) to be properly strapped down, or else the straps would fly off (seen that happened before). So, the car has to be way up front to be strapped down.

Just the unfortunate reality of U-Haul trailers. Their setup doesn’t allow for proper weight distribution

 

Maybe, maybe not. Haven’t tried that way, but most of the Evo’s weight is on the front. Not sure if I’ll get enough tongue weight if I load the car up backwards.

 

Hauled one cord of Oregon White Oak between the bed and trailer today. About 4,200lbs dry hardwood. Timbrens in the rear are holding up a ton of squat.

Edit: The bed of a 6' Taco holds slightly less than 1/3 of a cord, so pile it a little above the gun rails and you're golden!

Another edit: I wanted to post this picture to show the novice Taco firewood haulers what a cord of wood looks like. The trailer is a 8x5x2. The volume of this trailer plus the volume of the pickup bed is 0.95 of a cord. Pile it a little over the rails and it's a full cord.

 

Am curious what made you choose the Timbrens over the Sumo Springs/airbags? I’m looking into those, as even when I pull 4k-4.5k lbs my truck still squats

 

Timbrens seemed like the most permanent and passive option, being solid rubber. Sumo springs looked a little foamy to me, and I was worried about breakdown over time. I thoroughly dislike airbags, because they require constant adjustment. My shitbox Landcruiser had airbags, and they were a terrible bandaid for replacing leafs and shocks.

 

reminded me of this

 

You can fit a boat

 

I’m bad about taking pictures. Used just last weekend to get drywall. Mulch loads, news shrubs. This trucks been great. Good thread.

 

Pulled this dump truck out of the mud at work yesterday... 4lo, diff locked, ECT power.

 

easy tiger

 

Redoing my front fence because I’m too cheap and stubborn and picky to have someone else do it. (The Tacoma drives so well with 500lbs in the bed! Feels right.)