Ok, How Bout 4cyl PreRunners for Towing?

I am still on the hunt for that perfect vehicle. I have done my required lurking and realized that there is a lot of butthurt between Prerunner owners and 4x4 owners.

I'm not into wheeling at all. I have a hunting lease, but there are no bad roads there, and we don't have rock crawling, and I don't like sticking my trucks in mud.

Now that we have all that out the way, I am finding tons of Prerunners for sale. My concern is the Automatic Transmission, 4 cylinder with pulling a load. I don't want a V6.

All I will be hauling is a boat, and a double axle trailer with a mower on it. That's it. I used to have a 4 cylinder, 5 speed S10 and while a trailer was a load on it, it pulled it fine, I just had to be careful and gear down well ahead of red lights.

I've been wanting a 5 speed, 2.7 liter, but if I get enough positive reviews, I might have to consider a PreRunner.. What say you learned Taco scholars?

 

Toyota always has had more balls then chevy. End of story

 

How much does the boat weigh loaded? If its under 3000 you will be fine

 

The boat's not heavy, it's the dual axle trailer with the 800 lb mower that's heavy.

Plus, I own some storage buildings, and people are always vacating and leaving their shit behind. It's hard to haul stuff in a Corolla.

I'm leaning more and more towards an Automatic. It's just, 5 speeds get snapped up IMMEDIATELY on Craigslist, but Prerunners aren't touched. I figured there had to be a reason.

 

I dont have a 4 cylinder or a pre runner, but there's nothing wrong with them. I can only add that I used to have a 4 cylinder S 10, and trust me, any Tacoma is better than that.

 

If that's what you say, then I'm pretty much sold on the Tacos. Like I said, I never had a problem with my S10. But it was a puny 2.2 liter.

 

You will be fine with a 4cyl for towing. I've pulled a 3,500lb boat behind my buddies '95 tacoma and it pulled fine, not like when i pulled it with my truck ( V6) but still good. The 4cyl in the tacoma is a very powerful engine and you will think you had a V6 compared to the chevy S10.

 

How about the auto as opposed to the 5 speed trans?

 

My buddies truck was a 5 spd and i've only driven my father in laws tacoma that was auto and i didn't like it. Just didn't seem to have as much power to me...but that's me though. I think after comming out of an S-10 either one will fit your needs. Maybe you could go test drive one of each on a lot somewhere without a trailer and feel the difference before you buy used.

 

4cyl tows fine up to the max loads. You will not get good mileage and it's slow on hills and takeoffs. That is true for any tow. Get one with a rear locker for pulling out boats, it makes it easier.
I would just get a 4x4 if you ever see any snow. Also, when you get the wheeling itch,you can scratch that too.

 

I'm in South Georgia. 30 miles north of the Florida line. Last time it snowed here and it stuck was in 1988, and it lasted for 1 day.

I'm good on the snow issue.

 

2.7 auto prerunner DblCab. I haul about a 2,000 load with mine pretty regular on mostly flat city roads. No problem, sure V6 pulls better, but the 2.7 is more than adequate for me.

 

I have a 2.7L 4x4 sitting on 33's and I've towed a 14' horse trailer with several full grown cows and a horse. Pulled well for a 4cyl.

 

I've got a 2.7l auto PreRunner. It has something called "ECT" (electronically controlled transmission), which I'm not sure if it was offered standard on autos. Changes the timing when shifting gears and though it puts a little more strain on the engine, it is supposed to be helpful when towing. If you go with a 2.7 PreRunner, you might also want to eventually look into a new muffler or entire exhaust- even just an aftermarket post cat and Flowmaster Super 44 with stock pipes made a noticeable difference from stock with mine

 

Ya you'll be fine, but like he is saying it'll be real slow up hills and the rear locker will come in handy, the reg. cab 1st gens don't come with one so I'm going to have one installed so if you can find a extra cab or dbl cab it'll save you that hassle.

 

I have a 2.7 DBL Cab Prerunner Automatic. When I tow, I do as the manual recommends. Place in 3rd which disengages the OD. Works great at speeds up to about 60MPH. Makes the transmission not hunt at all. I haul a 14 foot single axel trailer about 800 lbs and a mower that’s about 1000. Does great. I’ve had 800lbs in the bed once with bags of concrete. Also did fine. Just pokey.

 

As far as towing is concern, there is NO difference between the pre-runners and 4x4's. Except maybe on the boat ramp, the 4x4 would give you more traction to pull out.

As long as you aren't towing the heavier trailer in the hills, you'd be more than fine with the 4cyl, as long as you're under the 3000# limit.

 

Only 8 years old

 

Can you expand a little more on this? I got a 2.7 and I'm thinking about getting a boat.

 

I had a 2.7 auto now have a 4.0 6sp I couldn't go back to that auto. Loved my old taco, but that auto just wasn't it.