After market towing equipment advice

Need towing advice quickly
I have an 02 Tacoma TRD 2wd Prerunner 6 cyl, automatic. Need to pull a 19 foot boat weight about 2500lbs, trailer weighs in at about 700 lbs. Getting mixed advice - told to get both tranny cooler and oil cooler in addition to hitch and electrical. Do I need both - longest tow would be about 2 to 2.5 hrs Boston to Sunipee NH. Should I also get brake controller? Getting contradictory advice on needing all of this, but rather safe than sorry. Also any advice on manufacturers of this equipment?

Thought I'd ask the experts.

 

Does the trailer have electric brakes if so your going to need a brake controller. A hitch will be needed to pull the boat and you will need some sort of trailer wirings weather it be 4 pin or 7 pin. Transmission coolers are good to have when pulling heavy loads to help keep Trans temp down auto Trans week link is temp. As far as oil cooler I'm not sure I have actually heard people call the Trans cooler an oiler cooler but I'm not much help there. I pulled a 24' pontoon boat up a very steep grade an my truck didn't do bad at all I was impressed but I have the tow package.

 

I would say that you dont really need much. Obviously a hitch and wiring (I suggest factory trailer wiring, it is far superior to aftermarket t-connectors). You are on the edge of needing brakes. A brake controller by itself is of no use, since your trailer certainly hasnt got any brakes on it. If anything, get hydraulic surge brakes for the trailer, though youre on the edge of whether you really need it or not. transmission cooler would be a nice thing to have, but unless you go way higher, not needed. Just dont let it hunt for gears, set the tranny to 4 or 3 as needed to prevent hunting on steep inclines. Engine oil cooler is NOT required.

Since youre going to be floating your boat in fresh water, you can go with non-stainless or stainless disk brakes, check out easternmarine.com for "tiedown" brand hydraulic surge brakes, galvanized vented kit is $398, ss drilled kit is $469. No controller needed. Just install the kit and go.

Hint: if you dont want to mess around too much with reverse lockout wiring, also get a manual reverse lockout ball valve $16.

I would absolutely NOT go with drum brakes, especially on a trailer that will be submerged. Electric brakes can also be problematic when youre dealing with water.

 

if your not sure about anything, we used to sell to Dan Write, Write trailers in SeaKonk, Ma, right off of 95. he's got a big mouth, but he has a very large shop and know his shit.
you better be sure about the brakes, Mass. is very strict on trailer requirements.
usually when you get a boat of that size the trailer with it will have hyd srg. brakes.
and thats a good load for the truck, I would see about getting the trans cooler, that would take some heat off also on the motor. if you have the time and money i would synthetic trans fluid and oil, they deal with the heat better.

 

i'm guessing you don't have the towing pkg on ur truck that would have already come from the factory with needed additional parts for towing? i'm no expert, but it sounds like with everything on ur truck it could tow up to 5k, but i don't know if the towing pkg would be necessary for that towing figure. so as Levar Burton used to say " '...but, you don't have to take my word for it.' "

 

Okay, lets be realistic here. You're covering some distance (2 to 2.5 hrs of driving), pulling a load close to 4000-lbs with all your junk (fuel, boat gear, fishing gear, refreshments, or whatever) on board. Now add in the weight of yourself and possible passengers. You clearly need both coolers and the brake controller.

 

I hope you are trying to be funny. If you actually think that your bold words make sense, then I feel very sorry for you. He is only 500 pounds over the "bumper ball" towing limit for non towing package trucks. The difference falls well within the PAYLOAD allowance for his truck. As long as he isnt retarded regarding driving up inclines, there is absolutely no need for EITHER cooler. A brake controller is worthless, his trailer has no brakes, and it is a really moronic move to put electric brakes on a boat trailer. If he wants to install brakes, he needs hydraulic disk brakes, which have no need for brake controller.

 

Get a proper class 3 hitch, proper trailer wiring and go. you aren't driving in an F1 race so the coolers are nice but aren't nessessary. take it easy and drive at a pace you feel comfortable and enjoy your boat.

 

No, I'm not. I attempted to provide sound, reliable, advice. Nearly everyone recommends extra cooling when towing that amount of weight. I've had a transmission (on another vehicle) fry from heat while towing even less (though not much less) and have seen the engine temp climb many times while towing, so I certainly recommend extra cooling.

As for the brake controller, he mentioned that (without asking which), so I assume he knows what is needed for his particular trailer. Many boat trailers have electric brakes, including my own. Finally, most state regulations require brakes to be fitted on boat trailers over 3,000 pounds. His boat & trailer exceeds that.

 

If your engine temps are riseing while towing then you are driving to fast. As for the brakes if the trailer comes with brakes from the manufacture then you should oviously use them ....... towing is all about useing common sense and if you don't have that then buy a Volvo

 

Actually, in my case, it's usually the opposite. It's normally in slow traffic on a hot day when the temp guage starts to climb. Worst in memory was crawling along (repeated starting and stopping with the extra weight) in a traffic jam after traveling just over an hour on the freeway. Engine got darn hot that day. Just can't control what you're going to come across on the road.

 

Thanks for all the info everyone. After a bit of additional calls and research it looks like I'll be able to get by with a class lll hitch, 4 pin wire and a transmission cooler - the latter is more as a precaution: you know $50 part vs $2500 transmission. The trailers I'm looking at have surge disc breaks so no need for a break controller. Thanks again.

 

my transmission will get really hot while off roading and i have a manual...is it possible to install a cooler on it ot should i just not worry about it?