clueless on towing heavier items

I own a 2008 PreRunner V6 and inherrited a 26' wildwood travel trailer the dry wieght is 4200 lbs what do I also need to buy to tow it?

 

A bigger truck.

 

Does your truck have a tow package?

 

Can't get a better answer then that. It is the only option.

 

QFT.

 

If you do decide to tow the trailer, for short distances only, you need an
electric brake controller! Emergency stopping without trailer brakes would be very dangerous..
my $.02

 

Toyota says brakes on any thing over 1,000#.

 

Your going to break your truck if you put pretty much anything in that trailer bud .

Sell that trailer and buy a smaller one .

 

Motor Trend specs say absolute maximum tow weight with factory installed tow prep package is 6500lbs,and 3500lbs without. Personally I would never pull anything close to that. I doubt I would even pull half of that. But if you decide to pull it man, be sure you have the tow package, and trailer breaks or you'll find yourself in a downhill. Not to mention coming out of pocket for a new tranny if you keep it up. IMO don't risk it.

 

Trade up for a tundra. You won't regret it.

 

I put a 3000# 66 Mustang on a 20' 2300# trailer and it pulled fine. Now I realize wind resistance is completely different with a travel trailer but I would say that you should be fine as long as you don't add 3000# of gear to it and take your time. If you have to go far (50+ miles on a regular basis) then I would consider upgrading trucks or getting a smaller camper. Just my 2 cents.

 

the Tacoma bible said I am able to tow up to 6500 and with that camper full it only comes to 5200 lbs. I already have the brake control my truck came with the pigtail so i bought the controller and I also have WD hitch just purchased and air ride suspension not sure if I need anthing else. I did get the full tow package that toyota offered.

 

you will be good to go, just take it easy.

 

I am going to have to go against the popular opinion here. First it depends on your towing experience and comfort level. If you are brand new to towing, 26' can be difficult with any truck but especially a small one like the taco. Second where are you towing. Flat lands vs mountain passes makes a difference. And lastly, how often and how far do you expect to tow.

This trailer like mine [29' and 5500 gross wt] will be hitting the limits of the taco. It can do it and in my experience does it surprisingly well for a small truck. I only take a few trips a year within a few hundred miles up and down Northeast. I find that my taco is sufficient for this. I use it as my dd so it is a good compromise. I did add some items to help:
Towing mirrors
Brake controller
Dual cam sway control [with long trailer invest in good sway control]
Wd hitch
Firestone airbags
Leaf spring tsb
Just added another tranny cooler though I have one with towing package [found it getting a little hot on long Hills]

So my answer is at the end of the day, the decision as to whether tow your trailer is up to you. The taco can handle it but can you?

 

I think the towing capacity number get misinterpreted a lot. Some with more expertise can correct me if wrong, but I think the "max towing capacity" is really just the difference of the gross combined vehicle weight rating (the total safe weight of loaded truck/trailer combination for stopping and pulling on a dry level road) minus the dry base weight of the truck.

And I think the dry base weight of the truck probably does not incude driver, passengers, gas, water, oil and maybe doesn't even include a lot of optional equipment on the truck.

So all those things, passengers, cargo, gas etc subtract from the 6500 number. And any incline up or down subtracts from it too. Maybe even some optional equipment comes out of that number as well.

So am kind of leaning toward 3000, maybe 3500 max for any loaded trailer on my Taco.

 

If you're going to do it, I'd say you're about as properly equipped as you're going to get with those add-ons. Just be mindful how much weight you have in the truck itself when you go to tow that thing.

 

Yes a Taco will pull 6500# not very well but it will. With something even at 5000# it's not going to be a fun drive the handling will suck the power will be nonexistent and the wind will blow you around. If you get sideways in any evasive maneuver you’re going with the trailer in whatever direction it wants to go. There are a lot of lucky people out there towing weights in excess of a trucks capabilities and there are quite a few that were not so lucky. I needed to haul my tractor it’s about 3300# the trailer I borrowed was about 2500# I had a 8 mile trip having just a bit more sense than the average idiot I used my friends full size Dodge to pull it despite the fact it was under 6500#.

 

I tow like 3k maybe a little more without trailer brakes just fine. even emergency stopping is not really a problem.

I tow about half with just the stock tow package no WD hitch no air bags no trailer brakes and it dose just fine.




If i had trailer brakes, WD hitch, air bags i would not think twice about towing 6000lbs to 6500, now if it was extremely hilly or more then a 4 or 5 hours drive, i would think about something bigger.

 

Actualy my camper is approx 5500 loaded. On long up hills I drop to about 50 mph but never go below that or above 4k rpm. Actually most of the time I am cruising at 60mph with approx 2k rpm. So I feel the power is sufficient. Yes you won't be passing people up in left hand or speeding up big hills but the little truck pulls. On straight aways I leave it in 5th [D] and drop it to 4th for hills. Last trip averaged 11mpg. As for sway, just get a good sway control wd hitch. I use reese dual cam but I heard equalizer just as good. I will agree with you about the dangers of getting sideways with a trailer in tow but mine has never moved from directly behind me in the three years I was towing with this setup. Am I just lucky, I don't think so. I setup up the truck as best as I could for my trailer, the truck is capable of pulling 6500 lbs and I take it easy while towing. I consider my "luck" as a mixture of common sense, towing experience and one great little truck.

 

Brake controller, check, WD hitch, check, airbags, good addition, sway control might be a good idea as well. Get some towing mirrors, and check out the Tacoma Towing Bible (search). Make sure you have the trailer loaded so the tongue weight is between 520 and 500 lbs, and get your wd hitch set up at proper height, as well as the trailer. It takes a little time to get everything set up just so. I towed 6600 lbs in a 20' cargo trailer across Canada, and it handled it quite well. Got a little sway in strong cross winds on snow covered roads, but when conditions were good, it was no problem. Mine's a 6spd, so it's got an extra 100lbs tow capacity over the autos ;-)