Travel trailer/tacoma help?

Here is my two cents, just my opinion.

I would choose a smaller trailer or buy a bigger truck. While the overall weight towed will not be exceeded............towing a "shoebox" of that size will not be a relaxing experience with the Tacoma. You could invest in a $2500 hitch system, air bags and fancy brakes and it will still be an adventure when you hit that first big cross-wind or a semi "takes off your air" rolling down the Interstate.

Without a supercharger, pulling steep hills will have you pushing the skinny pedal thru the floor to keep up speed.

I have experience in this area.

I used to tow my open car trailer and car with my '06 Speedway AC Sport. Due to the low profile, I never had a lot of sway induced by wind or passing rigs. However, the truck was under-powered on steep grades.




When I bought my enclosed trailer, it was a completely different story. I towed it home from the dealer (around 75 miles) and parked it. Towing that box, even empty, was a very scary experience for me on the Interstates. Maybe going slowly on back roads would have been different.

Regardless, I traded in the 2006 Taco for a 2010 Tundra. What a relief. This year, I sold everything and went back to a '15 Sport.




Hope you all the best with your decision.

Donald

 

Just out of curiosity it seems like a travel trailer under 3000lbs loaded would work just fine, maybe others can chime in on this weight. Personally, I have found that my 2013 Tacoma pulls trailers a lot smoother then our 04 f150(not pulling near max loads) I guess in this case its just going to depend on all the other factors that play into your needs. I've been looking around and if you can sacrifice some space their are smaller travel trailers that weigh under 3000lbs loaded. I however could not give you any input on climbing up steep grades as I live in Indiana, mostly flat here.

If you add your average trip, where your going, miles, etc. Some more people might be able to point you in the right direction as far as your limitations.

 

Duramax Diesel with Allison tranny? That thing would tow the Tundra and boat both up any summit at 65. I don't understand the hatred of American cars on this site, the full size trucks will out tow the Tundra every day of the week. And to say a diesel is less capable than a Tundra?

 

I just got a 24' travel trailer. 3800lb delivered prob had 5300 loaded maybe?. With all my gear in it and the whole family in the taco I do 45 up some hills. the taco did it though!!

However I want more room in the cab, more power and a longer bed. My taco is going up for sale soon and I'm getting a ram diesel 2500.

 

Nope... The Isuzu engine was great. The Allison was great. The Chevy was horrible. Power locks, blower motor(s), head lights (every 15k), shift cable, brake lines, fuel lines, wheel bearings, wiring harness, tie rods, air conditioner, power steering leaks, injectors,all died within 150k

We fully understand things break. Things that broke under warranty weren't covered. The truck was not going to make it to 175k, much less 200!
A 65 year old man babied this truck and it lived in a heated garage. It only towed 10-15x a year. I will blame the stealership as much as the product. If you tow every day or make a living with it, buy a diesel. The tundra is very capable as a tow vehicle and has better brakes than the Chevy 2500hd. The 5.7 is an amazing power plant with excellent torque and power. The tow/haul handles itself very well to prevent damage to the drivetrain.
Bashing the big three... When you do what Detroit did to its employees, products, and loyal customers over the last 25 years you deserve what they are getting. When you bail out the loser you indirectly punish those who are doing it right. When your product quality is that bad and you still charge that much you have bad ethics. Finally when you lose that much in depreciation on a vehicle and the toyota, honda, and Subaru don't, people start to get smart. 32k is a lot for my new taco but it is way smarter than a colorado!

 

Not to hate on Toyota or nothing, but the new F150 2.7L ecoboost V6 boasts some impressive towing numbers and can be acquired for roughly $25,000. If Toyota offered to buy my truck back soon I might have to make the switch back to an F150 and then pick up an older Tacoma a couple years down the road for a "fun/project build".

 

We don't own a Tacoma (yet) but we hope it will do OK with a 17' Casita travel trailer. Currently, our 2006 Highlander Hybrid does an excellent job of towing our Casita. I did my own wiring for the 7-pin trailer electrical connection and installed a trailer brake controller. Using a WDH with sway bar. The local CAT scale shows our fully loaded trailer weighing in at just under 3300 pounds. Very close to the 3500 pound rating of the HiHy. This is one reason why we are looking at the Tacoma. Also, we could use a little bit more payload room. Throw in some extras like chairs, telescope and two dogs and the highlander gets full of stuff and close to it's payload rating. I hope the Tacoma (V6 Auto DCSB 4X4 SR5) would tow our trailer at least as well as the HiHy. I would still use the WDH and sway bar and keep the highway speeds around 65mph. Really don't want to move up to a Tundra.

 

I think the taco will easily handle that casita. I think I would upgrade to the TRD Sport. I think the better rear springs and tow package (oil and tranny cooler) will be needed. Get the electric brake box and you should be golden. Tundra is a great vehicle, but it is priced accordingly. My 2012 sequoia with the 4.6 v8 gets better mileage than my new taco

 

The taco will pull that. The tundra would be much wiser though.

 

FYI I have this trailer below. 24'10' . 3800 dry. Keystone Passport 2014 238ml

Taco pulls it. Well? No. But it does pull it. I know I replied already... But just telling you again.
You need a WDH with sway control.

I am currently selling the taco to get a stronger and larger truck to pull it . If that tells you anything


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...oEJclsf96CiNJgBBQ&sig2=cgK3KG_DVyBRt3RGHow40w

 

I have a 21 foot Rockwood 2104 that is about 4.8k loaded for camping. I have a WD hitch, sway control and brake controller (prodigy P3). I added Ride-Rites to remove the squat when hooked up. I keep it at 58 mph on the highway (in the right lane) and it does great. No need to be in a hurry, right? I get about 12mpg. No sway or white knuckling from semi's. If one passes me, I get some 'jetwash' effect until the semi gets about 100 feet past me. Most of our towing is on the flat but it does take some downshifting in the uphills (6MT).

All that said, that is about the limit I would feel comfortable with in a Tacoma.

 

I have ordered an Escape 21 which is ready in BC, and I need to pick it up. Will probably wait until Spring. Do you feel the Tacoma will handle the Escape 21?

 

What he said.

I just had to upsize my truck, I kept my bags and I'm selling them if you're interested OP.

 

Thanks for the info guys!

 

Have a friend who owns the bigger Casita (I think 19ft.) has towed it thousands of miles with an older 3.4 v-6 Taco with no issues. Great Combo for the Taco, just built for those who aren't so tall so I have to duck when inside most of it.

 

I pull a little jayco with a sway controller and quite honestly about 3000lbs is all these trucks were built to pull easily. I maintain about 60 and get 15 mpg on trips. Anything more you would need a fancy equalizer hitch and air bags to be safe on the road.

consider a bigger truck or smaller trailer maybe a 15ft cub

 

Even with a smaller trailer, I'm still looking at over 4000lbs weight for the trailer and I'll be close to exceeding the tongue weight...I'm not one for pushing my truck beyond it's limits...or even close to for that matter. I'm seriously considering upsizing the taco to something bigger...I've looked long and hard at the Tundra but it's fuel milage sucks....and it's close to 50 Grand (CAD) for the Platinum. I know people hate on other brands but does anyone have any thoughts on the 2015 Ram 1500 Sport? I was never a Dodge person...so I really don't know anything about them...other than the fact they have better fuel economy than the Tundra....it'll be my daily commuter as well. I hate Ford, and GM (Chevy)....But I love Toyota.....man this is such a hard decision.

 

I looked at the '15 tundra, '15 ram 1500 and '15 f150. I loved the f150 and bought it. 50.2k otd but such a great truck! I can't recommend it enough, towed my TT w ease compared to the taco and tons of room etc. I got the max tow package. 36gal tank 4x4 3.5eb xlt with 302a and other crap

 

We have a 2014 Tacoma Ltd with tow package and tow a 2012 Jayco X213. The trailer is 23 ft long with towing weight of approximately 5000 lbs. I use WD and sway control.

I tow Vancouver to Pemberton and Vancouver to Merrit using Coquihalla Hwy through the Cascades - my definition of an extreme towing test.

I had a smile on my face for most of the trip and kept saying to my wife how impressed I am with the Tacoma. For most of the trip I was able to hold 100 km/hr (~60 mph). On some of the long grades I dropped to 90 km/hr. On the summit grade, we were at 75 km/hr. Pretty good considering the big rigs and buses are crawling up at about 20 km/hr. Even larger pickups towing a similar TT weren't climbing much faster than us. RPMs up to 4000. With WD, there is no sagging at all with a hitch weight of 560 lbs. Make sure you are not using OD.

My Tacoma is a great truck!

Bruce
No sway and no overheating. Fule economy cut in half to about 10 mpg (imperial)

 

My trailer weighs 3870 dry and I use a equalizer weight distribution hitch. Transmission temps averages about 163f. I drive about 55mpg and I am very impressed with the way my 2015 tacoma 4x4 Off Road tows. I traded a 2008 Tundra crewmax for this truck.