Towed for the first time last weekend...

I bought my 2012 DCSB 4x4 SR5 (w/factory tow package) last February. I went on a camping trip this past weekend and towed my popup camper with the Tacoma for the first time. Just thought I'd toss my experience out there...

My popup camper is about 3,000lbs fully loaded, does not have trailer brakes, and I did not use a WDH. It is a Viking Epic 1906. I also had the truck bed completely full. 3 adults and an 11 year old in the cab.

I kept it in 4th the entire time (AT) and averaged between 60-65 mph and 2500-3000 rpms. It never felt sluggish and handled the hills just fine. A little slow to get going from a dead stop, but I wasn't dumping on the gas either. The brakes on this truck have been awesome since I bought it. They're pretty touchy and brake very well. It took a while to get used to. Surprisingly, they weren't much different while towing.

I traveled a little over 150 miles one-way, in 90 degree heat and got 14.5 mpg. I refueled before I returned home and haven't refilled yet, so I suspect my mpg's were better on the return trip considering I was pulling much less weight.

I read about the trailer sway control my truck has, but unfortunately (or fortunately), I loaded properly and had the right tongue weight so I didn't get to experience that feature in action.

I traded in a Nissan Xterra for this Tacoma. Even though my Xterra had more horsepower, I actually thought my Tacoma towed the load much better.

 

xterra is a smaller and shorter vehicle, and everything is massively overpowered these days. So no surprise the tacoma does the work better.

 

Thanks for your towing review on your first camping trip.
I am pretty happy towing my with truck since going to an inline trailer for my snowmobiles.
It could do a clamshell (light) or deckover (not so light). The drag is what killed my mpg.
Did you have your AC on? You would probably have gotten another 2-3 mpg.
Where do you camp?

 

AC was on the entire time. Outside temps were between 90-94. I live in Northern Minnesota so camping spots are a dime a dozen. This time I went further north near BigFork, MN to Scenic State Park. Not a big fan of state park camping, but I'd never been there and wanted to check it out.

Side note regarding my mpg... 14.5 is actually really good for my truck. When I bought it in February, I was getting around 12/13 mpg. I chalked it up to being a truck with winter gas. As time has gone by, I've been getting better and better fuel economy. I average 15/16 mpg now. Is it possible the computer is relearning my driving style vs the previous owner? I'm definitely not complaining, but an increase in fuel efficiency is not something you normally see.