Set up for Long distance towing with Tacoma?

Use the truck you have or get a 3/4 ton. Assuming a tongue weight of 750lbs (600 is pretty optimistic), you've already blown through 65% of a Tacoma's GVWR before even sitting in it. Add 300 lbs of naked adults, you're leaving yourself about 200lbs for ALL your other gear. If you put 33's on, you're adding 100 lbs, 150 lbs for a canopy, 50 for the winch, so you really are going to have to pack light.

 

Tires don't count towards GVWR cuz they're not sprung weight

But they will make towing suck more

 

???????
When you are asked to have your vehicle weighed at a weight station by a LEO, do you think they wait for you to take off your wheels and tires to weigh your truck separately? It's GROSS vehicle weight rating.
It includes everything.
If tires don't count, wheels and suspension components shouldn't count either, as they are unsprung as well.

 

If your GMC is 4wd and you can use it off road for what you are planning then you already have the truck for your purposes. If not then you need to decide on the the best vehicle for your purposes. Try towing the trailer behind your GMC. If all goes well and you like the way out handles and performs then you’re good to go. If not start your research on trucks. You do not need a 3/4 ton, a half ton properly equipped will do just fine.
Again as I previously mentioned the half ton Ford F150 with the 3.5L Ecoboost V6 has around 370hp and around 470 lbs of torque. I believe the tow capacity is over 11000lbs. You could pull 2 trailers like yours with it.

 

Sorry I was thinking payload

 

OP is Canadian, $4.00 a gallon gas is wicked cheap. Was $6.20 per US gallon this morning.

 

I'm going to be 100% honest. For towing, if gas isn't the biggest deal in the world, you would be better off getting an old ford before 95 for 2-4k, preferably a 5.8L or 7.5L 460, they are easy to fix and don't have the breaking down stigma that comes with the 2000's fords. Although gas mileage is non-existent, it'll save your Tacoma for unnecessary stress and most are already set up to tow. Besides, you'll spend that much money on a good towing set up for a taco. Hate me if you want but Heavy Duty fords are simply just more set up to tow heavier loads.
I got this ford for 2,000 DONT WORRY I HAVE A TACO TOO

 

OP said it's also gonna be his only vehicle to get around in and probably doesn't wanna drive such a shitpile all the time

 

Thank You, I probably should read.

 

Holy moose poop, I don’t know how you guys can afford to drive anything above a Prius. If gas gets to that here the RV industry will go out of business. I can see why the OP is coming to the western US for his adventure. I’ve been to Canada numerous times but never driven there or noticed the price of gas.

 

The newer half tons will tow the trailer you're talking about easily. Going to a 3/4 or one-ton, you're defeating your offroad purpose; most of them have longer wheelbases and turning radiuses that fostered the song "Give me Forty Acres (and I'll Turn This Rig Around)". Plus, insurance rates will go up, and you'll have to run an apportioned tag (the cost goes up as your max towing weight does). It certainly does snowball. Back to the argument for a smaller trailer, something you can tow with a Taco and not wear it out early. You want to CAMP, not have a mobile penthouse suite. Hey, talking about snowballing, why not buy a Class A motor home, slide-outs on both sides and a deck on top, and TOW the TACOMA. Get to the "campsite", park the ark, and then you're free to go cow trailing with the Taco.

Yes, they will. Big offroad tires are good for offroad, but are terrible on the highway. Larger diameter tires effectively raise your final drive ratio, making it more difficult to tow heavy stuff without running in 3rd most of the time, and big tires kill what gas mileage is left from towing heavy loads.

FWIW, my experiences with towing come from years of pulling boats, flatbeds with heavy equipment, and horse trailers, with pickup trucks. My last setup before getting the Tacoma, was towing this, with this:

 

Since you plan to travel full time and unhook for offroad fun why not buy a Class C RV and tow the off-roader behind that? That won’t affect where you can set camp at since it’s pretty much the same overall length, ground clearance and width of a truck/travel trailer.

 

Can't flat tow any automatic gen 3 or most automatic gen 2 Tacoma's. A 3/4 or 1 ton will have the exact same wheelbase as my current 1/2 ton, have to check on turning radius's. Please someone chime in here if I'm wrong on the automatic.

Difference in Insurance where I live is negligible as we don't require any special licensing or coverage for private use in Canada.

Yes, a smaller trailer is the ideal answer in an ideal world, but you know happy wife, happy life. Also, I think living long term in a small space will be tough enough. I'm not talking that we need a 35-40 foot fifth wheel, I'm talking a maximum 25 foot travel trailer that will be comfortable to live in full time. Yes, you can buy lighter trailers, but the lightweight ones will tear themselves apart in short order on washboard roads.

Looked at Class C's but its hard to find one (that is about the same size as the trailer) with a diesel to pull a 5000+ lb overland midsize vehicle through the desert and mountains.

 

Tow a Jeep TJ behind it to explore trails

 

Its only 3.74 USD for a gallon where I live in BC, but some areas are pricey.

 

I wouldn't enjoy driving a TJ, maybe a JKU but never a TJ......besides if I can't pull a Tacoma, I'd probably pull a Landcruiser 100 which I think is one of the best overland vehicles around.

 

Not sure if you already have made a decision on a truck, but I would get a clean first gen, with a lot of miles/broken engine and swap to 4 or 6 cylinder diesel, fuel efficiency and torque will def. be your friend here. And many 3.4-4 cylinder diesel swaps have been done and recorded due to the helux being so popular. I know this is the route I would take if I were to make a tower and offroad vehicle, for offroading, at least crawling and overlanding, you don't need power you need gearing, and for towing you need torque which the diesel can offer. For the price of swap and other mods you will be having what I believe would be better than any towing package that Toyota offers right now, besides the tundra which is too big for offroading/trailing. The stress on a gaser might dramatically shorten its life, and a nice first gen tacoma won't be too much of a junk pile to drive around, but something you would like to offroad due to its smaller WB.

 

Are we talking 1x 300 pound or 3 x 100 pound ladies?

 

Well, probably 2 x 150lb ladies is about right. The other2 options are a little too far either way!