Towing with aftermarket hitch

I recently installed a curt class III towbar on my 2004 2.7l 4 banger. I know the bumper says tongue weight 350lbs max and max towing capacity of 3500...however the towbar itself is rated at 5000lbs. Im assuming it would be safe to stay within 3500lbs (especially with a 17 year old frame) but was hoping anyone had any thoughts or experience with this. Im looking to tow a travel trailer but most are too heavy. Thanks for lookin. Keep on truckin.

 

Regardless of ratings, towing more than 3000lbs with that truck will be hilariously bad. Even my 1100lb teardrop trailer is comically bad, and that’s with a manual trans


But the truck is rated at 3500. The bumper rating is not what the truck’s rating is. Also, the GCWR (truck and trailer + contents) is 7400lbs, so even the 3500 is overstated

 

When it comes to towing with a Tacoma keep it small and light.
Less is more

 

Couple things about tow ratings: The tow rating is a MAX weight, and essentially assumes an UNloaded vehicle. The more weight you have in the vehicle (cargo, passengers, even fuel) the LESS you can tow.

Technically speaking, there's nothing that will increase your truck's tow rating since that is a number that's set at the factory based on the entire package (engine, frame, hitch vs. bumper, etc...). You could put a hitch rated for 20,000# and you still can't tow more than 3500...

There are things you can do to make your truck handle (up to) the max weight rating easier, like more power or airbags, but you still can't exceed the rating with those modifications (legally speaking).

That said, even the 3.4L's aren't what you would call a good "tow rig" with a 5000# rating. The most I've towed (on a regular basis) with my 3.4L doublecab is my ~2500# popup trailer (it was 1800# dry). Could it tow more? Sure - that's only HALF the weight rating, but I was already having to bury the throttle on the hills to keep up with the 18 wheelers. So, what you end up being comfortable towing depends largely on the terrain you tend to tow in. If you only tow on the flats, I can see pushing the weight up. For me, I'd never get anywhere close to the max rating.

If you have an auto, 100% get a auxiliary transmission cooler, no matter what you end up towing.

 

Don`t forget most weights your looking at are dry /

Load up for a weekend it can easy be a 1000 pounds with food and clothing

One thing to move something across the yard another across the country.

 

Absolutely this.^^^

I remember when we were looking at new travel trailers and I said we had a 4Runner. Guy takes us over to a row of 4500# trailers. Anything to max out his commission I guess.

Scares the shit out of me to think how many people are out there this guy (and others like him) have sold trailers to.


Ended up with a trailer with a gross of like 3800. On our first trip, it handled like shit and bounced all over the place. We came home and I weighed the tongue and it was ~100lbs! over the max tongue weight (600). I didn't think I had *that much* in the front cargo, just the campchef, some chairs and a few other things, but that was still enough to put it over the tongue limit.

 

Load Leveling hitch and bars do help.

 

The thing is you could upgrade the Tacoma to Tow 10,000 pounds in a safe manor.

Then it would be a Tacoma in name only .

for the Cost you could buy a nice 3/4 ton Diesel of your favorite flavor and do some serious Towing in comfort.

 

same motor with automatic. towed a lot of millwork and cabinets alotta miles with my 4 banger before i retired. taco was primarily used as a gopher. we mostly used a 3/4 ton for hauling... all together did it for 27 years.
the most i towed with the taco was about 2000#, thats trailer and cabinets. truck had moulding on top rack, tools, gear and passenger... say ~ 1000#. trip was 600 mi, flat to hilly. truck did fine, i did not use OD... 55-60 mph.
if you a gonna tow with this engine i would not tow more the 2000#. dont put no more than a 1000# in the truck, passenger, gear, coolers, etc.. and yes a full tank counts as ~140#. if you have a auto then get a transmission cooler. do not use OD on automatic or a stick... stay under 60 mph! keep dics, rotors, shoes and drums new... stop'n is the most important thing here, you can die or kill someone if you can't stop! keep radiator, transmission, diff, brake, and engine oil fresh... maintenance goes a long way!
lotta shit happens on the road so be prepared, tools , spairs, air pump, plugs, etc. also look at trailer brakes, trailer assist, sway bar, good lighting, reflectors, etc. been on the side the interstate couple times... scary shit with dem 18 wheelers ball'n down the road!

 

I tow a 1500lb teardrop camper with a few hundred pounds of gear/firewood in the back of the truck(v6/auto/150k). Although I added new Wheelers rear

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5pack leafs in the back several years ago, I still added airbags as the rear dipped a little, just enough for my lowbeams seemed like high beams at night to oncoming cars. Although my truck is kept up really well, I would not feel comfortable towing(and especially braking) any more than than that. Maybe if I added trailer brakes, I would do a flat terrain haul with a little more weight. I know others on this site have towed MUCH more, but I just don't feel comfortable doing that. My $0.02 fwiw.

 

Small popup is about it for a 2.7. I had one didn't take much of a climb to slow it right down and mine was a 5 speed so I got to decide what gear to use. I tow a 3,500 LB camper with the 4L and the full tow package and there is no doubt it's behind me too. Never over look the fact you have to be able to stop the truck and the trailer. The listed rating even with the tow package is kind of stupid I have no doubt I could pull 10,000# but I sure as hell wouldn't take it out on a public road.

 

OP, you could probably look at small folding campers, say with an 8' or 10' box.

These are fairly lightweight, can be fitted with electric brakes, expand to camp. We had a 10' box Coleman that would unfold to be 21' feet long. It had a King, Queen and a 3/4 Full bed, kitchen, dinette, A/C, refrigerator, loads of storage. IIRC, loaded for a trip, it weighed around 3000 lb.

Using careful loading and weight management these can be nice campers.

Tips:
Know the following:
UVW = Unloaded Vehicle Weight of truck and trailer. Weigh the truck if you have done any modification
GCVWR = Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating. This is the MAXIMUM your truck+trailer+hitch+cargo can weigh.
GVWR = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating for the truck and for the trailer. This is the Maximum they can weigh

With these numbers, you can determine everything else. Learn how to figure the loading from the numbers. There will be limits, many times you will not be able to load to the GVWR due to other limits. Typically, the GCVWR is a limiting factor.

 

Too heavy for a 2.7 unless it's flat desert highway. The weight is with in reason for the truck/frame but not the engine.

 

Another thought, it's not how much you can tow. It's can you stop the truck & load before your load pushes your truck & trailer into a wreck situation. You can kill people like that unless you have trailer brakes also. Your insurance company with appreciate your diligence.

 

No really. The towing capacity is more of a legal one than anything else.

So yeah, you "could" upgrade a Tacoma to tow 10k, but yeah, it'd be name only, and you would still ruin into trouble with the fuzz (or your insurance) because the VIN is tied to a vehicle with a 5k towing capacity.

I'm not aware of a way to go about actually changing that rating. I think there's something like that in Australia, but not aware of something like that in the States.

 

It can be done but it is not that hard just paperwork. Being your already way over cost effective on this.

At that point you would have a special construction title vehicle with a new Vin

I was more on the fabrication side but the Woman in the office did the paper work .I put the new VIN plates on many a Truck.

An example would be a single axle tractor with a frame stretch add a house then put a twin screw increase the legal limit to 80,000
pounds

Like anything else states are different and things do change