Second gen dilemma

Greetings all,
We have an issue. My fiancé has a 2006 xtra cab super clean low miles (60k) with a 2.7L 5 speed manual. As we have recently acquired a small 17’ travel trailer. Trailer weight is somewhere south of 3500#.
We are looking at options to upgrade her truck to be able for her to tow the trailer. It basically stands that she could tow it empty around the lot and that’s it- given the gearing and 4 cylinder it just isn’t going to happen.

Disclaimer: I don’t really know squat about second gen packages and how they are equipped.


Option 1: is obvious- find a low miles, clean 06 Tundra with a V8 and tow package- problem solved, and the search continues. Best option obviously but likely rare and may not pass the patience test.

Option 2: swap in a 3.4L -fairly easy? Add the tow package bits and see how it goes.

Option 3: Toss a bucket of money at getting a 4.0L? is this the factory option? As well as tow package bits

Not sure about getting a V8, seems like there would be too much work for minimal gain on tow capacity.
The deal is the truck is super clean and in great shape so there is the rub. Given the prices for newer trucks and all the over top semi useful ‘improvements’ they come with I prefer the simpler version.

A

 

Option 2 sounds insanely hard
I’d just get a tundra

 

Trade to a more capable tow vehicle.

 

Yeah, that’s kinda my thought as well. While they are a great platform, Tacoma’s have their limitations. I miss the old US iron that you could mod up easy as pie and have no mega drama