A couple towing questions

New so please excuse my lack of knowledge

I read the towing section in the manual. I have a GRN310L-PRTSHA engine on a 2021 tacoma off road 4x4 double cab. I believe this means I have a GCWR of 11,290 lbs and a TWR of 6,400 lbs

-How do i know if i have a towing package on the truck?

-I think I see in the manual it has a unbraked TWR of 1000 lbs. Does this mean I cannot tow anything over 1000lbs if I do not add additional trailer brakes?

-If above question is incorrect, does this mean I can tow up to 6,400 without any additional add on trailer brakes or gear?

thank you

 

I’m pretty sure all 3rd gen V6s from 2017/18 up have the tow package. You will need/want brakes for anything over about 3000lbs, you won’t want to tow 6400lbs with a Tacoma if you can avoid it.

 

I can look up your vin if you'd like to message it to me. It's very likely you have the towing package.

100% you should have trailer brakes for anything over 1000lbs. Also with Tacoma, going anywhere over 5000lbs is far from ideal, especially at higher altitudes.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/towing.34/

Basically any information from 2005 to current applies to your tacoma, the 2005 model and 2023 models are near identical in regards to chassis and towing limits.

 

thank you. is it the correct understanding that a trailer brake will only help me if the trailer has electric brakes? I was looking at something like the superior lite trailers (basically a box on top of a utility trailer) so i am not sure if it would have electric brakes. Also is it correct to understand its easy to install the trailer brakes if i have the trailer package?

Also do the weights i listed above sound correct for GWCR etc

thanks for help

 

It looks like that's how it reads that it recommends trailer brakes over 1000 lbs, but honestly that kind of weight is a bit of a joke. 1000 lbs is almost nothing as far as towing goes, and usually the trailer itself can weigh over that empty. A small utility trailer will exceed that. Most guidance and laws out there require one 3000 lbs and above. I'm not sure why Toyota is calling for it above 1000 lbs when they don't even include a brake controller in the tow package.

 

Your calculations look correct on the GCVWR but I'd aim for less to make the towing experience easier.

I can't help with the trailer brakes but I can highly recommend the RedArc Liberty brake controller. It's plug and play but does require a minor amount of install.

 

So, for full pedantic information, there are four types of trailer brake. They are:

• Electromagnetic - seen on most bumper pull campers, some utility trailers. Requires a separate brake controller. See below.
• Surge hydraulic - seen on U-Haul rentals, some boat trailers. Primitive. No electronic controller needed.
• Electric over hydraulic - seen on trailers that are too heavy for the Tacoma. Maybe some boat trailers. Don't worry about these.
• Pneumatic - Worry about these if/when you apply for a CDL.

It's a good idea to get a trailer brake controller if you plan on owning, or renting from a company that isn't uhaul (like RV rental places, for example.) There's an easy plug hidden behind the driver's kick panel. Easy to find an adapter and plug into, hard as hell to find the actual plug. They really hide it.

Most people on here will preach Redarc like it's a cult. It's a good one, to be sure. If I hadn't bought my controller (Tekonsha primus iq) before those even came out, I probably would have gone with them. Read up on the types of controllers, make sure whatever you get is "proportional" (uses accelerometers to determine brake rate) and can be mounted in any orientation. Avoid linear controllers like the plague.

 

Towing and pulling isn't the same thing. Your Tacoma will PULL 6400 lbs, but it won't tow that much. The limiting factor 99% of the time with Tacoma's or any other light duty truck is your payload. There is a statement printed on a sticker on the driver's door jamb that reads something to the effect of "The weight of passengers and cargo should never exceed XXXX lbs".

That number varies depending on the individual truck, but a 4X4 DC will fall somewhere between 900-1200 lbs. A 6400 lb trailer along with the required Weight Distribution Hitch will put 900-1000 lbs on your trucks suspension. Figure 13% of the trailer weight + 100 lbs for a WDH. Meaning you will have somewhere between 0 to 200 lbs for you, any passengers, and cargo in the truck.

A realistic maximum weight for a Tacoma to tow is 4000-5000 lbs. And the closer to 4000 the better. A 4000 lb trailer would put about 500 lbs on your hitch leaving you 400-700 lbs for passengers and cargo in the truck. Which still isn't much, but is at least doable.

You really need to check your payload rating. There are some unicorn trucks out there that have 1300 lbs or more payload. If you have one of those then that will help you tow more

For anything over 3000 lbs you need trailer brakes.

For anything over 5000 you need a WDH which adds about 100 lbs to your hitch weight. Keeping the trailer light enough so you don't need a WDH helps.

 

I agree with everything said here until it came to the WDH. I tow a travel trailer with a dry weight of 3400 and 4000 lbs loaded. I would not even consider towing that without a good WDH with sway control(I use a Camco Eaz-lift R3). Tongue weight has a substantial influence on my statement. Without the WDH, the back of truck would typically sink and the front would rise which makes things pretty unstable.

 

Thank you this is really helpful.

 

Learn to back up in a safe place ..

So many end up in a spot thy have a hard time backing out of .

think your moves ahead before you make them.

 

Tekonsha brake controllers have been around since the seventies

When they used the brake Master cylinder using a hard line to apply the pressure .

 

Also, I was able to find the Eaz-Lift R3 WDH on FB marketplace for $250. There are others that have built in sway control.