tow noob

I saw some chart at the hardware store, class I - V with the limits being like 2000, 3500, 5000, and something obscene for the last two. Are these classes standard across companies/accessories/vehicles?

Seems like most (all?) Tacomas would be in the middle three.

My 2023 TRD Sport should be good with 5000 lbs, right?

Looking at tow hardware, I can see a little "ball", that is simply called a ball right? 1-3" being typical with 2.0" being most common? What is the piece that the ball mounts to called? How about the 2x2 square on the back of the truck? Receiver, hitch?

 

Ball goes on the hitch, hitch goes into the receiver, or hitch tube, or receiver tube. Ive heard ball goes on receiver which goes into the hitch. Depends.
All of our hitches at home are Class IV, my Tundras tow cap is 10k-ish but used them with the Taco as well when I still had it. Would rather have too much than not enough.
We have 1 7/8”, 2”, and 2 1/8” balls at home (five hitches as well, we tow a lot of different shit..) The first two being the common ones, yes. Theres a pile of tow threads on here with a lot of info if you have time to search around. Making sure your load is balanced, tongue isnt too heavy, etc etc is important as well depending on what youre towing. When you tie things down you also need to pat it and say “thats not going anywhere”.

 

Awesome. Thanks!

I think I will be good getting a "class 3 starter kit", nice to have a 2" ball on there and should be versatile enough to handle any light duty that may be in my future.

 

A good rule of thumb is 10% of the total weight your towing MUST be on the tongue. "Tongue weight " is weight in front of the wheel(s).

Example 300 lbs on 3000 lbs load, 500 lbs on 5000 lbs load.

 

Now I know a million times more about towing than when I woke up this morning!

 

Tow hitch is also good for being ready for others to pull you out of stuck situations ... https://factor55.com/product/hitchlink/

Towing arms have the ball offset from receiver, but pulling on that to get you out of deep mud can break it at receiver and have things fly through the air. That adapter has no offset angle and lets other people pull you out of your mistakes more safely.

 

5000 lbs is right at the upper limit of what a Tacoma can tow. Personally, I like to keep it closer to 4000, but you could do 5000 if you pack carefully. The tow rating for most Tacoma's is 6500 lbs but that assumes nothing in the truck but a driver. No other passengers or cargo and only on level ground and at sea level. Start adding passengers and cargo to the truck, then add inclines and towing at higher elevation where there is less oxygen in the air and you have to start reducing what you can tow. The load should be reduced by about 3% for each 1000' above sea level. If you're going to tow at 5000' that's 15%. There are passes in the west around 10,000-12,000'. That would mean reducing weight by 30+%

On most virtually all light duty trucks which includes Tacoma and 1/2 ton trucks your payload will be the limiting factor. Assuming your Tacoma is a 4X4 DC you will have 900-1100 lbs of payload. Each truck is different, check the sticker on the drivers door jamb. 10% of trailer weight is the MINIMUM tongue weight you should have. Any less and you'll get dangerous trailer sway. Most people work toward 13-15%. 13% of 5000 lbs is 650 lbs on the tongue. That will leave you 250-450 lbs for passengers and cargo inside the truck. My wife and I are 360 combined. We would just about max out payload before anything else was put in the truck with a 5000 lb trailer.

If you have an Access Cab and/or 4X2 your truck will be a few hundred pounds lighter and will have a little more payload. That would make it easier to tow 5000 lbs.

 

^^^^ I agreed with what @Marshall R said. My neighbor has a 5000lbs trailer and he said the same thing. Payload for a double cab short bed is about 1100lbs. With passenger, gear, supply, etc, it will reach that limit fast. His truck is struggling a bit when going up hill and at higher elevation.

Make sure to install a brake controller. Before my neighbor install one, everytime he brakes, he felt the truck doesn’t want to stop.

So to be safe, I got myself a 4000 lbs trailer. So far I have no issue at all.

 

Thanks! To be clear I cannot imagine towing 5000lbs in any realistic circumstance these days, only trying to get a handle on the numbers and concepts. All the other factors you mention make tons of sense too.

I got a hitch and ball rated for 5000lbs and will have zero worries about bike carriers and cargo racks, LOL, and maybe the occasional mini U-Haul rental trailer.