Can someone please tell me the Tow Truth and nothing by the Trute?

I have spent so many hours on the InterWeb reading "opinions" and trying to decipher "towing calculators" that my head is spinning! The manufacturers just don't publish all of the info I need to make the "calculators" work! PLEASE somebody just give me a quick and truthful answer!

Bottom Line Up Front: I would like to purchase a Toyota pick-up from my good buddy; but ONLY IF it will tow what I want it to tow, and will do so on long trips!

Truck: 2010 Toyota Prerunner, 4DR, 5 foot Bed, Automatic, Factory towing package, Brake controller, 50K miles, garage kept, new tires
Trailer options:
a. 2017 Forest River Grey Wolf Toy Hauler 22RR. Overall length 28' 10". Empty Weight 4871 Lbs. Hitch Weight 686Lbs
b. 2017 Forest River Grey Wolf Toy hauler 19RR. Overall length 23' 11". Empty weight 4180 Lbs. Hitch weight 574 Lbs.
I want to be able to carry my motorcycle with me:
Motorcycle: 2010 CanAm Spyder RT Limited. 929 Lbs.

Bottom-Bottom Line: Will this truck pull a small toyhauler with my Spyder inside from Florida to Alaska and back?

*I do not intend to carry any water in the trailer tanks when the motorcycle is in the trailer. I only need the holding tanks once a year when I go dry camping in the desert and I will not be taking the motorcycle along with me on that trip. On most trips I will be camping in RV parks using their utilities.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/

Some good info in this thread. My .02, is no, I personally would not plan on that trip with that size of trailer. But opinions are like assholes, and everyone has one. I have a pop-up that I tow, and installed airbags due to a little rear sag so you need to keep that in mind and I live at the base of the Cascades so I travel and tow the mountains which is the reason for my opinion on weight.

 

Those trailers are knocking on max tow ratings for a Tacoma. By the time you add in food, beverages, housewares, clothes, propane, Spyder etc. they're right around 6,000 pounds more or less. That wouldn't be fun in a Tacoma with any regularity, let alone in the hills, maybe with some cross winds. Personally I'd look at one of the prior gen Tundras for probably the same price. Some people will say they do it 6 times per day & could tow that with double the weight, half the horsepower & 1 hand tied behind their back. But they're killing their truck & stressing themselves during the drive. Get a bigger truck that can handle 6k pounds with less work, that's my outlook.

 

Of the two trailers the 19RR would be more manageable. All the little things add up weight fast.
You would benefit from adding air bags, a weight distribution hitch and GOOD sway control.

 

Dude the taco can tow like 20k lbs given the tounge weight doesn't raise the front end off the ground. The trouble is stopping it, not to mention the fuel and wear and tear on the motor killing itself trying to suit your selfish wants. All bullshit aside just get a full size v8 truck and pull that shit instead of it pulling you.

 

FWIW I tow a 3500lb boat and that's about where I would cut it off as far as controlling my load goes.

 

And I wil say all those hitch weights are heavy as fuck. I can pick up my boat tounge by myself. With a near 700lb hitch I think you need a bigger truck, hell maybe even a gooseneck.

 

Just re read your first post and I would absolutely not recommend pulling any of those trailers to Alaska with a Tacoma.

 

I used to own a 19ft trailer and I would tow it a few hundred miles 2 or three times a year. The tacoma was capable but lagged on hills and needed to be left in 4th gear. That size trailer is too near the upper end of the limits of this vehicle. I would NOT recommend towing a trailer that size for that long a distance.

 

If you want to use a light truck to tow you need a light load.

If you need to tow a large or heavy load, you need more truck.

There's no Internet opinion that will change physics although you will find people that will say they tow 100k lbs crosscountry with a pinto and it dioe fine.

 

Been towing popups for fifteen years all around the Southwest.
Drove to Alaska years ago.
No way in hell would I do this.

 

Like the others have said, NO. I have a ~2730lb trailer with probably 500lb of crap in the trailer and the truck. This is a narrow body trailer as well so less aero drag. I wouldn't want to go any heavier or bigger on my Tacoma. I've hauled it 1500 miles in the last 3 days and from that experience I can say it was manageable but anything more would start to become very frustrating. Like the others guys said, you want a V8 for this.

 

I'm not sure if you can even move that trike in that trailer. If the trike's weight is behind the axle, it will reduce the tongue weight and cause instability.
Pushing 1000 pounds, that trike isn't exactly "light", so you'd have to push it all the way forward to the bed, and gauging by the floor plans for those trailers, I'm not sure that is possible.

Now besides that, while the truck can certainly do the *work*, there will be a much greater degree of driver stress in dealing with that load, and the weight is only *part* of it. You'll be dealing with a very LONG, and TALL load. It will be severely thrown around by the wind, including that cast off trucks. If it was just the weight, I wouldn't hesitate on doing a long trip. BUT, I definitely wouldn't want to do so with the aerodynamics of something like that. Frankly, I wouldn't pull that on a long trip with ANY pickup truck it, because at the end of the day, you're sitting on 4 rubber tires trying to keep a crazy big SAIL aligned with the road. There is no way to make that trip fun unless you're pulling it with a peterbilt.

Have you considered just getting a flatbed trailer and checking in to a hotel? It would probably be a lot more fun, and even in the very very long term, it'll save you money. Don't forget about the cost of fuel -- for a long trip, the extra cost of fuel to pull it will exceed the cost of a hotel, which comes with maid service!

 

I had a similar set up, camper, bike in bed, 3/4 ton truck (airbags, sway bars). That set up was doable but by no means easy. I definitely wouldn't try that one with my Tacoma. I've driven from Alaska to Alabama a few times. Hit me up if you have any questions.

 

Bike in the... TRUCK bed?
I ask, because he's referred to some hybrid trailers and wants to put the trike IN THE CAMPER.

 

My bad, I'm at work and read that too quick.

1st trip, flat bed on an '88 yota, F4i on flat bed, towing small enclosed. That trip just sucked headed south. Trailer was my main complaint. As small it was, I was blown all over the place. The wind grabbed the trailer and the truck followed. It was a nerve racking 6 days.
2nd trip, Dodge 3/4 ton, bike in bed, towing 22 camper. That trip sucked more! Wind wasn't the issue or the stopping, it was just slow going and lots of stops for fuel!

I'd recommend riding the bike up with a bed roll and change of clothes OR just the truck. Ship or mail what you don't need with you. The bike ride up was a blast!

 

I forgot about this in my post. I've been averaging 10-13mpg but sunk into the 9's today on the rolling hills of I-10. And with a 21(?) gallon tank I feel like I'm stopping all the time.

 

The closest I've come to the ops setup was a 23' bumper pull camper with an f150. Camper was dry, but loader with our hunting gear. I can't remember the trucks year, but newish with the 5.4. Serious elevation, crossing the continental divide in wy/co. It did the job but not fun. Semis were definitely noticeable to say the least.

Same setup, same route, behind my buddies 3/4 ton, 0 issues.

Behind a taco, dead in a ditch.

 

F150 is the same size of truck. The only reason they call it "full size", is because it is just so slightly wider that it has a full 4 feet between the wheel wells.

 

Similar yes, same no. The ratings are a but different maxing at 3500/6500 In the 2010 taco to 6200/8700 for an 04 f150. I don't know which setup op has so I'd err on the 3500 spec. The 4cyl towing that trailer makes for an interesting grill decoration on the front of a semi.

In any case it was a much better trip using the bigger truck.