did some towing this weekend...

I towed a family members 2000 Buick Century this weekend with my 3rd gen. Used a uhaul car dolly, which I would estimate weighs about 500-700lbs, and the Buick weighs about 3,368lbs according to a quick google search, so its safe to say its somewhere between 3,700-4,000lbs. When on flat ground, I honestly felt like the extra weight wasn't overly noticeable. At one point in my journey, I took off from a light and had to immediately head up a steep grade. I wound the RPM's up and it chugged right up the hill with ease, and accelerating onto the freeway was also fairly easy... My truck has a 6MT gearbox so I kept it in 3rd and 4th longer, and kept it in 5th once I hit my cruising speed. My passenger was also very impressed with how well the midsize truck towed. Braking felt great too, considering the car dolly had no trailer brakes.

Just figured I'd share my experience.

 

No trailer brakes with that weight is kind of dangerous... if you had to stop quickly, you would have had some real issues!
Glad to hear that your Taco performed well though. The manual looks like a good set up for towing, since the 6 speed auto would be working all over the place to keep the Taco geared right.

 

I know from testing both transmissions with the V6 that the manual felt much better.

 

Perhaps, however I've done plenty of towing in the past with previously owned trucks. My 05 duramax was frequently towing a loaded 26ft enclosed car trailer with no brakes and I've never even had as much as a near miss while towing. I drive rather defensively while towing, and am very observant to my surroundings.

 

26 foot loaded trailer sounds very unsafe without trailer brakes, for everyone on the road.

 

Uhaul dollys usually have surge brake systems , at least all the ones I have rented. And night and day difference between the 6MT and craptastic auto that's also used in the 4 cylinder truck. Not surprised OP had some good things to say.

 

I left my test drive wondering how it was possible the manual was so much better than the auto. Felt like it had gobs of low end torque.

 

everyone is alive to talk about it

 

Glad you feel so boastful about driving and towing in a setup that many deem unsafe.

I'm curious, what did this loaded 26 foot enclosed car hauling trailer weigh?

 

No clue. It was a haulmark 26ft dual axle, front and rear ramps, with a 1970 Dodge Duster in it. Google it and let me know the results.

 

Chill out folks. He wasn't boasting. Just said the truck towed well. He knows now to use brakes. Please removed bunched panties from rear, Mkay?

 

Thanks for the towing review. I'm picking up my two sleds from the mechanic today with my 20016 MT. Sounds like it should pull the 2500 lbs +/- just fine.

 

God damn right it will. Good choice on the MT. Like others said, seems like gobs of torque on the low end out of the manual compared to the auto slushbox

 

reference the manual and perceived torque advantage over the auto is most likely the rear-end gears...jmho

 

So you are saying you drive like a normal person should when towing and not like every other idiot out there. I applaud you sir!

Seriously I have to give the speech to my staff when they hail our trailer every single time.

 

whatever it may be, it pulled 3700-4000lbs well

 

Does the Tacoma V6 automatically have a towing capacity of appx. 6500 or does it have to have the optional Tow Package in order to get 6500? I was looking around the Tacoma website and it looks as though the standard capacity is 3500, and with Tow Package jumps up to 6500-ish.

 

That's a good question, and I'm not sure. My truck came with the towing package.

 

Rear-end gears or not. It just feels so much better without the slushbox. I think most V6's come with the tow package. Even if I did not tow I would get the tow package as it will only help the long-term reliability of the truck and resale.

 

I towed a 23ft Chris Craft with a 96 4runner, no issues. Key thing is speed and traffic control you would not want to have to stop fast or have and emergency situation, no trailer brakes. as a caveat I only had to tow from the marina to storage which was about 3-4 miles...

What did kick my ass was towing the same boat from Wichita Kansas to Garfield Arkansas in a 97 Z71 5.7l , it destroyed the tranny, cost about 2500 for a rebuild, the 96 4runner with ect priceless, even though there was a bit of push downhill.