How much wear & tear on my Taco will I have pulling a RV trailer...

So I am about to buy our first travel trailer - KZ Escape Hatch E17 - 3200 dry and about 4000 loaded.... My Taco is a Gen 2 2008 4wd/double cab/ long bed/ V6/ tow package.... I am doing ALL my homework on what I will need to be safe (WDH, trans cooler, etc) - but - do you think my truck will just take a beating and have a noticeably shorter life span towing through the Colorado mountains? We will probably tow twice a month from April - September..... Colorado towing is not the same animal as say living in Florida.... I know I will need more regular maintenance than ever before (all I have had in 10 years is oil changes and one small leak - that is IT).... I know it won't last as long - but I am just curious if others really had serious wear and tear... I LOVE my TACO...

 

Of course it will beat the truck. I tow with mine. I also have the dealer follow the “towing” maintenance schedule on the Owners Manual. I have a similar setup. I’ve got about 6000 miles towing and all’s good.

 

No one can say what the wear and tear will be for your truck towing. Obviously towing stresses everything on your truck. What will suffer the most will be your tranny (if you have an automatic). Pulling that load in the mountains is going to make you tranny run hot and heat is the major tranny killer. Install the biggest after market tranny cooler you can get. Scan gauge is a must.
Pulling that much weight in the Colorado Rockies with your Taco is going to be a big pain in the ass. It would be different towing at sea level on mostly level highways but in the mountains, no thanks.

 

I know... I am getting cold feet a bit about it all.... sigh.... I know people can pull 4k with Tacos, and I am not taking it lightly AT ALL... I have read hours of forums here and see people doing it (safely)... so it convinced me to give it a go and put the deposit down... I constantly go back and forth between utter excitement and pure terror....

 

As long as you maintain your truck, it will be fine. Make sure all fluids are up to date / replaced often when towing, and it will last forever. Also, switch to 4th gear if you notice gear hunting, and only let it into 5th if going downhill/tailwind or it could overheat.

 

YOLO

 

the main thing is to get trailer brakes installed. also, get sumo springs, it will help ur leafs not flatten out and reduce stress on them. make sure there is no slop in your wheel hubs too.

 

What fluids would you always travel with - oil, trans, ??? anything else? I need to read more about automatic transmission gears and best use for towing up/down.... YES - we do only live once indeed! I guess we can give it a go and worst case scenario is we don't like it - it stresses us out and we sell it for a depreciation loss... BUT I really love this Hatch E17 model!

 

oil, trans, coolant (or distilled water), diff fluid (in an emergency you can use ATF fluid, but wouldn't recommend it).

 

is scan gage the best as mentioned above? someone said on Amazon for that item linked that is not the most current product available?

 

One of the smarter things you can do is to know and understand the WEIGHT limits. Not only the truck, but the camper and the COMBINED truck/trailer combination.

Otherwise, shorten your maintenance schedule, get the tow equipment (brake controller, WDH, etc)

Be prepared to drive in the Right Hand lane and increase your following distance by at least 1 sec, instead of the typical 2 second use a 3 second gap.

 

oh I am being a TYRANT about understanding my weights, I have the Weigh my Truck app now and am going to just weigh my Taco full of camping gear next week... and will do the same once the trailer arrives of course too (and we will never travel with water to lighten it up as well)

 

You'll do fine.

I would add a brake controller to your Tacoma.

Do get something like the Sherline Trailer Weight Scale. 4000# trailer, I'd aim to have 400# on the tongue, weight distributing hitch. Just good sanity check to make sure.
https://www.sherline.com/product/sherline-trailer-tongue-weight-scale/

The only thing I would have checked is to make sure the U joints are good in the driveshaft.

Cute trailer. I ride a three-wheel recumbent (one reason I got a 6' bed) but like that hatch configuration travel trailer.

Take it easy, stay over in the right lane and enjoy the scenery. I'm learning it is not a speed demon and happiest on back roads at 60 mph and let the speed demons fly past me. Just have to adapt. Tailer is tall (wind resistance) so accept keeping under 60 mph, and you'll be fine. Texas, I get passed by all the F150's doing 80 mph. The 500-mile drive (about my max) is 9 hours.

 

Truthfully, you should weigh the truck empty with you and a full tank of fuel. This is the UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight). The GVWR of the truck is on the door jamb, you can determine the truck's CC (Cargo Capacity).

Remember, the trailer tongue weight and the WDH weight will apply to the CC of the truck.

Watch the GCVWR limit. This is a common limiting factor.

Ignore the GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating), these are typically above the GVWR of the truck.

 

If you're losing enough fluid on a trip to need more, then you're probably going to need other parts too. I keep a quart of oil, thats it. And on both my toyota and the nissan, I've never needed it.

The most important thing to have is trailer brakes, and make sure that its loaded correctly, with 10-15% of the trailer weight on the tongue. Other than that, just know that everything you do takes longer - accelerating, stopping, lane changes, etc. Be patient and slow down and you'll be rewarded with better gas milage.

Don't overthink it and enjoy it.

 

yeah maybe I will do that as well.. curb weight is supposed to be 4065, but I want to know what it weight with me, my hubby, gas, camping gear - so we know how little payload is left to spare... I know the tongue weight will be about 520 (and the WDH will add in) - so that is a factor for sure...There is a you tube channel called "don't quit your daydream' that has a great already created excel spread sheet chart where you can add in all your weights and see where you fall and what is left.... i should be fine on gross combined as my truck can not exceed 5450 and the trailer can't exceed 4000 and my gross combined is 11000...

 

I am trying to find the balance between "not overthinking it" and not "under thinking it"!!!

 

Based on your numbers you have 1385 lbs for Truck CC (seems high). Pull off the 520 lb for tongue and 60 lb for WDH (Guesstimate).

Then your useable CC is about 800 lbs for people, pets and gear.

Definitely, weigh the empty truck. Especially, if you have done any modifications.

 

yes, I think my payload will be the most limiting factor - and will have to watch this the closest... once I know what my loaded trailer weighs I might have some wiggle room there to put the SUP etc. - but I will be well versed in what all my components weigh that is for sure... so thanks - I will weigh the truck unloaded with just me, then loaded with hubby and camping gear, and get a much better sense of what these numbers are...

 

The taco can pull that fine in the mountains. How hard you are on your truck is up to you. Are you OK with hopping over in the slow lanes with the semis sometimes? If you are I bet 300k miles on your taco is no problem. These trucks are made to do work and they will do it for about 3 times as long as the best kia.