Is the 2.7L too weak?

I'm looking at a 2012 2.7L 5 speed manual Tacoma. I'm planning to put a topper and drawer system in the bed, so a lot of extra weight. I'm wondering if the 2.7L will be able to handle it? I don't need to go fast and I don't live in the mountains, but there are a couple long hills that i drive daily and im wondering if the truck will be super sluggish? If anyone has driven a 4 cylinder manual in the U.P. Michigan/northern Minnesota area id really appreciate some advice

 

How much extra weight?

 

I wanted the 4cyl when I was looking for a tacoma. Ended up with the V6. Lots of power but the gas mileage sucks real bad. I think you would be fine especially with the manual.

 

Between the topper, plywood decking/drawers, recovery gear, and other assorted things I keep in the bed I'd say around 500 lbs? That's a pretty rough estimation though

 

Sounds like what I have, 2.7 5M AC with topper, platform with table saw, slide saw, compressor, nail guns above and drawer with cordless tools, slide table, saw horses below. It’s not quick but I never get less than 21mpg. I added air bags because without them I would hit the bump stops relentlessly. Now it rides even. Sea level with Ca coast range hills. 4th gear for long 6% grades but no problems on much steeper roads and streets in the lower gears. At altitude I’d absolutely want more power but no regrets on prioritizing mileage.

 

I have an 06 4x4 with that exact engine, and a manual transmission. I also have a camper shell and keep assorted tools, recovery gear and stuff in the bed. I have lived in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida and Virginia with it. No, it's not the fastest, but I have never felt underpowered with it.

 

That's reassuring! I'll definitely look into airbags/new leafs. Thanks for the advice

 

With a fiberglass topper.+ drawers etc it's gunna suck in hills

 

To that point, does it have the recall done on it for the TRD springs? I did that years ago and it was awesome!

 

Leaf packs are install & forget, airbags add very little weight and are adjustable but require occasional added air so they’re better for wildly varying loads and you don’t want an overly stiff ride when riding light. Sumo springs are another option that’s a cheap and easy diy that’s good for 1000lbs. My current set up let’s me add air on the fly from an HP air paintball tank using dash switches that lasts several months but it’s much more common to just put a fill valve(same as your tires) on the bumper.

 

TLDR: 5-lug or 6-lug? I have a 5-lug and it is under powered and over geared (3:30s) at 5kft altitude. The 6-lug may have 4:10s, which would help. I would not be making my 5-lug a heavy work truck unless I had no other choice and was broke. Consider finding out what gear ratio differential it has (sticker in door opening, search this site for axle code, some weirdness in some posts, so be careful). If it's a 3:30, a low cost method to help a small amount, is to swap out a 2.4L AT model's differential, which is 3:5 (6% more revs)

I'm at 5kft altitude with 2.7 5sp. Put a couple people in it and a few bikes, turn on the A/C, and it's a total DOG in my opinion, but I'm a single parent lead foot with a lot of places to be at this point. It's the lowest performing vehicle I've driven in recent memory (bought from a friend as a trash truck/bike rack with wheels on a quick deal). He spent plenty of money at the dealer getting fluids changed and a tune up, so I doubt mine is worn out or a low performer. I'm glad to have it, but recent events have me daily driving it and I find it a kill joy. If you are cruising and not in a rush, I think it would just be "slow". As part of connecting with the kids, I've spent some $$$ on new 3rd member. I'm going to 4:10s in the near future and larger diameter tires, but that's a lot of money. I'm probably gonna get rocks thrown at me, but I've noted that Nissan trucks are more configured like I would want, from the get go with lower gears. Wish I would have gone Nissan in the first place, but as I said, it was a purchase of convenience. The MT comes with 3:30s typically (look at the sticker in the door opening and search this website for Axle Code). I bet for not too much money you could find a 3rd member from an AT version, which comes with 3:50s in many cases, which will help. The problem is the 2.7 lacks torque and refinement (compared to my Honda engines), the differential is geared high, and the vehicle will weight a lot.... that is a bad combo. Once I was unhappy with my truck, I started researching and realized that a frontier will have lower gears and tall tires in a base model. Toyota must have been forced to make these things super mileagers to meet a gas mileage quota or something because I can't make sense of it. Another issue if you are looking at 5-lug, is it comes with small tires, where the frontier comes with normal tires which equates to more ground clearance. My 5-lug scrapes the hitch backing into my driveway. Just little things that make the tacoma 5-lug stock feel like a parts runner for napa (haul oil filters and don't let your employee drive too fast) as opposed to a truck with ground clearance and sufficient power. Clearly I have not had my Tacoma koolaid today. Consider a Frontier for Japanese work truck IMO. What ends up happening is the 5-lug gets the 6-lugs respect as far as resale value, and what you find is it's hobbled with tall gears, small tires, and no power. I'll admit the smaller tires on the Tacoma make up for the tall gears as compared to a frontier, but just the same it's an odd fellow. I just installed taller tires that are 29 vs 27 inches in diameter, and the ground clearance and feel of the the truck is more what I've experienced with my other trucks (Chevy 1/2 ton, F-150, Ranger). As I said though, this is fun money to work on the truck with the kids, if I was starting over, I would not consider a 5-lug with tall gears.

 

Had no problems unless going into a high speed desert headwind as far as making freeway speeds manageable. Hauled ~6-700lbs as my gopher truck for the can of worms rig. Even if you have to occasionally dip down into 3rd, it’s really flexible. 5MT prerunner. Consistent 18-20 mpg on 265 10 ply KO2’s in LA traffic or high speed freeway night driving.

 

Do you know what gear ratio is in your differential?

 

You’re at altitude and it sucks there but Op said he wasn’t and neither am I. Changing rear axle ratios would help and something I considered as a possibility before driving it for several years. A rear end from an automatic would help some and the next step down after that would be ~3.7:1. I don’t think I’d go to 4.10 unless I did off-road or trailered a lot. There’s a point where the 2.7l is just the wrong choice but I’m glad it was available to me.

 

4.0 and 2.7 are both too weak in stock configuration

 

I pulled a 16-foot trailer with my 2.7L/auto last spring. From the factory, my truck is rated at 3,500 pounds towing capacity, and with the

$190 add-a-leaf kit for 1995-2023 toyota tacoma - 21.5" short AAL set with isolator pads and square bend u-bolts

add-a-leaf kit it's probably a bit more. The trailer weighed just under a thousand pounds empty, and combined with the trailer cargo and the load I had in the bed, I was probably around 1,500 pounds. My truck would not go past 30 MPH going up one particularly steep hill with that trailer, but other than that towing was effortless for a 4-banger with almost 170K miles (at the time); I just set the cruise control on the highway and comfortably did 55-70 MPH. My truck even averaged 17 MPG pulling that trailer!

No, I do not think that the 2.7L is too weak to do what you're planning to do...

 

For racing & maybe towing but not for working. I’ve worked mine for 6 years with loads in excess of 1000lbs and it does just fine. That would not be true above 2000’ even empty so high plains or mountains are no go territory without a turbo to recover the lost O2.

 

I borrowed the trailer from my employer to help my girlfriend and her friend move out of New Jersey and back into Pennsylvania; I took this pic in front of my parents' house before the trip...

 

First, I picked my girlfriend in Washington, New Jersey. After that, we had to make a quick stop in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania as seen here...

 

Finally, we made it to the storage place in Mount Pocono; I ended up having more trailer space than I actually needed...