Major Towing trouble

A jet ski trailer even with a jet ski on it is fairly light compared to most other trailers. Because they are light exceeding 15% tongue weight is probably not a big deal. It is an exception though. In general for safety sake people should follow the 10% to 15% tongue weight rule. Just because you haven’t had a problem doesn’t mean it’s the appropriate or safe thing to do.

 

You didn’t mention (that I saw) if this was a 4cyl or V6. You didn’t mention what was in the truck when towing.

With proper weight distribution, you can pull the trailer, but you can’t haul a load of firewood in the bed at the same time.
If you store stuff in the trailer behind the axle, and nothing in front, you will lighten your tongue weight.
Look where the water tanks (fresh, gray and black). They may be adding greatly to you tongue weight problems. Haul
It dry whenever possible.

 

I understand that this is quite an old thread, by typical TW standards, however I did find some interesting information about tongue weights that may satisfy all.

Li, M., Li, D., Fu, Q., Yang, Z., & Wang, W. (2021). The influence of tongue weight of a trailer-mounted recreational vehicle on steering stability. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, 59(2), 203–213.




10-12% is ideal.

 

Another reply to an old thread. I keep reading that the Taco tows posters campers just fine. Just fine is not a good thing. The Tacoma was not designed to tow campers on a regular basis. You know something is off with a posters setup when they say I added X, Y and Z and the truck performs ok. That is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Considering this is your 7th message, I'm having difficulty understanding your distaste.

 

I had the opposite experience. Was towing with a 1 ton vac with 10,000lb towing capacity and was looking for something kinda big that would be in about the 9000lb range once loaded...

Dealer didn't have what I was looking for on the lot, and kept trying to sell me something that was too small. Finally trying to scare my wife that it would be super dangerous... Anyway went to another dealer bought the floor plan we wanted and had not a bit of trouble with the setup 4 trips up and down the AlCan.

 

That’s because the dealer didn’t have what you wanted and was trying to get your money still.

 

Yep, became quite obvious the longer I was there.

 

Because I'm new on this forum does not mean I don't have experience with towing. When I was a young pup, I thought a V-6 powered vehicle would effectively tow a travel trailer. It wasn't until I towed with a full size truck did I learn a small vehicle is a bad idea for a hauler. I now travel with a Class A motorhome pulling a toad. On every trip I pass multiple Tacos towing travel trailers. They all have the same problem, they are stuck in the slow lane doing, swerving and weaving and the driver has that deer in the headlights look with white knuckles holding onto the wheel with a death grip. To learn a little about the world of towing, I would suggest anyone thinking about using the Taco as a hauler to lurk on the numerous RV forums. Go to IRV2 or RV.net and expand your view.

 

I agree with most of this. A half ton truck will tow unbelievably better. My Tacoma was very stable even on 2 Lane Highway with semi’s passing going the other direction. It just did not have the fuel capacity or power to deal with anything other than ideal conditions.

 

"Another reply to an old thread"..... you been here for 7 whole messages and complaining about replies to old threads. Hahahahaha


Furthermore, stating the fucking obvious like its some secret knowledge seems pretty dumb, too.

No shit a bigger, heavier truck with more power is going to tow better.

Probably why they don't use VW beetles to pull 53 foot trailers.


I don't think anyone here specifically bought a Tacoma to haul 100% of the time.

However, the engineering dept at Toyota made it to where these things can tow a decent amount of weight

Maybe people shouldn't buy 4500 pound campers and then load 2000 lbs of gear.


Get a Hiker Trailer and move on with your life.

 

Man, you have some serious attitude for a person with 155 messages. Like you are some kind of expert. Well, what is fucking obvious to me is probably against the rules of this forum.

 

I found that my 06 Tacoma V6 with an Automatic transmission just could not haul my Jayco 18' Travel trailer (2,600 dry weight) without a real struggle. 2 Adults, 1 100lb. GSD and my equipment. Manufacturer weight ratings don't tell the whole story for trailering safely and without beating up your Tacoma. Sold the TT after 3 trips

 

Nice set up. Good luck figuring out trailering issues. Been there, done that.

 

Um. Please point to where you feel my statement isnt correct.

Oddly enough, I work in the industry, so an expert? Maybe not.

Do I mess with it every day? Yep.

 

I think that the OP was just a troll. He made his one and only post May 30, 2022 and has not been back to view anything on TW since that date. He’s in the wind. I’m noticing more and more often someone signs up for TW (same on other sites too) makes one post and then vanishes never to be seen on the site again. Pisses me off.

 

Effective. Adjective. 1. successful in producing a desired or intended result. 2. fulfilling a specified function in fact, though not formally acknowledged as such. Source: Oxford Languages via Google

^ you are introducing a lot of subjectivity using that word. Food for thought: both the F-150 and Tundra have V6s and tow just fine. A friend pulls his race trailer all over the states with his V6 F-150 crew cab loaded with no issues. The v6 isn't the issue... the gearing, trans cooling (or lack thereof), tune, squishy stock suspension and many other things contribute to the Taco's struggle. I have a 3500# (gross) off-road travel trailer that I tow full-time so saying things like...

... is an incorrect generalization. Death is in the details, right? The Taco is just fine for hauling in certain use cases, with proper upgrades. You aren't wrong though - a stock, full-size is a much better towing experience but there are trade-offs. For my use case the full size trucks cannot go on the back-country trails that my Taco can and my trailer is purpose built to go such places. Is towing shitty in 55+ MPH cross winds from Cheyenne to Casper, WY? Yes. Would it be a much better experience in a full size? Absolutely. You aren't wrong there. I disagree with your assertion quoted above though but I am also driving a Taco that has an upgraded suspension to accommodate towing. Perhaps you meant that the stock tacoma is a bad idea for a hauler. <- I agree with that 100%

Now if we could just get a torquey R2.8 Cummins I-4 w/ 310 lb-ft of torque in a Tacoma I would take back the two sentences above. Sigh. American legislators no likey the diesel.

 

I think some people don’t get the performance impact that towing has and as such think they should be experiencing similar performance as when not towing. It doesn’t hurt the truck if you’re within the limits. Tacomas are used for towing work trailers every day by some people and there’s not a thousand blown transmissions each week.