My experience towing with a 1st Gen

I just completed a 900 mile tow with my '00 Prerunner 3.4 and I have to say, I was not too impressed with it's towing capability. Even with a tow load of only 1,500lbs (roughly) the gas mileage sucks, sucks, sucks and the braking capability is marginal at best. I really thought this little Tacoma could do a bit better than it did.

Now, maybe unrightfully so, I'm comparing the Taco to towing with my '02 Isuzu Trooper. The Trooper (3.5L 215hp v6) has hauled our little pop-up trailer (2,100lbs all loaded up) thousands upon thousands of miles with nary a whimper. 3rd gear through the mountains, as one would expect, and always, always, 17mpg when towing. And, it's a PIG! Heavy, wallows thru turns, etc. and I really don't enjoy driving it all that much.

Anyhow, here's my trip report.

We just listed my BIL's house for sale up in Sacramento and I needed to get his fishing boat out of the side yard. The boat, while in pretty decent shape, needs some fixing here and there to get top $$$ when we sell it. Soooo, with the long Labor Day weekend coming up I decided to drive solo up to Sac and haul it back to Tucson so I can get it ready to sell.

I left Tucson @ 5am Friday morning and 14 hours later arrived in Sacramento. CA was having record high temps that day so I ran the a/c hard the entire way. Had the tires @ 44psi and didn't really have anything in the truck besides some tools, a floor jack, straps and a grease gun.

I set the cruise at 75mph and the truck ran great. I averaged a bit over 20mpg for the 900 miles up. Was quite happy with that.

Here's my mileage for the trip up with no load.



Stayed with my brother and SIL Friday night and went to the BIL's house Saturday morning to get the boat ready for the trip back to Tucson. Jacked it up and checked the bearings which looked/felt good and gave them a few pumps of grease for good measure. The tires "looked" good but were about 10 years old. With the temps in the valley being 105+ degrees (AZ being 105+ also) I hauled the boat over to Discount Tire and had 2 new tires put on (decided to take my chances with the spare).

The boat is a 16' Klamath center console fishing boat. According to specs I found online the bare hull weighs a bit under 600 lbs. The 40hp Yamaha comes in at roughly 225lbs and the EZ Loader trailer is probably right around 500lbs. With empty fuel tanks, 2 large deep cycle batteries and some miscellaneous junk the whole thing "might" be 1500lbs give or take.

With the boat all cleaned up and ready to go I spent the afternoon knocking back a couple of cold ones with a couple of old friends. Plans were to take off Sunday morning after church and beat the Labor Day traffic on Monday.

Here's the truck and boat at the Discount Tire parking lot.



Left Sacramento about 10:45am Sunday morning and the entire trip back to Tucson, while uneventful, was less than awe inspiring.

Running Hwy-99 south through the valley I ignored the CA speed limit of 55mph while towing and ran at 65mph. I was able to keep the OD engaged for the most part and got pretty decent mileage (about 17mpg). Had to get on the brakes pretty good a couple of times and, while not unsettling, they were far from confidence inspiring. I would try to keep a little more distance from the car in front of me as a result.

Once I hit 58 east out of Bakersfield it was OD off and 65mph at 3,000rpm's the rest of the way to Tucson. The little Tacoma struggled going through the Tehachapi's and could barely make 55mph at times (Trooper on the same route could hold 65mph easy).

Here's my fuel for the towing portion of the trip. The 13.60mpg is dragging the boat around Sacramento getting stuff done.



In conclusion, I guess my expectations for the Taco may have been a bit high. I really thought pulling a 16' tin boat would have been a non-issue for the little truck but, maybe 1,500lbs IS a pretty good load for it. I certainly wouldn't want to tow anything near the 5k rating for any extended time, that's for sure.

Oh, here's a pic of the Trooper with it's typical camping load.

 

what app are you using for mileage?

 

Your camper looks much more aerodynamic than the boat set up. The open boat is like dragging a partial parachute behind you, I'd imagine.

 

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Amazing what Tundra brakes, a tranny cooler and a few other goodies can do for towing!

 

Tacos aren't known for their gas mileage, and that's not even towing anything...

Your weight isn't the only factor. Aerodynamics play a big role too. If anything aerodynamics plays a BIGGER role at highway speeds than trailer weight, at least on flat ground. Driving hills are a different story, but that usually averages out when you come back down the hill.

Years ago, I borrowed my in-law's tiny little Colman camper trailer for a trip up to WA and back to central Cali, about 1700 miles or so iirc. I averaged 18mpg for the whole trip. That was because I drove like a grandpa (55mph), and the trailer weighed like 1000 pounds soaking wet.

I've got a bigger trailer now, <2500#, and make the same/similar trips annually, sometimes several a year. Recently did a 2400 mile trip to Durango and back. With the heavier trailer (still a pop-up) I got closer to 14mpg, maybe pushing 60mph.

My new 4.0L 4Runner gets more like 17 towing the same trailer doing 70 the whole way, and nothing gets wet when it rains.

 

FuelLog for Android.

Already have a tranny cooler installed and I think it's a reasonable expectation that you shouldn't have to upgrade brakes towing 1,500lbs if the truck is rated for 5,000 lbs. Just saying.

 

Yeh, Tacomas aren't known for towing well. But, boat towing is rough on any vehicle. They're just not designed to go down the interstate. I've towed a variety of trailers with my Tacomas. Most recently my 16ft Glastron skiboat. Probably a bit more weight than your boat, but my gas numbers are the same as yours. And in flat Florida. If I were to plan serious prolonged towing I'd step away from a Tacoma. Atleast noting less older than a 3rd gen.

 

My dad has an 08 Tundra and tows a trailer with 3 snowmobiles all winter and a 4000 lb wakeboard boat (boat alone) in the summer and has had no trouble with starting, stopping, or cruising. You might want to look for one of those if you are going to tow a lot.

 

I don't really plan on towing anything on a regular basis and for what it is, a compact pickup, it's fine. I just thought it would do a little better than it did with a pretty lite trailer behind it.

I've towed a lot crap with a lot of vehicles in my 40+ years of driving and the only other time I felt somewhat uncomfortable was towing my '66 Mustang on a dolly with my dad's '86 4.0 Cherokee. That thing did NOT want to stop.

 

Well what can I say but I am quite happy as long as my mileage stays above 10mpg .

I have noticed it pretty much is not the weight that effects fuel mileage it is how aerodynamic the load is and how fast you drive once you get much over 50mph fuel mileage drops fast .

weight only plays into your stopping distance

 

Not buying the boat being a rough load excuse, thats not too much weight. Ive towed with a 2nd gen tacoma quite a bit. I'll be hauling a uhaul trailer with a first gen for the first time in a few weeks. Ive also been curious what that'll be like.

 

You got it wrong. The driver (and engine) is in trailer, which is pulling a Prius for a long haul. They connected Prius backwards in hope of unwinding some miles on Prius's clock.

 

Must be really hard to steer with just one axle

Balance must be interesting

 

towing speed is the most critcal component in MPG when towing... btw, and not picking on you, towing a trailer in CA, 55mph is the max. I am surprised the CHP didnt get you. I hear it all the time from AZ peeps at the desert, 65 mph towing a trailer in AZ but when they cross into CA it drope to 55 and they get tagged.

 

I towed 6,200 lbs, from Tulsa to Denver, with my Taco. Tires, tire pressures, brakes, suspension (leafs) and a tranny cooler, were the parts needed for a succesful tow. That was with 60 to 70 MPH winds, as we were traversing Kansas.

It can be done, but a Taco needs to be modded to succesfully acheive that. I have no idea, why your truck was wimping out with just 1,500 lbs.

 

Yeah, me either. Only 116k on it. Well taken care of and runs like a champ. I really thought it would do better than it did but I'm sure it's just me and my high expectations. Is what it is and I'm not going to worry about it.

If I get position again where I need to tow often (Camp trailer?) I'll sell it and get something else. Not a big deal.

 

My situation is a little bit different but I routinely have 1,000 lbs in the bed full of gear and dirtbikes plus a good 350lbs of cabin occupants and additional gear. My truck with the 5 speed doesn't even notice the weight. Although I will admit the MPG will go down around the 17 mpg mark on the highway at 70 (I get an easy 20 normally).

 

People on this forum laughed when I mentioned to a new owner his truck would notice a 500 lb load. I can tell a difference when I have a single passenger in my truck. These things aren't made for towing, carrying a few ladders and tool chests is about where they reasonably max out IMO.