Show us what you tow.

I wish I had a West marine anywhere within 250 miles of me...

 

It's a curse....

I ended up spending over $500 today trying to get the boat ready. Life jackets, first aid kit, throwable, flare gun, buoys, ropes, a backup paddle, anchor, an air horn, etc... I don't think their prices are the best, but they definitely have a good selection and had exactly what I need. It was nice getting it all in one store and not having to shop around at different places to source the things I needed.

 

When you factor in shipping and time wasted waiting for that random shit to show up I think it’s worth it lol.

 

well, this is what I'm towing now, but also what convinced me to get a beefier truck...

 

Small utility trailer for zero turn and other odds and ends.

 

went to glacier to bike going to the sun. Great first trip of the year.

 

Maybe someone can talk off a ledge... I just bought a Coleman Lx 2155BH TT. We’re are very excited about it but also I’m really unsure if I will like towing it with my 2016 Tacoma V6 with tow package. I’ve practically looked at every towing post on here and watched videos and I’m still not convinced. I was looking at smaller trailers but realized they aren’t quite what will work for my family so i pushed the size to 4500#s dry, gvwr is under 6000# and it’ll never be over 5500# loaded with people and gear in truck included. Ive always had 1500’s but found I wasn’t doing enough towing or hauling to justify having one being that I commute over an hour often, so I went for the Tacoma and do love it so far.

I bought the load distribution hitch with anti sway and trailer brake setup. The dealer swears it’ll be no issue. I’m sure it will be good enough but I’ve done a decent amount of towing and hauling and understand that power can be a good friend and enemy when towing. I really don’t want to start throwing money at the truck to make a worthy tow vehicle. I live in New Hampshire and plan on camping all over New England and beyond. Hills and mountains will be a factor to a point, that’s just the way it is here. I don’t want to trade it in but I don’t want to destroy it trying to maintain a reasonable, somewhat steady speed.

Any advice would be great and welcome. I’m new to the site but have already enjoyed the resource.

 

Im not familiar with the 3rd gen's, but I know my '13 can pull that without issue.

 

If I understand correctly, you have the truck and trailer. You'll know very soon!



I suspect you will be fine, but you'll just have to try it and see how you like it. Some people just cannot stand that on some hills, with a load, you need to rev the engine.

 

Yes I have the truck and I’ll be picking up the trailer next Monday. I’m. It not very patient when it comes this stuff. I guess the worse case scenario is I go get another F150...

 

Honestly just get an additional transmission cooler (if an auto), WDH, tow mirrors and tow in the correct gear. You may need air bags or some sort of helper like sumo springs, but try it with the WDH first.

It'll do fine, although you'll definitely feel that its back there when trying to accelerate or stop, but you're not going to shred the transmission or anything as long as you keep it properly cooled.

 

Those are also the people that expect a gas engine to handle like a diesel. It's perfectly fine to run these engines at higher RPMs where the power band is. It's literally how it's designed to work.

 

Yeah I do agree with you I think I just have to get my mind around it, I’m not usually afraid to give her! I will drive it home the way it is with WD sway hitch and brake controller, but I am definitely going to look into an additional tranny cooler and air bags. Maybe timbrens, I hear good things about them too. Anyone prefer one over the other?

 

See my previous post... I've really liked my leaf spring setup, which was simply 2016 stock leaves + 3-leaf AAL. I'm not sure if my boat tongue weight compares to what you'll have with your trailer though. For my purpose its been great.

 

Great looking truck man. That seems like a great option. Where did you get that setup? Is it a kit? I think the trailer tounge weight is around 550#. I could be wrong though.

 

I pieced it together from someone selling a used set of 2016 springs, 6112 / 5160s and the 3-leaf AAL from Headstrong Offroad.

Honestly it would have been easier just getting a new rear set that was already built to handle a load like a set of Dakar mediums and then raising the front a little bit to compensate to reduce the rake slightly. That's essentially what I did with my 6112s up front, was raise the front so the rear wasn't too high, but I still had near stock spring-rates, but with just more travel and a higher sitting rear end when unloaded.

My comparisons to a stock Chevy 1500 in posture are almost dead-on. Unloaded the rear sits higher than the front, loaded I'm level. I can take probably as much payload or tongue weight as I should have on my truck

Check out here. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bilstein-6112.421995/page-40#post-15824863
And here. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bilstein-6112.421995/page-42#post-16389417
And here... https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bilstein-6112.421995/page-42#post-16396150
Here. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bilstein-6112.421995/page-42#post-16401834

With 1,100lbs of tongue weight (weighed on a scale after I realized I couldn't handle it) and another 150lbs of stuff in the bed, I was sitting at less than level. We ended up having to tow it with my dad's Chevy 2500. Trailer came in at 8,000lbs and had way too much tongue weight for me to handle. I still wasn't on the bump stops, which is more than I could say with the same payload of 1,100 of salt in the bed with the stock springs (last photo)

 

Boat:

Camper:

 

Hauled my 12,000 lb boat last weekend for spring launch. Trailer is approximately 2,500 lbs. I have a prodigy brake controller, and an otherwise stock truck.

I would NEVER get on the highway with this rig. I only had to go 2.8 miles, mostly at 30mph down a rural road. The Tacoma did suprisingly well.

With the triple axle, I can adjust the tongue weight with the hitch drop. I'd guess I had less then 4% tongue weight.

 

Wow! That must of turned some heads...

 

Towed my trailer over memorial weekend out to some dunes.
Cruise lite 201bhxl about 4250 dry. About 5-5150 with about 150 in the bed.
Properly set up wdh and brake controller, and a rear camera was very nice. Towed great, especially considering the strong winds that were blowing.
Predictably worked pretty hard going over the pass and sucked gas like a mofo. But it managed. I think I might save the taco for up and down the coast and use the 1500 when I go over the mountains. Not because i dont trust the taco to do it, but because its the daily and I'd just rather not work it that hard if i dont have to.
The one thing I didn't like is the stock springs. I either need to get a leaf pack or some airbags. The amount of squat when hitched was fine, but any bumps in the road were noticeable. I dont trust these crap stock springs lasting.