Towed with the loaner

As I stated in another post I have a dealer loaner Tacoma as my Tundra is in the shop a full week. This is good because it has allowed me to put some good miles on it as I am thinking of selling the Tundra and getting Tacoma. Yesterday, I hooked up my 4-place enclosed snowmobile trailer with 4 sleds in it to see how it felt towing. The Tacoma that I have is a long bed and it was really good. The trailer did not control the truck, it rode well and drove straight. It did work hard getting up large hills, but nothing that I could not live with. My trailer with the sleds weights close to 5000lbs. I don't tow much anyway as I most of the time can ride from home. But here is a question that I have. I would like a short bed for easier parking and turning, but I wonder if the short wheel base would tow as well? Also, it rides really well, and I am wondering if the short bed would ride as well?

 

Here is a great document if you like looking at Specs. Page 16 covers towing capacity. I rarely tow except for a trailer full of junk to the dump. Definitely get a V6 with the Tow Package if that is not standard yet.

http://www.tfltruck.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2016-toyota-Tacoma-Technical-specs.pdf

 

IMO a Tacoma does OK towing 4000-5000 lbs. If I towed a lot, or at altitude I'd probably want to stay closer to 4000. If you don't need the capability of the Tundra it is hard to go wrong with a Tacoma. I no longer use my 15 year old Tacoma as my #1 vehicle. I needed the size and also have a F150 Crew cab 4X4. I still drive the Tacoma around town and for shorter trips, but the big truck gets used on longer trips or if towing more than a utility trailer.

On a Tacoma crew cab I like the short bed better. With a crew cab and the long bed you end up with a truck the same overall length as most 1/2 tons. The primary purpose of a Tacoma is to drive a smaller more maneuverable vehicle. I've never found anything that wouldn't fit in my 5' bed where a 6' bed would have made any difference. You ain't gonna put much in the bed of any Tacoma anyway. That will be the biggest negative to trading the Tundra. A 4X4 crew cab Tacoma will only have 1000-1200 lbs of payload vs 1700-1900 on your Tundra.