Towing 6000 pounds with a Tacoma

Has anybody tried towing a 6000 pound trailer with a 15 or 16 Tacoma ?

 

Have you told 6000 pounds with the Tacoma? Hairy taco

 

I think he's just eating popcorn because you'll soon get some responses that say "Get a full size." most likely. That's a touchy question up here for some of the people. You'll have some say go for it if towed properly, you'll have some say go read the towing bible thread, some say go search, and a lot say go buy a full size.

 

Nowhere near it. I have towed around 2000lb's I am guessing. I am certainly curious to hear how this works out for people.

 

If you are doing it all the time, then this is probably not the ideal truck. For occasional use with a brake controller, then go for it.

 

I wouldn't pull 6,000 lbs very far. Yes, the Tacoma is rated for it but doesn't mean it will do i happily. I wish automakers had two tow specs, absolute capacity and a number the truck can pull without being a complete dog.

 

Thanks for the responses and the video, it helped a lot we would like to buy small toy hauler 22 foot trailer to put my Harley in which would be about 6,000 pounds total but I'm thinking the same thing that would be too much for that truck.

 

Ask me in May. I winter my uncle's 26' Columbia in my yard. Likely selling my beater F250 in the next month or so leaving the Taco to deal with launch duties in the Spring. The boat comes in around 5600 lbs displacement and the trailer is another 12-1500 lbs. Not the kind of thing I'd want to do everyday or for any significant distance, but I don't expect any problems either. It certainly wouldn't be the most inappropriate launch vehicle this boat has seen.

 

It also depends on your location and where you are towing. Towing all over the place in mountains is different than all over the place in flat areas. I use to tow 10-12 tons all the time with a 7.3L diesel F-250 with no problems because I was in Delaware which is flat, and the longest trip was 60 miles one way. But I would never do the same thing out in Western Maryland where some Interstates are 6-7% grade for a couple miles.

 

Remember if you are pulling a 6,000 lb trailer all that tongue weight is going to count towards your payload capacity too. Let's say tongue weight is 600 lbs, you maybe have 600 or 700 lbs left of payload capacity. Put 4 adults in the cab and you've already reached your maximum payload.
I really think 4,000 lbs is a more realistic limit for the Tacoma. My little trailer in my profile image is around 3,000 lbs loaded up. Plenty of wiggle room for the Tacoma but 6,000 is in full size territory.

 

Very good addition, they do state this in the Tacoma owners manual. And like he said, even though I had a regular cab 4 cyl with a tow rating of 3500lbs, it DID NOT like pulling 3500lbs. I did it a few times, the majority of my tow trips were around 2000-2500lbs and at that weight it was perfectly fine.

 

I just completed a near 5,500 mile trip pulling a 2009 airstream 23D from Utah to the east coast and back (23 foot tandem axle, 680lbs toung wight, 4,250lbs dry, about 5500lbs loaded out). I have a 2013 TRD OR with a 6 speed manual. I was able to pull all through Wyhoming on I-80 averaging 68 mph and 7.5 mpg. The truck held up great the whole trip. I did do two oil changes and cleaned the air filter throughout the trip.

 

Towing weight close to the maximum which I have done depends on two factors; the frequency and the distance. If you do it regularly or for a long distance, bigger trucks handle the weight safer. If it's occasional tow like mine was, moving boats in and out at the beginning and end of the summer, no problem at all. Just remember, a weight that approaches the weight of the truck becomes increasingly harder to handle at higher speeds and in high winds, regardless of the rating. Higher weights also put a big restriction on the capacity as you also have a gross vehicle weight limit the truck can handle.

Lastly, you can get away with a lot more weight towing while driving slowly then trying to pass everyone in sight.

 

3.5 auto will tow way differently than the 4.0 manual.