Towing 6400 with Tacoma

This discusses tow ratings and the requirements.

https://youtu.be/BbiBXK5CLlw

 

This gonna be goood...

 

Guys I'm good. Apparently you rev the beans out the lil girl.

Got it

 

ECU goes to open loop at wide open throttle. That said your hypothesis makes no sense because if you mash the pedal and nothing happens because the truck is maxed out then it should slow down if you let off

 

Despite the towing claims i wouldn't want to tow anything above 2800#

 

Yeah, that's all there is to do. Let her rip...

 

It's not us. It's a characteristic of this particular engine. The 3500rpm range is where this "lil girl" starts getting excited. Read. It's amazing what you might learn.

 

My 2nd Gen did do better towing, 3rd Gen no.. If you get the lower gears, the truck will hit 5th gear more often and pull harder and you will not be rev'ing the lil girl. It's that simple. People report minor mpg changes. The transmission ratios are really the down fall for this truck soon as you tow or put bigger tires on it. So if you tow alot and love the truck, just regear and your back into your happy place trust tree thing.

 

Then you’ll like it better when you go full Hamlet.

 

It can tow 6400 pounds alright, but she aint gonna be happy about it. The tow ratings are based purely on safety, reliability and longevity of the truck, not comfort and perceived performance.

 

there is a standard to determine tow rating. Has to do mostly with starting and stopping on inclines.

Also towing should be done at 55-60mph (believe it even states this in the manual iirc). Get in the slow lane and let traffic pass.
Also should be in 4th gear. 5th and 6th are over drive.

 

No pics?

 

On a slightly different but related topic: Its a surprisingly common sight to see people cruising at 75-80 mph with their oversized trailers (and I bet a fair amount of them are using cruise control as well). Generally speaking, those are the vehicles that I try to stay a good distance away from, not try to keep up with.

Yes, technically I can go 70-75 with the trailer, if I pin that pedal like it insulted my mother. It's awfully tempting to, considering my habit is to drive like a maniac-on-fire when I'm not loaded down. But I don't. Not because the truck can or can't do it, but because I don't want to be this guy.

 

I tow my 3000# RPOD travel trailer with my Tacoma pretty much stock and it tows fine. Even with my weight, wife, dog, stuff, etc., it tows fine. I use a WD hitch and friction anti-sway which makes my towing experience better but has no bearing on the capability of the engine/transmission. I have no doubt this truck would tow more but I wouldn't want to. Towing capability and towing comfortability are two different things. Would I expect to tow my RPOD at a sustained 70 MPH up a mountain pass with a headwind? Not really, not with a Tacoma. I have to go slower up hills and on the highway when towing a load of any size. I don't think it's irrational for people to be saying yes this truck tows fine for a vehicle that is not engineered to solely tow things. It's engineered to be a mid-sized pickup truck with some off-road capability and yes, as part of that (like any vehicle) it has a towing capacity rating. I don't think I ever went in to buying this truck imaging it will tow its maximum capacity or even half with no drawback. So..IMO, yes it will tow up to 6400# (or whatever it says) exactly like it says (probably more if we're talking pure capability) but environmental factors will make any load behave differently. I don't believe the manual advertises any expectation of ease of towing.

Edited to make the primary point easier to see.

 

Dude, you need to cool it. This truck is not a towing vehicle. Will it tow 6400lbs? Sure. Is it gonna be fun, no. For the same reason you wouldnt buy an EcoDiesel to regularly tow 9500lbs, you shouldnt buy a tacoma to regularly tow 6400lbs. If you're maxing out your vehicle, you're not doing it any favors. I tow a 3500lbs center console just fine, but i wouldnt want to do it all day every day on long stretches of highway.

 

Here in Ontario we only have I think 2 highways over 60mph every other one is 60mph max so 60 is fine for us. Because 5th and 6th are overdrive towing is expected in 3rd and 4th 3rd on bigger hills or if towing 6400. That’s just how it is if your question is can it tow 6400 well yes. If your question is is there something wrong with your truck then no.

 

Your spec says that 6400# is the maximum you could safely tow with your properly equipped Tacoma. (SAE J2807)

No one uses their Tacoma to tow the max consistently. ( if anyone does I don’t think they’re happy campers)

If you believe that Toyota is guilty of false advertising, take them to court. You won’t win but it’ll be entertaining

 

We have a name for our 3.5L now - "lil girl". Someone gotta make a badge so we can stick it on the engine cover.

 

TRDlilGrl edition

 

Yeah there are a couple of guys who I do track days with who tow with Tacomas, but it's always an open trailer. I think for an enclosed trailer you'd really need a full-size, preferably a diesel - not so much a matter of weight, but wind resistance.