Towing Capability

Hi Everyone
I have a 2020 TRD Sport dbl cab with 6ft bed. Completely stock, no mods. I'm looking to tow a vehicle using a UHaul car hauler. The vehicle being towed weighs roughly 3500lbs. Is the Tacoma capable of towing a combined weight of 5700lbs without any risks? Tia

 

welcome aboard

 

If I am not mistaken yes you can. Should have a towing capacity of 6500lbs. Highly recommend you install a trailer brake controller.

 

Shouldn't be a problem, I have towed may cars and various other loads up the the rated towing capacity of my '17 DBC TRD Sport. Tows like a champ.

Check out this thread. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-us-what-you-tow.27460/page-268#post-24570110

 

I believe the uhaul trailers have automatic brakes that activate when there is forward pressure on the trailer tongue (from vehicle braking)

Your truck should be able to tow that no problem. Just be careful and maintain a safe following distance and give yourself plenty of time to stop.

 

Curious where you are getting the 5700 lb figure. Sounds to me like you're trying to tow a 3500 lb trailer.

If so, shouldn't be any problem on stock truck.

 

Depending on the options you have you can either PULL 3500, or 6400. That doesn't mean you can TOW that much. The truck will pull the weight, the issue is how much weight your suspension is rated for. Your post isn't clear but I assume you want to pull a 3500 lb car on a trailer and the combined weight of the trailer and car is 5700 lbs.

You have 2 things that will be the limiting factor.

#1 is payload and GVWR. You have a sticker on the drivers door jamb with both numbers listed. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is the maximum combined weight of the truck, any passengers or cargo in the truck and the tongue weight of a trailer. Payload is the actual weight of the truck when it was built subtracted from GVWR. The payload of most 3rd gen Tacoma's will be 900-1100 lbs. Depending on how they are equipped some can be more. The GVWR is going to be the same but the heavier the truck is, the less payload you have.

A 5700 lb trailer will have about 750 lbs tongue weight. Depending on the individual trucks payload that will leave you 150-350 lbs available payload with most trucks. If your truck has more than 1100 lbs payload then you have more room to work with.

You could probably tow 5700 lbs if you are alone in the truck with no other passengers or cargo. Start adding other passengers and anything else in the truck and you're going to be overweight. This is one of those borderline situations. At best you're pushing it right to the trucks limits. If I were only going to do this one time, and for a limited distance then I might go for it. But I'd not recommend a Tacoma for regular duty towing that much weight. In the real world around 4500-5000 lbs is a sensible maximum for these little trucks.

Working this close to max it would be a good idea to actually weigh your truck and subtract that weight from GVWR to determine your true payload. Weighing the car is a good idea instead of just guessing. The listed trailer weights at U-Haul are pretty accurate.

The 2nd thing that is going to be an issue is U-Haul. They have their own requirements and may not rent you the trailer unless you lie about the amount of weight you're going to pull.

 

Yes you can do it but as others have said the added trailer brakes go a long way.

 

Yes UHaul car trailers have impulse breaks so you dont need to worry about your truck having a controller.

 

Use ECT and S gears in the hills.

 

This is much simpler. Stock truck is rated to safely pull 6400-6800lbs. Properly educated driver should be able to do these tows safely.

 

might want to exactly know how much the trailer and the car weigh but thats just me

 

U-haul trailers have surge brakes so no controller is needed.

U-haul will tell you if you can or can not tow that. They will ask you what you are towing and what you are towing with. If it's not within their spec you won't be renting their trailer.

 

According to my owners manual you will need trailer brakes, Sway Bar, & WDH.

 

The 5700lbs includes both the car and the trailer combined. Car weighs 3500 and the hauler weighs 2200lbs. My son and I will be in the vehicle weighing 270lbs altogether.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Marshall R I will take into consideration all that you have pointed out and mentioned.

 

You can, but I bet uhaul won’t let you

 

Your ass end will most likely sag a lot depending on how much tongue weight you end up with. As others have mentioned a WDH is pretty much necessary for trailers of this weight. I don’t think you have that option however with a uhaul trailer. Might want to consider adding airbags or sumo springs if this will be something done frequently. If just a short haul. You’ll get by just be very cautious. Depending on how much sag you get could cause issues with sway.

 

You can't tow a uhaul trailer and use a WDH

 

My 2017 2.7 utility has a 1500 lb sticker on the door. My 2020 Tundra TRD 4x4 says 1380 lbs on the door. There is no way I would put 750lbs of touge weight on the Tacoma. We pull a 30ft TT close to 8k and tw anywhere from 750 to 850 depends on where we are going. I do use a Andersen WD sway control. I guess I’m just saying door stickers are goofy numbers.

 

Just came across this. Pissed me off, wouldn’t let me rent their dolly to tow a Jeep. I know why their computer said it wasn’t possible, and when I explained I’m going to pull the drive shaft on the Jeep, so it doesn’t matter, they just looked at me with a blank stair. So told them to put a front wheel drive Acura in the computer, then they were fine renting me the dolly, and away I went.

This is the first time I’ve bothered using the Tacoma to tow, I’ve towed a lot of shit with different vehicles and trailers, have to say the 3rd gen Tacoma is absolutely crap at towing even something light like this. (And those u hall car dollys are also horrible). Friend broke down 15 miles away (bust front axle), so was quicker to go to local u hall and get dolly rather than get the 1ton diesel out and go to storage and get real trailer, then go through the hassle of getting the Jeep onto a trailer with busted axle. Plus I knew towing him with a Tacoma would piss him off...
Yes the Tacoma can tow, but no I wouldn’t recommend it.