Towing capacity question

Will I have issues towing a pop up camper that is rated 2908lbs dry and 4,400 gvwr?
2015 dcsb trd off-road with tow package with topper, 5100's 886 springs front, rear ome 3inch springs, front winch and sliders.

 

Should be a pretty standard tow, although you'll feel it more with the lift and presumably bigger tires than a stock truck.

That's pretty heavy for a popup in my experience, does it have trailer brakes? And do you have a brake controller?

It being a popup, wind drag and cross winds should be pretty minor issues. Does the trailer have a friction bar or other sway control?

Oh, tow in 4, not D. That should be enough on its own, but if you want to be extra cautious, get a Scangauge or Ultragauge so you can monitor transmission temps.

 

It's a pretty big pop up. About 21 ft long and build sturdy with front deck for extra storage.
The pop up does have brakes, I'd have to get a controller. I don't think it has a friction bar bar or sway control. Just the standard ball mount. Yes I do have 285's on stock gears. Yes I would be towing in 4th gear. Since I have the tow package I do have a trans cooler already.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/#:~:text=Gen%202%20Tacoma%20(2005%2D2008,come%20with%20two%20engine%20options.&text=3%2C800%20rpm-,Max.,Tongue%20weight%20350%20lbs.&text=4%2C000%20rpm-,Max.,X%2Drunner%20350%20lbs.)


don’t get in a hurry. I pull a trailer every day…with a truck made to pull a trailer… I do not like towing with my Tacoma.

 

This. You can tow at near capacity or even a little over if you are really careful. It's not a matter of if everything goes well, which it will most of the time. But, if things don't, if you have to make a sudden stop or evasive maneuver that's when things really go to hell. And if you're outside of parameters, or in this day and age even close to them, I would expect a lawsuit.

 

Around 4500 lbs is a sensible maximum weight to ask a Tacoma to pull. I have a small hard sided travel trailer that will be just under 4000 lbs when loaded. My 07 Tacoma pulls it, but my F150 pulls it a LOT better. With it folded down you won't have the wind resistance of a hard sided trailer so that will help. You should be able to pull this trailer but I wouldn't load the trailer very heavy. You may need to leave some stuff at home. If you want to pull a trailer and load up the truck you need a 3/4 ton. A lot of people will pull just the trailer with a Tacoma and use a 2nd vehicle to carry passengers and most of the cargo that would go on the truck.

Pulling 4500 lbs isn't the issue. It's the tongue weight of the trailer along with the weight of passengers and cargo in the truck that will get you in trouble. Tacoma's have laughably low payloads. Around 900-1300 lbs. Every truck is different. There is a sticker on the drivers door jamb that reads (The combined weight of passengers and cargo should not exceed (XXXX lbs). The weight of the topper and any other modifications will have to be deducted from your payload too.

Figure 13% of the loaded trailer weight as tongue weight. You should never be less than 10% and never more than 15%. Your trailer empty will put about 375 lbs on your truck's suspension. The trailer loaded to the max 4400 lbs will put about 575 lbs on your truck's suspension. If your truck has 1200 lbs of payload that only leaves about 625 lbs for you, passengers, the topper, any mods, and cargo in the truck.

It is best to put the heavier items in the trailer. If you move 100 lbs from the truck to the trailer you take 100 lbs off the truck and only add 13 lbs to the tongue weight for a net loss of 87 lbs on your truck's suspension.

How you load the trailer matters a lot. If you load it heavy in the front you end up with more than 15% of the weight on the tongue and can result in an overloaded truck that sways all over the road. You can move some weight to the rear of the trailer which reduces tongue weight but if you go less than 10% on the tongue the trailer will sway all over the road as you pull it.

The only time you'll have trouble pulling 4500 lbs is if you do so at high altitude. There is less oxygen in the air as you go up and engine power is reduced by about 3% for every 1000' you go above sea level. It starts to be noticeable at 5000' where you have about 15% less power from the engine. At 10,000' your engine is only putting out about 70% of what it does at sea level. Trailer weights should be reduced if you tow at altitude with most gas engines. The newer turbo powered engines aren't affected nearly as much at altitude.

 

You know the old rule 1 car length for every 10mph, triple that. 4500lbs is no problem just drive safely and give yourself plenty of room for any unexpected crazy driver. It’s that evasive oh shit maneuver that will get ya trouble.