Towing To The Max

...just doing what everyone loves to do, have their cake and eat it too. ;-)

 

The only "experience" I have towing that much weight with a similar vehicle resulted in an accident that changed a lot of lives.

After that, it became 3/4 ton and one ton trucks (eventually a Freightliner FL70). It's not about the power to move it down the road... it's about the ability to control and stop it.

You do as you see fit, but having been there and done that, there's no way I'd tow that much with my Tacoma.

 

Please, tell me about the similarities between what you did and what I want to do.

 

Maybe it's just my OCD, but I don't like to operate anything at near max capacity. As mentioned aero drag is not in the weight capacity listings.
Another thing to consider is ease and comfort. Most of the people I know that traded in for larger trucks and/or downsized campers, did so, not because they couldn't tow, it was due to the stress of towing at/near capacity took from the rest of the trip,,,,,,,, that was supposed to be fun and relaxing.
GL

 

Towing something that close to the weight limit of the vehicle. Like I said, do as you see fit. I'm not here to stop you. I didn't buy my Tacoma to pull max weight. If I wanted to tow something that heavy, I'm getting a bigger truck.

 

Had a close friend tow a trailer at 90% capacity with a 1/2 Ford ... lost control while trying to make a panic stop on the freeway after a car had side swiped another. He ended up hitting a few stopped cars in front of accident and caused a lot of carnage.

Was sued by other drivers as negligent using his near weight limit capacity, failure to yield, etc. ... bottom line, insurance limit tapped out at 1M and will be paying the rest of his life.

Towing capacity is based on frame strength by manufactures to play the towing game. As mentioned before, stopping and controlling this amount of weight safely is not designed in ... just getting the load moving and not having a frame failure.

Keep your towing to 75% of capacity otherwise get a bigger tow vehicle and save yourself a lot of potential heartache.

 

i agree that circumstances encountered matter more than stats

iv towed Heavy across 5 states ........... NO mountains !!! = NO issues

mid atlantic = flat to rolling terrain

blue ridge.....applachian...smokeys present considerable Grades UP Hill & down B R A K E S !!

so i dont think U will find just 1 answer

what iv observed seeing others tow correctly & many with luck & some not so much

how realistic are UR epectations matched with Ur skills & experience

the most dramatic of circumstances is lack o preparations ( well greased hubs + several spare tyres )

planned route.....fuel/rest stops ( US hi-ways less congestion sometimes )

dont have any ' Drop Offs ' !!

 

My tow weight isn't really near max. It's about 82% even though payload is high. Tongue weight is going to be around 9% (10% is the cap).

 

I hear ya. I'm not a kid or a young dad. I'm not far from retirement. I see folks driving 2500 or 3500 trucks hauling 30-40' trailers and leaving one car length in front of them. I'm not that guy. I'm not in a hurry. I will drive 45mph to the KOA if I need to. From what I'm hearing, a responsible adult will be just fine. Leave room in front of you, brake early, and take it easy. I'm within specs and even am upgrading brakes and adding a controller to over compensate a little.

 

U r lookin for permission to do what U r set on doing

no 1 can compare / quantify good or bad experiences against a ' hypothetical ' !!!

a different driver will have a diff skill set from his experiences

that Urz will NOT mirror

some driving Ur rig will do better or worse than U

i NEVER needed a Weight Distribution hitch in that i knew how to load to start with

iv seen many with WD hitches way tooooo heavy on the tongue !!!!!

stats simply dont matter when U DONT KNOW WHAT U r doing..................

there are at least a hundred threads most not chummy or good

this 1 is destined to be another

 

I agree with everything you said EXCEPT that I'm looking for permission to do what I am set on doing. I only came here for someone to provide some information that would counter what I think I want to do. So far, I haven't seen anything compelling BUT I would definitely walk away from my idea if I did see something alarming and just get a trailer that weighs 1,000lbs less. I like what you're saying though.

 

I just got done with a 4 state trip 3300 miles towing a 19’ Escape fiberglass trailer that comes in at 4200 lbs, 450 lbs tongue with a 2016 DCSB TRD with a WDH. Washington, Idaho, Oregon & Utah, previously have hauled it to Montana, I can tell you the truck does okay at this pulling a trailer at weight. Have no sway or handling issues, that being said any mountain passes above 6500’ you are going to be wishing you had mo’ powa’ and a bigger truck. I 70 in Utah over the Capital Reef was over 7900’ we were doing 35 at the summit with nothing left as far as hp.
Just okay for towing, for a better tug step it to a Tundra or F150, RAM 1500 etc. you need a greater cushion with you tow numbers.
We normally tow in Washington State in a relatively flat topography & in that environment I would give it a good rating. I would not tow anything bigger with this truck regardless of the numbers unless it was a local short haul.

 

I don't think you are going to find a compelling reason that will change your mind to be honest, but Ill give it a whirl anyway:

A brief mental exercise on the physics that are in play. So we all know about how lighter, shorter, and taller trailers become more "squirrelly"- that is, they are more prone to counter steer than lower, longer, heavier trailers. But that's only up to a point, because if a trailer is too light, its attempts at counter steering won't significantly affect the heavier tow vehicle. We don't notice just how unruly our 5x7 garden trailer really is because it doesn't have the weight to bully us around. But this does put the Tacoma (and other "small towers" in a weird spot, because they can be lighter than some trailers that are still highly prone to squirrelly handling.

And this is why I think a 20 foot camper is about the most dangerous thing you can tow with a Tacoma. It's short enough and light enough that a tire blowout will still cause it to buck like a one-nutted mule, but it's also big enough to outweigh the Tacoma. If shit goes south -i hope it never does but can't promise it won't - that trailer will be unstoppable. It has the potential to flip you on your head before you even have the chance to correct it. It's literally fighting above our weight class.

If you want to pull a 20-25 foot box no matter how light it is, no matter what the door stickers say, use a full size truck that weighs more than it does. That's my humble opinion.

 

Anyone have a link to a website that will translate this to proper English and format it in a manner that is readable? I tried Google translate and it just gave up.

 

He tries to help, but I gave up, it's just too painful to read. Maybe some kind of stenotype or other shorthand code.

 

That's where to ambiguity comes in,,,, I would call this near max. Only you can decide- try it out, but it sounds like you're trying to talk us in to why it's okay. If it's safe, then roll on!

 

I have grown to like it. It's art. Like if Boomhauer wrote prose.

 

Haha, perfect! Why didn't I think of Boomhauer?! You win the internet today my friend.
https://youtu.be/NwT5kuCjDX0

 

If I read it like that it's way better.

 

OP I'm with you except have you accounted for ALL the weight you will be towing. We pull a 3800# TT with no water but.. we have firewood sometimes, chairs food, ice in our coolers a couple bikes on the hitch behind TT and two kayaks in my bed. Add a wife and dogs I'm up there for totality of ability. I just posted recently that I am reserved and like the tow now that I have become accustomed to the high rpm's in Fl, Ga mountains on occasion but for what you are trying to pull I'd check your math because small stuff adds up quick.