Towing with my 2018

Thought I'd share my towing experiences and tips.

Although I have towed campers and utility trailers dozens of times, I recently had to tow some extra heavy loads.

Here is an example of towing something above capacity:



The total weight of my load there was approx 7400lbs. To make things worse, I didn't have a brake controller. I was completely naïve after the salesman told me the towing kit had an integrated brake controller. Of course it didn't take too long to realize that stopping was nearly impossible. Long story short, I made it to and from my property safely. But don't recommend this. Fastest I went was probably 60-65mph.

The next time I needed to mow, I borrowed my dad's tractor and installed a brake controller too. I used the Redarc brand, and it worked very well. (Towpro Liberty)



This tractor is smaller, and so is the trailer (lighter duty). The total estimated weight was 5500lbs. The truck towed VERY WELL. The brake controller did its job, albeit cranked to 10/10 setting. But that's normal with very heavy loads.

If I continue to tow a lot like this, I will eventually consider a 1/2 ton truck. Maybe a Tundra.
The brakes on the Tacoma are not specifically meant for towing, meaning they are weak when you have thousands of pounds pushing you. They were good enough for this, but I could certainly feel that they were being asked to do alot more than they wanted to do.

Hope this experience is interesting to others.

Funny note: This tractor on trailer (Kubota) towed easier on the highway than my homemade camper (1800lbs) The Tacoma don't have too much trouble maintaining speed with heavy weight, but once it comes to air resistance from a boxy trailer, forget it... It'll shift to 3rd gear at 70mph and scream like a Civic. This was my experience when going from KC to Colorado multiple times for camping.
Im sure someone well knowledged in physicals/aerodynamics can explain why weight and air resistance feel different. Im not going to try, but you get my point.

 

A weight distributing hitch will help correct the nose up tail down posture and make the truck drive much better. Correctly adjusted it will mostly eliminate the pitching and bottoming and keep the truck level.

Carefully read and follow the setup instructions that come with it, not difficult just fussy but well worth the effort.

When you tow a tractor you have to deal mostly with just the weight.
When you tow an equal weight box trailer you have first the weight PLUS the wind resistance, kind of a double whammy from the load standpoint.

 

Partner, if you tow even occasionally like that, you need a bigger truck. I say this as a frequent tower both large and small: use the right tool for the job. Towing over 6k with a midsize truck is like trying to tighten lug nuts with 3/8" socket wrench. Sure, you got the wheel on, but in the deep secret bottom of your heart, can you really say it was safe?

 

Towing the Kubota is fine. I wouldn’t want to regularly tow the Massey Ferguson though.

 

This past weekend I towed an RV towable camper. That was probably the last straw for me... The wind resistance (as mentioned in the original post) was just absolutely killing the truck. It kept shifting between 3rd and 4th gear. I tried several different speeds to find a sweet spot. But either way, it's obviously not the truck for the job. The total wet weight for this trailer was probably around 5K or 5.5K lbs.



I started looking into the 3.0 diesel Sierra's and RAM. Would consider the Tundra, but it's expensive and the diesels out there get much better fuel mileage than the hybrid MAX.

I think most of you guys would agree that it's tough getting a truck for towing if you also use it as a daily. It's like a fine balance between fuel efficiency and towing capacity. And the two don't always go hand-in-hand.

 

you were already in 1/2 ton full size territory. If you are constantly going to tow tractors and travel trailers, I might be looking even bigger than a 1/2 ton, but yeah they are expensive, gas guzzling beasts.

 

Towed my FJ40 (loaded 3700-3800 est) on a uhaul (2100 est) 120 miles each way last weekend.

The tacoma did surprisingly well, probably due to the 4.30 rear end, but I felt that the tongue weight was way over what it should have been for the truck.

Steering on dirt roads, the front wheels would break loose occasionally, even with the 40 loaded backward.

The greatest quibble I had was the power band- shifting from 1st to second, even with shifts at 3500-4000 was while starting on a steep incline was horrible. Higher gears at speed were fine.



This truck has blue sumo springs. It would have ridden the bumps otherwise.

It's a capable vehicle, but not best suited for doing this regularly.