Trailer pulling

To the ones that are concerned about pulling a travel trailer. I pull a Flagstaff 25bsds mini lite travel trailer. It's dry weight is 5871lbs. Toung weight at 630lbs. have no problems pulling it. I did do some mods







1st. I installed add-a-leafs at the rear







2nd. I installed airbags







3rd. I installed HD trans cooler







4th. I installed  new tow mirrors not clipons.







I do travel alot I have put over 30000+ miles pulling my trailer. It does well in the mountains. It does eat fuel but I'm good with that. I make sure I'm always under 65mph. Also I make sure that I am under 6200lbs

 

I have a 2015 4WD 2.7 5 speed manual that I tow a Tab 320S Boondock with. Loaded it weighs a bit under 3 thousand pounds. I have towed it down the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, to Cape Breton Nova Scotia and back to Virginia, to the highest point in WV and to Western Ohio. I have never had a problem towing it. I have installed Sumo Springs, a brake controller and 7 pin wiring. My truck came with an OEM hitch and 4 pin wiring. As far as I know I have the same frame and brakes as a 6 cylinder.
These trucks are more capable than most give them credit for.

 

I have also been on the Blue Ridge Parkway and through the smokies. If you're up in the Tennesse area, you need to stay at Honeysuckle RV resort in Servierville.



I forgot to mention I installed Power Stop brake Rotors and brake pads. Made a huge difference in my stopping.

 

I learned that if you do your homework, it will all come together with your Tacoma. We had a 25rk Vibe dry weight was 5988lbs. Then I traded to my new Flagstaff. Last year we went to Kentucky, and then to Virginia and stopped off in Tennessee. Traveling for over 4 weeks. I put over 4600 miles on my truck my gas average pulling was about 9.9 to 12.0 mpg. The truck did great. We will going soon to Texas on our next trip.

 

I tow my GeoPro G19QB it’s 3500lbs at full capacity and has a tongue weight of around 550lbs to 600lbs. My towing is all uphill to the Lincoln National Forest which is around 7500 feet to 9000 feet of elevation depending on where I am staying. This is coming from home where we are around 3000 feet of elevation and it does well. Gas mileage does go down to around 10 to 11 mpg’s but it’s to be expected when towing all uphill.

 

DannyR
Got these tow mirrors and they work great. They were under $300.00. You can get them on Amazon.

 

Thanks for letting me know, in case I tow someone larger in the future, the good thing about the GeoPro is that the width is around the same as the Tacoma. It might be a few inches more but I can still use my stock side mirrors while towing and changing lanes.

 

Just got back from a 2700 mile trip with our new Flagstaff trailer. It pulled well and averaged 11.3 mpg. Hit some bad weather but slowed down in it. Went to Bald Mountain RV resort, Georgia. Pidgon Forge RV resort, Tennessee. KOA in Murfreesboro Tennessee. Fair Harbor RV resort North Perry Georgia. KOA Pensacola Florida. Then Lelynn RV Resort Polk City Florida. My 2020 Tacoma did very good.

 

To all you Tacoma fans, as long as you stay under 6200 pounds, it will work for you. Just need to modify some stuff on your Tacoma. Any questions you have, just ask.

 

Weight slips or it didn't happen.

 

NO WD Hitch?

 

OP: how much did your truck upgrades cost overall?

Obviously you've made it work, but having to do all these modifications to tow what the Tacoma is supposed to handle on paper kind of means the Taco does not tow this kind of weight "just fine".

Again, not trying to discount what you do, but you've made it into a truck that can regularly tow that weight, vs. a regular Taco.

 

There’s a difference between towing and towing both safely and withing manufacturer limits. A Tacoma pulling 6000lbs is neither safe nor within those limits.

 

Then why did they give it a 6200lb towing capacity?

 

Marketing. Tacomas don’t have the payload capacity to tow a 6200lb trailer and carry anybody in the cab other than a driver. That’s 800lbs of tongue weight when most Tacomas have only 1000lbs of payload. Add a fairly weak engine and brakes that are just ok for the stock truck and it’s not safe in other than ideal conditions.

 

This is why it took me 6 month to find a camper that I like and could pull. I got a 28ft camper 500lb tongue weight and 5300lb dry weight. Tho i never boon dock so need to carry water is never going to happen. and I travel light. only the things i need.

 

If you haven’t weighed that trailer I highly doubt it actually has a 500lb tongue weight. If you have it loaded to have that little weight in the tongue it is unsafe and you need to increase it to about 650lbs. A camper advertised as 5300lbs dry is the absolute base model with nothing - no batteries, propane, mattress, solar panels, etc and typically are several hundred pounds heavier once that stuff is added.

 

This is the test for towing from the SAE. That's what the Taco earned to get the 6200-6400 tow rating.

SAE J2807 Tow Tests - The Standard (motortrend.com)

 

There's one thing I do not see on your list: "Trailer brake"

Are you pulling that weight without one?