UNBRAKED towing capacity

Good Morning All
New to the forum , thanks for having me
Im on my 2nd Tundra (2015 ) , thinking about going to a Tacoma
Is it true the unbraked towing capacity of the Tacoma is 1000#
Thanks for your help
Take care
mike

 

Keep the tundra.

 

Hey El Dude
Thanks for getting back
My move to a new Tundra instead of Tacoma
Is the unbraked capacity of the Tacoma really only 1000#
Thanks again

 

No it's not true, it's 3500 lbs

 

Tacoma will tow within it’s stated specs. Unbraked towed weight is governed by the state or province.

 

Go to a dealer and open the driver door and lean down and read the little sticker numbers. Voila!

 

Stickers do not show Unbraked Trailer Weight Rating. At least mine doesn't. Would you mind snapping a pic of yours?

Incorrect.

Incorrect.

Source...


@mike rog I have a '21 TRD Sport and the below information is on page 188 of my owner's manual. 1000# unbraked weight confirmed. That is what the book says. Can a Taco handle more safely - that isn't for me to say. I only tow trailers that have brakes and when I do, they are always connected to my brake controller (RedArc Tow Pro Elite). This is a bit of an odd question IMO. You are looking at the Taco's capacity to tow trailers without brakes? Do the trailers you run not have brakes or what? Are you worried about installing a brake controller and don't want to deal with it? I don't mean to be difficult, I just struggle with a full size owner looking to downsize being concerned with a light / compact pickup's unbraked capacity. Regardless, hope this information helps.

 

Thanks for the refresher. I've honestly never seen that in the manual before, probably because I'm not towing anything without brakes and never had the need to look for that info. I attempted to respond to OP's question with information that, while true, did not answer the question that was asked. My apologies.

 

But if you’re smart you’ll still use trailer brakes over 2k lbs

 

HELLO AGAIN
Thanks for all the responses ,,,very informative
The reason this post came to be is because my neighbor bought a Rav4 Hybrid to tow a 1300# trailer
When you scroll thru Toyota Official build a car website it states towing capacity of 1750 for RAV4 Hybrid
So he got home ,, looking thru manual and sees UNBRAKED towing capacity is 1000#
Now we are trying to figure out put a new axle with brakes on his trailer
As mentioned was considering a Tacoma . My Teardrop trailer is unbraked and weighs about 1300#
Just checked my 2015 Tundra manual and it states UNBRAKED TOWING LIMIT is also 1000#
My Tundra has a towing capacity of somewhere around 12000# + or - Seems strange it has a unbroken capacity of 1000#
Thanks again for all the responses

 

I had a Tundra and now have a Taco. I towed my 3500lb unbraked boat/trailer with both vehicles. Both towed well both stopped just fine. As far as towing without brakes I go by the state law/limit. That varies by state.
RAV4’s are good dependable vehicles but really aren’t good for towing. I personally wouldn’t tow anything with a RAV4.

 

Its limited by the market regulations (with a cushion of future-proofing and legal liability built in). There are five states that do not allow unbraked trailers over 1500 pounds. A few hoser provinces require brakes above 2007 pounds. I'm in the 3rd most lax law on that one, 4500 pounds, which is insane. If I owned a trailer over 1000, I'd probably convert it to a braked axle. The extra brakes really are nice when towing.

 

Just curious, are most boat trailers unbraked or braked?

 

Depends on the weight. For a jonboat or canoe carrier, no. For most power boats, yes. Most boat trailers are surge braked (hydraulic or "tongue brakes"), but it seems some of the newer ones are moving to electric-over-hydraulic brakes.

 

I have had a 18 foot ski boat, a 16 foot ski boat and a Honda Aquatrax personal watercraft and none of them had any brakes on their trailers.

 

Most single axle boat trailers don’t have brakes
On the coast, most multi axle trailers have brakes for the first couple years, and then they are unbraked due to lack of maintenance

 

Here in PA any trailer with a gross weight over 3000 pounds needs brakes.
Also a safety inspection once a year unless that changed

 

Even at 1000 pounds it can be a little uncomfortable.

 

Interesting; the Rav4 accessory tow package may not even have a 7 pin connector, which you need for brakes, so he may need to update that as well.

Depending on how often the guy wants to tow, I would at least try it with the Rav before switching vehicles, or adding a new axle. It will be a little annoying at first (have to use a lot of skinny pedal, as it doesn't have much torque), but it should be manageable. Even loaded down on the hills you can feel it, but the only downside is your mpg drops (to 30, haha).

Just keep in mind that this is a relatively light vehicle with a very short wheelbase.

The hybrid should actually tow pretty well for a compact crossover: it has a dedicated transmission cooler and pretty good brakes, with the combined electric and mechanical parts.

Edit: so this is what I would do, not necessarily what you should do.
I did a little more digging in the various manuals (Rav, Taco, and 4R), some interesting stuff that most of us don't follow, I assume:
- 4R has the highest unbraked trailer rating of 1655 lbs.
- Both Taco and 4R say sway control is required over 2000 lbs
- And Taco says a weight distributing hitch is required over 5000 lbs (most people probably follow that one)

I still have never seen of a trailer under 2000 lbs with brakes, though, although I'm sure you can find one.

 

Then in the end it comes down to your experience.
With the combination you are using.