What's needed for towing?

As part of your negotiation ask to hook up and tow your trailer around town and a short stint on the hwy as part of the test drive. Don’t assume it will tow ok until you try it.

I pull my trailer a few times a year to go motorcycle racing. It is similar distance to what you are going but my trailer size and weight are much less. I wouldn’t want to pull your rig and I would get the full sized. My last truck was a Ram with a 5.9l Cummins and I didn’t even feel the trailer back there. The Tacoma pulls it but is reving while running 4th gear almost exclusively and dropping to third as needed. If I decide to do a few races at a track I ran when I was young it is now 7+ hours at 100kmh without pit stops. I am debating borrowing a truck to do it so I can relax when I tow instead of the truck reving all the time.

I would hate to see you buy the Tacoma and then hate to tow with it. I pulled my neighbors little open utility trailer to Home Depot the other day and it drops to 5th and stays there. I picked up a piece of Masonite and a piece of Fiberglass reinforced plastic. So still pretty empty and the mesh tailgate ramp caused enough drag to keep it from 6th gear.

 

Appreciate the honesty

I already tried to ask if can test with my tow rig but sadly can't.

It's gonna be a leap of faith in a sense but no documents signed yet so Im trying to gather as much info as possible from everywhere

 

When I was shopping I had it written into the contract that it had to be brake controller ready. The salesman wasn’t 100% sure so I had that written in. Towing was one of my criteria.

In your case towing is a major stipulation to your needs in a truck. Find a rental company with a Tacoma similar to what you want. Rent it for the day and test it out with your trailer behind it.

 

Looked around as per your suggestion

Only f150 to me locally lol

Anyone can chime in towing 4500lb or so?

 

I’ve towed 3,500 LBS down the east coast. 800 miles. Trailer was 8’6” wide. 2’ sides on it. The truck did ok except for steeper hills in PA & VA. I just slowed down and kept the RPM’s at 3k. I do it twice a year. Next year I’ll be taking a smaller camper about your weight. OVtune may help.

 

I tow my trailer around Washington. its about 5.2k tops when loaded. did fine. I would also throw in getting E rated tires for that load, and pump them up when you tow. you can roll lower psi for daily. Get the tow package as well, and if you're doing some distance or hills, think about upgrading the tranny cooler to a larger aftermarket. springs are high up there (these stock ones blowww) and some kind of support like sumo or airbags. ill be going airbags in the near future.

 

Might look into the Anderson WDH. It uses chains instead of trunnion bars. With my experience towing on the Kansas plains with 25mph wind I can say I'm very happy with the performance and not having the hassle of bars.

 

I have a new F-150, you’re gonna want airbags with that too. The rear leafs are really soft. Good for ride comfort, garbage for towing. My truck squats heavily when towing anything over 4000 lbs.

 

I tow a travel trailer that is 23ft long and +5,000lbs with my 2012 Tacoma and it does fine. You are within the specs for the truck if it has a tow package.

Run a brake controller and a properly setup weight distribution hitch. Don't bother with airbags...they are in effective when it comes to towing and do not shift weight over the front axle and back to the trailer like a weight distribution hitch does.

You should have no problem maintaining 55mph, even in the mountains, as long as you're not afraid to make the truck work. I live at 4,500ft elevation and am usually towing over passes between 6,000 and 8,000ft where I'm often passing full size trucks pulling trailers. I'm not sure about the 3rd gen but my truck likes to cruise at 60-65mph with the trailer.

If you get an automatic transmission you'll want to pick up an ultragauge or scangauge to monitor your transmission temps and read the owner's manual for info on towing (don't tow in D and I believe the new one new have other recommendations as well).

 

Quick question

Which weight distribution hitch is recommended?

I'm towing probably 5000lb so my tongue weight js around 500-600?

 

so... been enjoying my taco

will be towing my trailer last next month

looking into buying a WD

My trailer is a 20' Cargomate Enclosed Car Trailer

I'm having issues deciding on which WD to get.. at this moment im leaning towards Husky Centerline but cant determine my TW

If someone can give me some insight - thank you