What's the largest camper size a v6 tacoma dbl cab can tow?

At the end of this hunting season I'm buying my buddies camper because he's a coastie and getting transferred to Alaska. I believe his camper is either 22-24 ft long. Is this managable, or will it be too much strain on the engine. Its a pull behind, not 5th wheel. If you have a camper, please post the length of the the one you pull and how your tacoma handles the tow. Thanks

 

what ever your towing capacity is on 2nd gens, you shouldnt go over it. so find a camper within that range and you'll be good

 

Length isn't the issue. Weight is. If your truck has the towing package, then you can tow up to 6500 pounds. If you're towing that much weight, make sure to get a brake controller to help slow down the load.

 

My 2009 V6 tows a Heartland 21FBS which is in the weight limit as long as I pack moderately. Tows well at 70 MPH but the MPG takes a big hit. Add a headwind and you better know where the next gas station is!

 

if everything about the camper falls within your tow ratings, maybe your buddy will let you take it for a test pull before you drop the cash on it.

 

We tow a 4000 lb trailer with weight distribution hitch. We have a tow package on our 2011 V6 4x6 Tacoma Access Cab.
We went from Chilliwack BC, Canada to Sacramento CA, mostly I5. Definitely had some hills.
We are looking at trading our Tacoma in for a Ford F150 Ecoboost. (We will lose a lot of money, to be sure. We paid cash for our new Tacoma about 7 months ago.)

Things we love about our Tacoma:
---------------------------------
Mileage - not even broken in, about 22-23 mpg on hwy driving, 17 city. Towing drops to closer to 15, maybe a bit more if flat highway most of the way.

Appearance - Classy interior, cool looking exterior, sporty-looking, etc. The Fords are just ugly, we think. Inside and out.

Turn Circle - wheelbase on Tacoma shorter and it turns (for a truck) on a dime. The Ford does not turn that tightly.

Fun to drive - light, peppy


Reasons we want to switch
--------------------------
Towing experience - The Tacoma certainly does tow 4000lbs, since it is rated for 6500.
And on the flat highway it rolls along very nicely. But when you hit a relative steep grade, it definitely wants to be in a lower gear and we take it out of overdrive (auto transmission) which would be 5th gear, I believe. We take it out of 4th and into 3rd, on occasion. If we don't do this manually it starts popping itself into and out of gears. We slow down to maybe 40 - 45 mph on grades like that. We don't have a temp gauge on the transmission, but we should. If we are careful it seems to work fine, though. It definitely can tow that weight, just slowly up the grades.

Roomier Interior - We want a long bed so we are looking at the Super Cab (same thing as Access Cab in Toyota). The seats are more comfortable, nicer, and in fact the entire truck interior is larger in the F150. Much larger.

Driving safety - The Ford has some nice safety features. Our Tacoma spins and the rear end slides on wet surfaces (unloaded). The Ford seems to have less of a problem with that - anti skid or weight or something. The safety ratings seem higher on some parameters than the Tacoma (roll, roof, etc.)


Towing Safety - our trailer weighs about the same as the truck. So when we came to a bit of a fast stop on a very slight downhill slope, it was scary. The truck and trailer both slid a bit and it was not fun. The Ford is MADE to tow. The Tacoma is not.


If we were going to tow only occasionally, we'd gladly keep the Tacoma. But we are going to be towing all over the country. It is quite a sacrifice to give up the gas mileage (the Ford F150 ecoboost only gets about 9-13 mpg towing depending on the weight of the trailer). But it will tow the 4000lbs much, much easier. We are going for the 3.73 axle ratio on the Ford.

 

Towing a load is usually the easy part, stopping is the issue.

Make sure the trailer you are considering buying has good brakes on each axle and you have a brake controller in the cab that works properly.

NEVER NEVER NEVER buy any rig with surge brakes. They cause more accidents than they prevent.

 

I'd look through the Towing section of the forum. There's a lot of good info in there:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/towing/

 

How in the world do you get 15 MPG towing a 4,000# camper? Mine is around 3,000# and I get maybe 12 on a good day it's older so it's lower too. I would like to hear how you do with the Ford I have heard they have all the power and do pretty well on fuel until you hook up the camper then it's more like 10 at best.

 

Just make sure the Ford you get is not over 6500 lbs that way one of us can tow you to the shop when your transmission craps out.

 

I would push my Toyota and my trailer before I would stoop low to a crappy Ford. All our 1/2 to one ton trucks at work are Fords, AND THEY ARE JUNK, when you're used to a toyota. I pull a 30' pontoon with 2011 DC Sport 4x4. Absolutely no problems. Up and out of boat ramps in 2wd, no spinning ECO=CRAP!!!!

 

Ive been towing RV's for 30 years and have learned a few things along the way.
Little truck = tiny trailer. (a half ton is a little truck) Never tow a trailer @ the max rating!
Use the 50% rule. 6000 lb. tow capacity = a 3000 lb. trailer.
I tow my trailers with a Dodge 1 ton. 11,000 pounds behind it and flies up any hill but more importantly it has the mass to effectively break and control the weight.
I would not consider using anything less then a 3/4 ton full sized truck to tow a camp trailer with.
I've never seen a Tundra keep up with my Dodge in the mountains towing.

But if its all you got go for it, just stay on the flats and in the slow lane!

 

This is exactly right. I tow thousands of miles every year with my Tacoma, 2500# trailer + 700# payload. I would put the max towing at 3500#. Any more and you will crawling hills, fighting head winds, and eating gas. Just about any loads on the rear will require new springs. The 6500 rating is pure fantasy.

 

We tow a 4300lb travel trailer with our 2014 Tacoma SR5 with tow package.
If the road is perfectly flat, she'll do with little trouble. However the tiniest hill has the old 4L working hard.
expect 3000 rpm steady. fuel economy is terrible. Had to fill up twice to travel 330km. You WILL need a weight distribution hitch and a brake controller. TSB springs are on my rig but you will still flatten it with a 550lb tongue weight. The guy who wrote that this thing can tow 6400lb was on crack that day. Maybe you could tow that once in the lifetime of the truck. Don't expect the tranny to last though. Need a 1/2 ton preferably with a V8.

 

Just drug home a 23' trailer 3400# dry. Coming over the divide and hanging out at over 6500' in elevation I was single digit mpg- hit the flats at 3000 got up to 12 mpg I have a S/c so my mileage might be a little lower than others. I think the frontal area on these trailers is large and adds drag at highway speed killing the mpg- I had to stop a lot.

 

I will concur with the 50% rule for the most part. As you go up in truck size, you can increase that percentage as everything is more purpose built for heavy work. I went from a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 ton truck back several years ago and the difference towing the trailers I had at the time was amazing. The engine size was not that much different as the 3/4 ton was a gasser too.

I've downsized all around now, smaller boat, smaller utility trailer and smaller RV all being towed by a much smaller truck than I was used to. The stuff I tow now is "right sized" for the Tacoma. Nothing I tow is much over 3500# loaded now.

Also surge brakes are the devil. I hated those damn things on my old boat trailer.

So the above in mind, my personal experience is I would not go over 4000# max load (including what you're carrying in the bed) with a V6 Tacoma if you're going to be anywhere but the flatlands and even on the flats, 4K is all I'd want to tow any distance.

 

Strongly suggest you inspect your trailer brakes - truck brakes stop the truck, trailer brakes stop the trailer.
Even with a slight downhill, you shouldn't have trouble (especially with ABS) IF the trailer brakes are in good working order, and you have proper tongue weight.

 

Hi all, this post really hits home for me (if anyone is still looking for info). Recently towed my 20 ft Sonic (3800 lbs dry, 4300 lbs loaded) across the country from AL to OR with my 2012 Tacoma TRD Sport. Trip took me through Badlands, Yellowstone, Tetons, Glacier, and Rainier (so needless to say, lots of elevation).

Truck and trailer made it just fine, but a few points:
- Quickly realized overdrive would not be used (even on interstate, 4 was the magic number)
- On any steep grades, plan ahead and build up speed. Took me some time to get used to it, after several occasions of slow rolling with the semis in the right lane all the way up the mountain side and sweating bullets
- Cruise control was a no-go the entire way. Just didn't have enough oomph to carry us on any change in elevation
- Had the brakes/trailer thoroughly inspected prior to the trip (on the camper). Downhills were quite easy with engine braking for speed management, and the camper brakes handling the rest. Couple of times had to do a quick stop (actually locked up the trailer brakes)... highly recommend getting used to engine braking while hard braking... really decreases the pucker factor
- Gas mileage was DISMAL... I got about 140-150 miles before it was time to fill again

Primarily, don't get in a hurry. Recognize that it's gonna take a bit more time, sit back, and enjoy the ride!

 

While not an absolute, newer campers tend to be lighter and older campers are heavier. Look at your weight rating and don't exceed that.

 

If you tow frequently, particularly at the top end limit of what the Tacoma can handle, do yourself a favor and buy the F150.

Dont believe the hate some members spew about Fords. I know plenty of people that own Fords , many of whom tow, and their trucks are reliable and much more capable than our Tacomas.