Trailer Towing with a Tacoma

[pdog15]

Has anyone had experience with towing a 17'/18' tandem travel trailer with a Tacoma double cab - thoughts? Using Sway bars and a trailer package has been installed - including a controller. Thanks in advance.

[Arty]

Have pulled a single-axle down the continent with something much lighter, as well as something else a lot with a heavier tow vehicle. With the lighter vehicle, there were only overseas specs for towing, no ratings domestically. So I had to design, build & install my own hitch. Would not want to do that again.

Don't have my class I (yet) but am aware of simple GCWR and max trailer weight specs like most drivers should be. So, exactly what are the specified manufacturer's limits for your Taco, and the actual measured weight of your trailer? Those are the first things you should be looking at. That will keep you out of hot water with the BC cops, and help to keep you out of the ditches.

Also consider that many personal tow vehicles will have a considerably higher tow rating (but not gross combined) if you are using a weight-distributing hitch. Further, max trailer weights with gooseneck or fifth-wheel hitches can be quite a bit lower on pickups than with distributed-weight hitches because of the required percent of trailer weight over the axle is higher than on a receiver. But GCWR is always the same.

[LeonH]

Originally Posted by pdog15

Has anyone had experience with towing a 17'/18' tandem travel trailer with a Tacoma double cab - thoughts? Using Sway bars and a trailer package has been installed - including a controller. Thanks in advance.

I personally had used my 2013 to pull 19' bumper pull (3800lbs dry weight) for couple of years with no problem. Did not pull into mountains and such but for up to 300kms destinations around Edmonton it did just fine. It was my back-up truck but due to sudden divorce changes it was my only choice and it performed perfectly.

[FAT POSSUM]

I towed my 22 foot holiday trailer with mine quite a bit. My Tacoma had the TRD package. It was a little under powered but always got the job done.
Was in Wyoming once and the temp was 40 degrees celcius and the truck never skipped a beat.
Absolutely a great truck. My son has it now.

[Nester]

No problems with mine. Dragging my Gulfstream Ameri Lite 218MB around with no concerns. My only concern is when my canoe is onboard I get a big of sway.





Drove it a few times to Salmon Arm, good to go.

[Scott h]

I towed a 21 foot North River boat from Vancouver to the Queen Charlottes with my 2005 Tacoma. It wouldn't be my first choice but it was all I had and it performed perfectly.

[EZM]

Any light truck, whether it's a TACO or a F-150 is going to experience some swaying, braking issues etc... pulling a heavy load. It's really about keeping the speed civil and not pushing the load to the max rated capacity.

Don't get me wrong, these vehicles will pull a heavy load, without damage to the vehicle, but it's just too much sometimes.

IMHO most of these vehicles are rated far to high for what they can safely pull. And when I mean safely I mean controlling the load in a sway or having enough stopping power when you need it.

I try not to exceed 50%-60% of the tow rating.

[JWCalgary]

I pulled an 17 rpod this year with mine. No issues. No sway bars. Just a hitch.

Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk

[calgarygringo]

Post your factory weights off the door tab and real trailer weights and it will give us a better idea. Truck can alao depend on model and packages to correctly determine weights.

[does it ALL outdoors]

Originally Posted by EZM

Any light truck, whether it's a TACO or a F-150 is going to experience some swaying, braking issues etc... pulling a heavy load. It's really about keeping the speed civil and not pushing the load to the max rated capacity.

I try not to exceed 50%-60% of the tow rating.

That's great advice.

Towing it should be your secondary concern. Stopping it, especially in an emergency situation should be your main focus. My pops allways says just cause ya can, doesn't always mean you should

[tacomama]

I have a double cab Taco with factory tow package.
I tow my 17 foot travel trailer which is probably close to 2800lbs fully loaded (it's 1850 lbs dry) and I can also put my full size quad in the truck bed.

To help things stay level, I have replaced the factory spring rubber bump stops with sumo spring bump stops which only let the back end sag about an inch. They are rated to add 1000lbs cargo capacity to the truck, which of course does not matter as you don't want to go over your GVWR.

I can maintain highway speeds no problem, going up steep hills, I can maintain speed too but truck downshifts and runs around 4000rpm.

[saddleup]

I have a double cab Tacoma i use to pull single axle trailers only.... ie post pounder, water trailer, utility trailer max weight 1500 lbs.... if i wanna tow i use my dodge ram diesel