Towing with a Tacoma

gmann1972 wrote:
Hello All, I am new to this forum so bear with me. I have a 2013 Tacoma, tow capacity of 6500lb. I just purchased a 2014 Sportsmen Showstopper 242sbhss dry weight 4400lb, gvw 6000lb. I did purchase the weight distribution setup and break control set up. But I have never towed anything of this size and weight with my truck. According to this information my truck should be able to handle the capacity of the camper. Although not sure if the truck has enough HP to pull the camper. Has anyone had any experience with towing a camper of this size with a truck of this size. Thanks All, Greg

gmann- Boy, a lot of Greg's with that moniker :)
I am also a Greg, also have a 2013 Tacoma. My TT is a 2011 Nomad UltraLite, 3600# dry, 4500# loaded. First, my thoughts, then some things to consider.
If you are pulling on flat to moderately hilly ground with that rig, the Tacoma will prove to be an awesome TV. In '4th', it handles that amount of weight perfectly, and the power is good to great. I put over 4K miles on mine in the last couple of months, all around Lake Michigan, Superior, Huron, Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, etc. There were virtually no issues with power...but no mountains. Now the caveats. Some owners on the Tacoma towing forum tried to keep up with their friends in Diesel rigs going up long, steep grades in high temperatures from Phoenix to the mountains. Not a good idea at all to try to keep up. Pushed hard enough, it will, there is a video of a stock 2015 Taco pulling a large covered cargo trailer filled with ATV(S)from Denver to Eisenhower tunnel at 65mph, ~5K rpm. That is at the peak of the Taco HP/Torque curves, but I don't know if I would want to do that all the time. Just keep the trans in 3rd/4th 3000-3500rpm which will put you at 55-60mph up all but the steepest hills, and relax, don't try to hit speed records. Within it's limits, the truck will perform flawlessly, and give good mileage to boot. Tacos are far, far under-rated; I pulled a 5x8 cargo trailer loaded at 2,000# across the US 12 times in a 2.7L taco (6x over the Rockies), and when I sold it a 185,000 miles, it was still pulling strong. Literally 10 years with nothing but oil and filter changes. Currently, the 4.0L is showing to be a much stronger engine, and I also expect to drive this for 10 years with the same quality.
Good luck!!
Greg2