Toyota Tacoma towing capacity

[kartsahd]

I have an F-150 7 lug and she is just about worn out. I would like to buy a new truck but I am having trouble finding the "REAL" towing capacity of them. Also I would like to scale down a little as a full sized extended cab truck with an 8' bed is a pain to park downtown. The dealers are full of **** and most the web sites just tell you about packages, like wheels interior ect. I really like the Tacoma 4 door SR5. So many names have changed over the years but I think it is basically the old High Lux but bigger. I have a boat, 21' and with the trailer it weighs in about 4k pounds. Do any of you know what package eg. engine ect. I would need with a Tacoma to pull my boat. Short trips usually less than 2 miles on flat ground except one bridge. I try to stick to a 60% to 70% towing rule with my towing vehicles as I know that yes you may be able to lug something around but can you stop and control it! I was also looking at the Chevy Colorado.Thanks

[blt2ski]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

blt2ski wrote:
2 miles flat ground!!!!! I'd pull that with my now non owned 76 22r Toyota pickup! My son pulls that much with his 5 yr old 4 banger yota!
What's the issue? Long distance towing is a check of a lot different than going no more than 35-40 mph a few miles down the road. That's assuming you do not have any serious grades to go up or down, IE over 15%!
Hook and go!

Marty

Come on Marty......dont you know using common sense without 172 pages of quantum physics calculations is required here or at any other RV forum? Especially when it comes to pulling a 21' boat that has less drag and probably puts less weight on the truck than hauling a new refrigerator home from Lowes in the bed. The OP is going to need a one ton diesel dually for that boat.

I'd skip the 1 ton dually, go big! class 8! Besides, most one tons have the ability to fit in the DOT class 4 range today.....unlike yesterdays 1 tons!

Marty

[Ralph_Cramden]

blt2ski wrote:
2 miles flat ground!!!!! I'd pull that with my now non owned 76 22r Toyota pickup! My son pulls that much with his 5 yr old 4 banger yota!
What's the issue? Long distance towing is a check of a lot different than going no more than 35-40 mph a few miles down the road. That's assuming you do not have any serious grades to go up or down, IE over 15%!
Hook and go!

Marty

Come on Marty......dont you know using common sense without 172 pages of quantum physics calculations is required here or at any other RV forum? Especially when it comes to pulling a 21' boat that has less drag and probably puts less weight on the truck than hauling a new refrigerator home from Lowes in the bed. The OP is going to need a one ton diesel dually for that boat.

[Bumpyroad]

the only issue I might have with the Tacoma is the condition of the boat ramp used. steep, long, always wet/mossy, etc.
bumpy

[blt2ski]

2 miles flat ground!!!!! I'd pull that with my now non owned 76 22r Toyota pickup! My son pulls that much with his 5 yr old 4 banger yota!
What's the issue? Long distance towing is a check of a lot different than going no more than 35-40 mph a few miles down the road. That's assuming you do not have any serious grades to go up or down, IE over 15%!
Hook and go!

Marty

[Grit_dog]

2 miles, flat ground with one hill(bridge) and surge brakes? I could tow it with a side by side utv on the market or my 650 4 wheeler or '74 CJ5. Any new Taco or Colorado you buy will be fine.

[Nevada_Hudson]

Already bought the Toyota, so will have to live with it for awhile.

[kw_00]

Taco is a great truck, also check into the Colorado with the diesel if your always towing in the hills. It will also be a great fit. My father has the new taco with the 3.5. Soon he will be towing the gulf stream retro vintage 19erd. I will post on his trip when he's finished, my BIL has the same truck and camper but his taco has the 4.0. He has zero complaints towing it. Good luck on your decision, all are great trucks but give the Colorado or canyon with a diesel a look as well.

[Nevada_Hudson]

Seems like the 6800 Towing capacity is smoke and mirrors.

[OldShu]

Don't forget the Honda Ridgeline as well. For the weights the OP is looking at it will work great plus it is a nice daily driver. :B Plus it has more payload capacity. My RL is 1546 lbs.

HAD a '16 Tacoma for a year pulling the Sig. TT. It would pull the TT down the road OK but the experience was horrible. Mostly the loud engine exhaust noise which got very tiring after the 1st hour. On a few occasions it REALY struggled to push a 3700 lb trailer back into camping spots without going into 4 LO. You can imagine the driveline noises it made while doing backing maneuvers. :E

The RL is quiet going down the road, is more comfortable has full time 4WD and it dose not struggle to move the TT at campsites.

The towing experience is vastly superior with the RL and a GREAT daily driver. It is a capable machine which is very well engineered with features like a large lockable, water proof in bed trunk.

I really wanted to like the Taco and bought it based on its sterling street reputation. That was a mistake that cost me a few thousand dollars. It would be wise to consider a Ridgeline.

[Bumpyroad]

I towed my 3500 lb TT behind my Highlander which is a down graded tacoma and it towed it just fine. went over what was reputed to be the longest grade east ;of the rockies just fine.
I got 14 mpg towing.
bumpy

[gmw_photos]

goducks10 wrote:

gmw photos wrote:
OP you should check out the TFL video where they hook a big boxy stock trailer to a new Taco and run it up the Ike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkBmiZV09w

In other words, your boat would be easy work for the Tacoma.

I can tell you this, I have a '06 Frontier, V6, six speed manual with 150K miles on it. Approx 50K miles have been towing this 4100 pound Funfinder or my two horse Titan trailer with the quarter horse in it. It will maintain 60 mph up a 6% grade, on cruise control, in 4th gear.
3000 rpm. Easy. I've towed this travel trailer from sea level to the highest passes of Colorado multiple times.

Your gearings different. I would've been in 3rd wound out trying hopelessly to reach 60 mph up a 6% grade towing 4050 lbs.

GoDucks, that's true on the Frontier. The manual has 3.69 rear gear vs the automatic having 3.34. On the automatic Frontiers, you have to pedal them and let 'em rev. I have a good friend that has the identical truck to mine except automatic. For a while she pulled an identical trailer to mine, now she has a Lance. I told her, put your foot in it and let it eat.

Third in a Frontier automatic is 1.52:1. Fourth in my manual is 1.23:1. The overall ratio for mine in fourth is 4.53. The O/A for an automatic in third is 5.1. So yes you would be revving more to do the same speed, but not much.

To the OP, you're gonna have to rev the Taco to get it to do the job. It has an over 6Krpm redline. You aren't going to hurt it at all. Let it rev. My bet is you can pull that boat up the steepest hill with no more than 4500 rpm. I never rev my Frontier past 4000 to tow this trailer. Mostly, it's never past 3500.

Again to the OP, watch the video. You or I would not likely run up that hill that way in our own truck. We'd get over in the right lane behind and 18 wheeler doing 35 to 40 and just take our time. But the vid points out, the Taco can make the run in 8 minutes. For me, it's not a race to the top. To them, it is.

EDIT: a followup thought on my Frontier. I use the cruise mostly when on the highway. Even going up grades, the cruise maintains the speed in fourth ( of six ) gears. The fact the cruise will maintain the speed tells us it is not wide open throttle, because the cruise is designed such that it cannot take the throttle to WFO. If it tries to approach wide open, it kicks the cruise off. But once again, this caveat, mine is a manual transmission.

[goducks10]

gmw photos wrote:
OP you should check out the TFL video where they hook a big boxy stock trailer to a new Taco and run it up the Ike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkBmiZV09w

In other words, your boat would be easy work for the Tacoma.

I can tell you this, I have a '06 Frontier, V6, six speed manual with 150K miles on it. Approx 50K miles have been towing this 4100 pound Funfinder or my two horse Titan trailer with the quarter horse in it. It will maintain 60 mph up a 6% grade, on cruise control, in 4th gear.
3000 rpm. Easy. I've towed this travel trailer from sea level to the highest passes of Colorado multiple times.

Your gearings different. I would've been in 3rd wound out trying hopelessly to reach 60 mph up a 6% grade towing 4050 lbs.

[gmw_photos]

OP you should check out the TFL video where they hook a big boxy stock trailer to a new Taco and run it up the Ike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkBmiZV09w

In other words, your boat would be easy work for the Tacoma.

I can tell you this, I have a '06 Frontier, V6, six speed manual with 150K miles on it. Approx 50K miles have been towing this 4100 pound Funfinder or my two horse Titan trailer with the quarter horse in it. It will maintain 60 mph up a 6% grade, on cruise control, in 4th gear.
3000 rpm. Easy. I've towed this travel trailer from sea level to the highest passes of Colorado multiple times.

[Bedlam]

My 2.6 FI I-4 Mazda would get single digit mileage towing a 3500 LB 20’ boat over the mountains and teens towing on flat. What was reported on the Taco sounds right. I was able to maintain 45 mph in third gear doing a 3000’ climb.