Question about Towing

I have a 2005 Toyota Tacoma (Access Cab), 4 cylinder, 4x4, manual transmission. I just purchased a 21' pontoon boat. The total weight of boat and trailer is around 2100 pounds and I believe the truck is rated for 3500 so I don't believe I would have any problems towing on flat land, but my concern is pulling it out of the water off the boat ramp. Not sure that I would have enough torque to bring it to a roll with that much weight in the back, starting out on an incline. Any thoughts, or does anyone have any experience with this scenario?

 

Put it in 4Lo if you have to and use your parking brake. Obviously be careful with 4x4 on pavement.

 

Hmmm. My first thought is 4 low should do it up the ramp, you might want to put some weight over the rear axle.

 

And yeah, don't turn the steering wheel until you are out of 4WD.

 

If you have a 21 foot boat the general rule of thumb is 100 pounds per foot + trailer + engine.
I would guess you are over 3000 pounds and maybe 3500.
Lots of places to weigh it. Be sure before you pull your truck in the water.

 

I also watched a video about a guy that uses rubber wheel chocks that he places behind his rear tires on the boat ramp.
He has a rope tied to them which connect to his bumper so when he’s ready to pull the boat out of the water, he can let the clutch out slowly, and the wheel chocks just drag behind him until he’s ready.

 

Putting the truck in 4hi or 4lo on pavement may be fine once or twice... but this can cause extreme damage over time, let alone towing a load when doing it... You might not like this but I really don't think towing that boat is going to be a good idea man. I would encourage you to find something else to tow with. If it were my own truck, I would not feel comfortable with towing that boat period... Also, if you are going to tow with it, have someone look at your front brake pads and rotors... might want to upgrade them to a better option... also have the shop (or diy) adjust your rear drums and check their condition as well. You might be able to pull the boat but you need to be able to stop it too.

EDIT- Also say goodbye to your clutch

 

Thats an awesome idea

 

This might be one of those “ you gotta pay to play” Kind of things. Good luck! And be careful.

 

You don't want to be in 4X4 on dry pavement. A boat ramp is NOT dry pavement and certainly qualifies for 4X4 usage. Once off the ramp you should switch back to 2wd. Especially before making any sharp turns on dry pavement. But if you forget, it is unlikely to blow up on you. The damage is cumulative over time. Down the road you'll see premature parts failure if done often.

In 4 lo you should be able to get the boat out of the water. I'm more concerned about towing it between home and water. You're getting close to the limits. And once you start adding fuel, and other gear to the boat you could easily end up overloaded. You also have to factor in for passengers and gear inside the truck.

 

Whats the deal with everyone worried about driving on dry pavement in 4x4 LO or High?

 

Everyone has a dad or grandpa that warned them.

I'm one of the guys who promotes using 4x4, just use the damned truck

4lo really does suck turning, but it's fine for pull out a boat and parking.

 

If you want to go this route, these VESTIL® LWC-15 chocks are the real deal. Heavy at around 14-16 lbs each, will not move or slide unexpectedly like some of the hard-plastic chocks do. IMO suitable to chock any vehicle up to the 5-ton weight class. Handle is a U-bolt that goes all the way through the chock & is secured by welded nuts on the opposite site. These chocks are probably overkill for a Tacoma, but work great on big/wide tires and/or steep inclines.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vestil-...11-in-Laminated-Rubber-Chock-LWC-15/303111683

 

Just going to chime in a bit on the topic of using 4WD while on high-traction surfaces like asphalt, concrete, etc.

TL;DR 4WD "windup" and windup-related drivetrain strain only occurs when the vehicle is turning. Period. You can drive for miles in a straight line in 4HI or 4LO on dry asphalt, at any speed the selected gear is capable of, without damaging or excessively wearing any drivetrain component.

If the boat ramp is set up such that no turning is required between the waterline & wherever the ramp levels out enough to safely return from 4LO to 2HI, I don't see why there would be a problem using 4LO to pull a trailer up the ramp. (Assuming the ramp itself isn't excessively steep. For example, state of CA standards for boat ramps are minimum 12% / maximum 15% grade.)

Additional, extensive discussion & analysis of 4WD operation on various kinds of road surfaces:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4x4-maintenance.788617/#post-28228936
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/clunk-after-going-back-to-2wd.791118/#post-28328252

 

make your U turn to start backing down the ramp, click it in 4LO back the boat in (make sure to turn the truck off - window open - and put it in first / reverse so you arent relying all on the parking brake). Unload boat.

Do opposite for pulling the boat out. The lil 4 cylinder in 4lo 1st wont take hardly ANY slipping / throttle to pull the loaded boat out of the water. Get up the grade to where you are safe (in a straight line) then pop it back into 2hi.


I ALWAYS put my truck in at least 4hi when backing down the ramp, rear tires on a mossy slippery ramp as soon as you let up off the brakes to get out to unload the truck and you could have a truck in the water, in 4hi front axles act as parking tires too and wont roll and will more than likely be on dryish pavement without moss.

 

Aside from 4WD pulling considerations, be sure to at least read up about the risk of rear differential water-intrusion when submerging the rear diff in water. (Preferably before you actually back the rear of the truck into a lake.)

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TL;DR unless you take precautions and/or the stock diff breather port is working perfectly, there is a significant risk of pulling liquid water directly into the differential if you submerge the rear axle to a level above the top side of the axle housing.

This is caused by warm or hot air inside the diff housing being rapidly cooled down by water suddenly surrounding the diff/axles. The metal housings cool down quickly, the air inside them cools down quickly, and unless the breather (basically an atmospheric check valve) is operating perfectly, water can be sucked into the diff by pressure differential.
Water inside of gear housings is bad.

(The physics are the same as that high-school science teacher lab demo where they boil a little bit of water in a soda can & then rapidly invert the can into a pan of cold water. Water quickly cools the can, can walls quickly cool the steam/air mixture inside, steam/air mixture contracts rapidly causing low pressure inside can, can is crushed by much-higher outside air pressure.)

From what I've read on TW experiences with this vary widely. Sometimes people ford rivers and streams to the top of the wheel wells without a diff-breather relocation and have no problems. Other times they end up with water in the rear diff. Temperature of the diff probably plays a major role. The hotter the diff is when it hits the water, the stronger the suction inside it will be as the air/oil vapor inside it rapidly cools off.

So far I've not had a need to do any boat launching or recovery w/ my Taco but if I did I would certainly do a diff-breather relocation mod before going to the lake.

Additional info about the issue & how to avoid it by relocating the breather valve:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-differential-breather-mod-photos.111954/

 

Exactly, some of yall act like the diffs will explode if you touch pavement in 4hi. At least once a month I drive to work and back in 4hi just to keep everything spinning and working. Its only 6 miles though lol.

What about places like Moab where the rocks have just as much if not more traction than a lot "paved" roads ?

 

Thanks everyone for your input on this. I guess I should have prefaced with the fact that I live less than about a 1/2 mile to the lake, so I don't believe it would be much strain, really just concerned with ripping the transmission out when coming up the ramp, or worse, drowning the truck. I found the Youtube video that "Tacoma Rant" was referring to and that is a genius idea. My only other option is my wife's vehicle which is a 2009 Toyota Highlander V6. Not sure which to go with....would probably get in less trouble if I tore my vehicle up rather than hers....

 

I forgot to mention I have pulled a 24 foot Bennington with my truck. No issues other than stopping it ( no trailer brakes) but like you it was only a short distance down the road.

 

If there's any chance your rear diff has to get submerged during the boat launch or recovery process, figure out the condition of your rear diff breather valve & if you deem it appropriate, use a relocation kit to move it higher on the truck so it doesn't get submerged.

Once that's settled, try using 2HI in first gear to start the boat up the ramp. If that works easily, without smoking the clutch, fantastic.

If there's any hesitation & you have to rev too high in 2HI to try to get it started, definitely drop to 4LO and you will almost certainly have a nice, smooth, easy, reasonably-low-rpm 1st gear clutch engagement as you pull the boat up the ramp.