Real-world towing capacity? Considering a teardrop.

Stock 2017 Limited 4x4, 90k mi

I'm considering a teardrop trailer, but the truck feels like it lacks power even when it's unloaded, or just carrying my leer topper.

So I'm wondering from people who've done it, what's it like to haul a teardrop around with one of these trucks? What kind of extra wear and tear goes on? How bad is the mpg drop? Is a regear mandatory? Should I just step up to a tundra or forget it?

 

I fairly regularly tow at max capacity.

Tear drop will be easy to do stock. Just be realistic about acceleration, braking, stopping

 

I've been reading in other threads that the owners manual (mines in a storage locker 2000mi away atm) that one should keep the auto transmission out of D and use the S gears while towning. Is that what you do? How's your mpg look? Got any suspension upgrades?

 

S5/S6 are too high revs for towing torque. Stay in S4, ECT if you have it (to push gear changes for better torque). MPGs will suck regardless, but less gear hunting staying in S4.

 

I towed a decent load from Puget Sound area back to the Treasure Valley last year. I wasn’t sure what to expect so I kept an open mind. Having heard all the horror stories of how “terrible” these trucks tow I expected the worse. After my trip I was thoroughly confident with the Tacos abilities. Would a F150 or Tundra be a better choice for towing? Absolutely, but I purchased my Taco knowing it’s a truck that does a little bit of everything while not over achieving in one area. I think my biggest apprehension on that trip was towing a trailer with no trailer brakes but it actually did just fine. S4 with ECT on and you’ll be just fine with a teardrop. The one crappy part like most people mention is the fuel mileage, if you’re going up hill for extended periods expect 8 mpg. Flat ground with ideal conditions maybe 12-14 at best. Heck depending how small of a tear drop you get you might even barely notice the load or loss in mpg. I think wind almost plays a larger factor than weight in some circumstances. Maybe try renting a trailer on RVShare and see how it tows. Also, if you need a trailer brake controller get the Redarc and a mounting bracket off Etsy. I installed that in my truck, it’s simple and clean.

One picture of the bigger heavy load from last year. The other picture doesn’t look like much but that little trailer had a lot of weight in it. Definitely got better mpg with the little black trailer. Come to think of it both of those trips were about 600 miles each way. Truck did great!

 

@2017TacoLimited: your teardrop should be fine. Did you get the towing package with your truck? If so, it should have engine and transmission oil coolers in front of the AC condenser and be prewired for a brake controller. If not, I still think you will be fine as teardrops don’t weigh that much. Just be sure to get one with trailer brakes and a load leveling hitch and learn to set and use the trailer brake control properly, including how to use it to straighten out the trailer if it gets squirrelly.

We took our 20ft Jayco from So Cal to Texas last April and stopped by the Grand Canyon and drove through a few mountain passes to get home with no issues. Just use ECT and S4 as overlandbigAl said on your shifter, and consider carrying a bit of extra gas if you are going to be in the boonies.

 

Here's some real-world experience:

This little camper probably weighs in around 1,100 pounds.
Camping gear in the bed add another 200 - 300 pounds.
The wife and I another 300 pounds.
Dometic fridge and Jackery in the cab add another 100 pounds.
Then toss in another 200 pounds for good measure.

I run ECT and S4 mode.
Camper has a brake controller ( which is a must ).

On level ground highway speeds I'm getting 18-20 mpg.
The tacoma pulls it well can hardly feel it back there.

But when I hit hills and especially steep inclines man does that thing take a hit.
I often have to drop to S3 to kick up enough power to get up the hill and then my MPG drops like a rock,
we're talking 8-12 MPG.

I'm actually surprised at this, as my wife's 2017 Subaru pulls the camper as well, and yea it struggles going up those
hills and inclines as well, but that's a 4-cyl engine right?....

I figured the 6 cyl would knock out hills and inclines no muss no fuss, but it doesn't.

Anyone who has been up the 17 ( black canyon / bumble bee ) here in Arizona will tell you that even
passenger cars towing nothing will struggle on those inclines, but I was surprised that the tacoma wasn't
very happy pulling this light of a load.

Depending on your weight, and where you are going and how often, you might consider upgrading.
Better yet, as another suggested, rent one for a day and take it for a spin and see for yourself.

 

I-17 around Bumblebee/BlackCanyon has the sign "Turn Off AC To Save Engine" because the incline is extreme even for Civics with just a driver. Some hills suck for any vehicle. The downhill can be as dangerous as the uphill causes struggles with all of the curves.

 

We took Route 66 west through Arizona, including through Oatman. My ‘17 OR took the curves and grades there while pulling our 20ft Jayco just fine. I’m sure we were close to 6000 lbs extra for the 2-week trip, with 4 people, trailer, extended fuel and water tanks, RTT, armor and my other truck add-ons, and all our food and gear. I used S3 and 2 when descending out of town, and the brakes did fine. It’s a good truck for towing.

 

Towing a 6,500lb trailer, not a teardrop, mileage drops by close to half. The truck's brakes should not be a problem with trailer brakes. You do have trailer brakes, right? If not I'm sorry I'm even answering your inquiry. Get them or do not tow with the Tacoma, or anything else, unless you get a Semi. Application of trailer brakes will get you out a sway in a jiffy, if you are alert enough to catch it in time.

I, of course use an equalizing hitch, but no sway bar and have only felt one case of sway. Just do not have any unrealistic expectations going up hills. No 5th or 6th gears. Sure, try them, but you might as well stay in "S" all the time, because it takes too much concentration to use 5th & 6th while going down hills.

If you plan to do a lot of towing, get another truck if you are disappointed in the Tacoma's performance.

 

It depends on how aerodynamic the trailer is too.

I figured I'd contribute, even though a sports car would be more aerodynamic compared to a box trailer.

I have a '22 TRD Off-Road. V6, 4x4, manual (comes with the 4.30 gears instead of the automatic's 3.91 gears). Pulled trailers with it when it was bone stock and when it has C-load 265/70R17 tires, a hard cover, and sliders adding onto the weight. The heaviest I've towed is 5k lbs which consists of my old '06 S2000 on a U-Haul trailer. I've also towed a '93 RX7 on an aluminum trailer with a tire rack and a '99 Miata on an aluminum trailer with a tire rack (4-4.5k lbs).

I usually get 13-15 MPG towing. The lowest I've gotten is 7 MPG (tons of head wind towing my friend's RX7). I stay on 5th gear going 60-70 mph. I would keep the truck on S4 if the truck is an automatic.

Whenever I tow 5k lbs, I can feel the weight, but the truck can do it safely. I just won't do it often.

The truck does squat a good amount. I plan to install either Sumo Springs or airbags.

Attached is me towing my old S2000 on a U-Haul trailer.

 

I just got out of my Tacoma and went back to a V8 half ton after a miserable tow experience. I had my utility trailer (Big Tex 60 PI-12) with my Super Tenere on it. All told under 2000 lbs. but the rear gate on the trailer acts like an air brake. Driving down I-80 into a heavy wind the Tacoma was howling 550 RPM off red line and shaking the passenger seat like crazy to hold 65 MPH. Two hours of that was enough to put me back in a V8 because my Tundra had no issue with this same trailer loaded with a SxS that weighs more than double what my bike does. It's not the weight that will kill you. It's the hills and the wind.





All that to say that if you plan to tow more than 50-60 miles at a time, I'd go with a bigger truck.

 

2nd gen so not apples to apples. I have a lifted 2013 with 295’s canopy and cab rack. We keep the truck at or just under weight rating. So it’s spartan with just a full size spare and 10 gals of fuel in the bed. 2nd season towing our InTech Flyer Explore. Our InTech is 2080lbs dry. We just returned from a 3100 mile trip covering 8 Western states. Trailer was right at 3000lbs with everything needed for our 2week camping trip. The InTech has brakes and we encountered multiple passes where those proved critical. All travel was done in 4th with an occasional shift into 5th for the long descent after climbing up the mountain passes. Worst fuel mileage was at the Grapevine in Southern California. 8.5 mpg. Best fuel mileage was going over the Siskyou’s between Oregon and Northern California 13.5 only because of the long downhill cruise that we were rewarded with. Average for the entire trip was 10.4. Average speed was 55-60. Anything faster and fuel economy tanked to 9.5. Average speed up the mountains was 45 in 3rd. So towing with the Tacoma required a change in attitude. Much like my old FJ80 it became more about the journey than the destination. We settled in and just enjoyed the ride. It was and is one of the most relaxing trips I have ever been on. It took a few hours of planning routes to ensure we didn’t run out of fuel. I would not have wanted to pull anything heavier. But that is just me. In fact, as we left for this trip I could tell that either the balance of the load was off or we were too heavy. Quick trip to the cat scales confirmed that we were overloaded on both truck and trailer. We adjusted the load and sacrificed some conveniences before leaving. Where you are towing makes a big difference. We live in Seattle so regardless of where we go there are long steep stretches of road. My son’s F150 tows much better, gets better mileage, is more comfortable, but is not as good off road. It’s a trade off.

 

Just got home a couple of weeks ago from a 5500 mile trip around the top of Lake Superior, across Canada then over the Rockies and back. My trailer is 3500 loaded and the truck did a great job. Totally stock. It’s a 2020 so it doesn’t have the auxiliary transmission cooler and I can tell you that there is no need for one with that tow configuration. Gas mileage kinda sucked, as low as 11 as high as 15, but I did the math and in the large scale of things it’s not that significant. Payload is the biggest limiting factor. Keep the truck under payload and it’s fine.

 

I've got manual transmission, so can't help you there.

Mileage when towing anything is noticeably worse. I towed max weight through Rocky Mountains, and went from usual 13-14 L/100km to a bad as 22-24 L/100km. I forget exact numbers. At home, more flat ground, towing heavy trailer gets me to around 18 L/100 km or worse. None of my trailers are aerodynamic.

I do have upgraded suspension, but I don't think you need that for a tear drop. Mine is more for off roading more than anything else.

As others mentioned, get a brake controller. Weight distribution /sway control are probably not required in your case, but that might depend on cross winds, etc.

 

The owners manual does not say that. It says that s-mode is for engine braking regardless of whether you are towing. People frequently mis-quote the manual. Older versions of the manual contained poor wording, but it has been clarified in newer versions. Look for s-mode in the index, go to that section, and read what it says.

EDIT: I think the s-mode miss-quote is actually in the section on towing. Again it says s-mode can be used while engine braking.

 

You need to provide some numbers like the weight of the trailer, the tongue weight of the trailer, and perhaps a picture so that we can get a rough idea about aerodynamics.

 

I have a 2020 stock sr5 4x4. I tow a 2009 Coachman popup that weighs like 1400 plus gear. It's got trailer brakes which I recommend. I have a RedArc Towpro Liberty controller which is I think a good match for the tacoma.
I see about 18 to as low as 12.5mpg with it. I mostly stay around Pennsylvania and often am in the Laurel Highlands so I am crossing the western PA mountains via the turnpike or US30 towing. it tows just fine. You just have to adjust your expiations for acceleration and stopping some.

 

Been looking at Jaycos similar to that, nice to know you can cover some distance with a larger trailer like that. The weight isn’t crazy but I always wondered how the Taco would do with such a large size trailer.

 

Taco tows just fine...