Towing Capacity Help - Planning ahead

Hi, I am trying to put together a chart of information so that when I go to purchase a trailer and or haul, I have the right information. I need to know how much weight I can haul on this truck safely. I am totally new to this and am looking for some sound advice.

Truck info:
2022 Tacoma SR5 w/ towing package, 6' bed, double cab, 4x4
Engine: 2GR-FKS, GRN310L-PRTSHA
Sticker on inner door states:
GVWR: 5,600
GAWR: 3,050 Front Axle, 3,280 Rear Axle

Payload appears to be 940lbs in the manual.

Information that I'm trying to sort out and clear up:

1. What's the difference between TW and TWR?
2. What would be the tongue weight?
3. What is the max weight I can pull with and without trailer brakes?

 

1. What's the difference between TW and TWR? Weigh Safe – as well as most experts agree – that an acceptable tongue weight for any trailer is somewhere between 9 to 15 percent of the gross trailer weight (GTW). Therefore, if you are towing a 5000 lbs trailer, the tongue weight should be measured at approximately 500 lbs.
2. What would be the tongue weight? You can find this out on the trailer spec sheet. Usually, it is less than 1k lbs.
3. What is the max weight I can pull with and without trailer brakes? If properly equipped, with a rated trailer hitch..It can tow a max weight of 6800lbs. But if you read the experiences of others on this site, that weight is not a very safe weight to pull with your Tacoma.

 

I know you didn't ask specifically, but if you're thinking about the max you can pull you should also be thinking about trailer brakes any time you approach that number. I'm running a little larger tire (285) and that alone reduces my braking capacity, so when I pull anything 'heavy' I want trailer brakes. I also fully recognize that "Tacoma" is not the first truck to come to mind when someone says they need to pull something.

 

Your tongue weight is going to differ with every trailer you hook up. The only way to dial in your tongue weight is to calculate and go to the scales hooked up or to buy a tongue weight scale. Weigh Safe makes one built into a hitch but it’s not really that accurate under 400-500 lbs. I have one from etrailer that I use and it’s very accurate. The only reason I mention this is because your first post seems a little OCD (I am too) about towing the right way. Get a brake controller too. I have a Redarc.

 

Lots of good information to be found here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/towing.34/

If you are thinking of towing heavy you really have the wrong truck. These are more "handy duty" than heavy duty trucks, a utility trailer, pop up or micro light works fine.

Trailer brakes are required in most states over 3000 pounds and you definitely want them even under that weight if they are on the trailer. As you move up in weight a weight distributing hitch makes a large improvement in the overall towing experience.

The real issue these trucks run into is the lack of payload. Payload includes trailer tongue weight, anything in the bed and anything in the cab -- people and dogs included.

A quick bit of math:
940 payload
-300 subtract you and a passenger
=640 payload remaining
-500 subtract 10% tongue weight of a 5000 pound trailer
=140 payload remaining

The above is with a showroom stock truck - nothing in the truck bed, no first aid or recovery gear, no mods, no tools, bikes, lawn chairs. You see how quickly you run out of payload, there just isn't much to work with.

 

The yellow and white door jamb sticker will tell you what your specific truck's payload is. The more options you got with the truck the lower the payload rating will be. Your truck will safely/comfortably tow around 5000lbs max. It can legally tow more but it won't be as safe or comfortable as a lighter trailer.

 

My sticker, unless I didn't look at the right one does not have the payload. I will look in the AM again.

I'm not looking at towing 6,000 pounds, I just want to know the truck's practical limits. What I am looking at towing at most, at some point, is a trailer of yet to be determined size, with brakes and brake controller, larger amounts of compost, dirt, etc. Compost is one of those things that's hard to determine how heavy it is.

I was thinking something like this or this. A popup camper would be nice as well.

Wow, that weigh safe hitch looks nice but $$$$. I am going to keep that in mind, I supposed compared to the trailer it's not much.

 

Always be careful hauling dirt, the weight adds up much faster than expected -- a cubic yard weighs about 2,200 pounds. For illustration that is a box 3' wide x 6' long x 18" high -- it would fit in the back of your long bed truck but you would be over double your rated payload.

I used to shovel dirt and gravel in my pickups, way too much work. I just pay the delivery fee anymore.

 

The truck likes 3500 lb. The truck hates 6500 lb. Set tongue weight at 10%. I have towed all weights. I know what it likes.

 

Right now I have 8'x5' single axle trailer, unbraked. I have had 2 "bucket" loads of compost (the guy said it was about a yard per bucket, maybe he meant 3' long) in the trailer and my Honda CRV hauled it. I pulled it for about 3 miles, slowly. I just don't understand all of this.

Would a Weigh Safe hitch help me reverse the math to figure out how much is in the trailer?

 

Not really. It’s good for knowing how much tongue weight you have but that will vary quite a bit based on load distribution in the trailer. For example, if you dump a bucket of compost at the front of the trailer the weigh safe hitch will read a higher weight than if that exact same bucket were dumped in the back of the trailer.

 

I highlighted the part of the sticker that shows your actual payload.

 

Another consideration is what your trailer is rated at. A 5x8 single axle trailer likely has a 3500lb axle at most so that will be another limitation for how much you can haul in/on it.

 

Yes, that's why I'm looking at getting information on both. I haul a lot of seaweed in a trailer with the CRV and compost but I think that I'm just taxing it too much. I want to put barrels in my truck, I doubt 4 50 gallon barrels weigh more than 600.

For trailer, I want trailer that has brakes, just in the event I needed it on the Tacoma or another truck.

 

You can put brakes on your trailer for a few hundred bucks. Don’t get the weigh safe hitch because it doesn’t read accurately below like 500lbs. I can’t remember what the tongue weight limit is on these trucks but it’s probably around 600-650. You need to figure out what your axle is rated for and then subtract the trailer weight from that and that will give you your capacity. My 6x12 is aluminum with a 3500lb axle and the trailer weighs 680lbs so my capacity is 2820.

 

A 55 gallon steel drum weighs in at around 50 lbs. Plastic ones about half that. I bought my Tacoma in part to be able to tow my Honda Goldwing on a uHaul utility trailer. Total combined weight around 2,000-2,500 lbs tops depending on which size trailer I rent. If I was doing anything 3,500 lbs plus I would have gone with a full sized pickup, mostly from a payload perspective. Post #5 gives an excellent description of how pulling a heavy trailer doesn't leave you much room for anything else.

 

I can't even remember how many times I did this in my old 05 Access cab 4x4 with a 2.7. One yard at a time. Screened loam, stone dust, gravel.... That poor truck. I bought it new and I was doing a lot of landscaping around my old house. Fortunately the place I got all this stuff was only about 10 miles from the house. I knew I was grossly overloading it but it certainly got the job done. These trucks will certainly handle more than they are rated for but the ratings are all about doing it SAFELY. About 20 years ago I towed an FJ40 from the outskirts of Philly back to NH on a heavy uhaul trailer behind my 98 Tacoma. Yes I made it. But it was one of the sketchiest things I have ever done.

 

My current trailer is a home made trailer that I bought from someone who bought it from someone else. I have no idea what it is rated for. Is there a way to determine it's capabilities? I'd love to just get a trailer with walls any way. At most, I would be traveling ~10 miles compost or stone, wood chips, etc. My barrels are 50 gallon plastic drums, the seaweed is wet but no water in the barrels. I am not sure if I can safely weigh them but if my CRV can handle it, the truck should too.

I have this hitch, should I consider another?

When using this formula, am I adding the payload of what's IN the trailer or the TRAILOR and what's IN it?
940 payload
-165 passenger
-140 passenger
=635 Remaining
-350 TW, 10% of 3500lbs (dirt, whatever)
=285 renaming payload

I found this PDF and filled it out, playing with the numbers. Thoughts?

 

That hitch will work fine.

For your numbers you subtract the tongue weight of the trailer from your payload rating. With your trailer empty (assuming lightweight 1000lb 5x8) that’s probably 100lbs or so. With the trailer loaded evenly with 2500lbs of dirt that would be about 350lbs of tongue weight.

You can exceed the payload rating of the truck and nothing will be damaged. In fact most of the moderately modified Tacomas on this site are over their payload ratings because of all the heavy skid plates, bumpers, gear, etc people strap on them.

 

I'm going to get the roadmaster active suspension when I get my new Taco. My camper is only 16' and 2700 lbs. I just don't like the swaying, squishy feeling when I'm towing. My 2018 trd or pulled it ok, but I want more beef this time.