Towing with Tacoma Options

[wndsnd]

I am planing on trying to tow a 914 with my 2010 Tacome 4cyl without towing package. It has a Curtis frame mounted hitch with a 2" ball. I was going to rent a uhaul full auto trailer. I don't want to be pushing the envelope. It will be mostly highway driving. Thanks

[billh1963]

Even with a flat terrain you will be pushing it. I just brought back a 914 parts car on a uhaul trailer from Northern Alabama (close to Chattanooga)...the first 20 miles coming home had a series of steep hills and switchbacks....glad I had my 2006 turbodiesel F-250. I don't think a lesser truck would have made it. The uhaul trailer itself will be a load on a 4 cylinder.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i268.photobucket.com-12871-1329245284.1.jpg)

[Randal]

Even with a flat terrain you will be pushing it. I just brought back a 914 parts car on a uhaul trailer from Northern Alabama (close to Chattanooga)...the first 20 miles coming home had a series of steep hills and switchbacks....glad I had my 2006 turbodiesel F-250. I don't think a lesser truck would have made it. The uhaul trailer itself will be a load on a 4 cylinder.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i268.photobucket.com-12871-1329245284.1.jpg)

F250 Turbo's work great anywhere, you hardly even know there is a trailer back there.

Only negative is the cost of fuel and that is only going to bet worse.

[billh1963]

F250 Turbo's work great anywhere, you hardly even know there is a trailer back there.

Only negative is the cost of fuel and that is only going to bet worse.

Fuel will get worse, for sure. The good thing is I averaged 18 mpg towing the car back home. No gas powered truck will do that! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[grantsfo]

Fuel will get worse, for sure. The good thing is I averaged 18 mpg towing the car back home. No gas powered truck will do that! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

I hear this a lot from diesel owners however I always make 17 to 18 MPG with my smaller displacement gas v8 Chevy and Fords towing on the highway if I keep it at 65 MPH and see upwards of 21 MPG not towing. My little 4.6 liter F150 work truck was mpg champ! My 4.8 Chevy gets pretty darn good mileage for being a crewcab. It takes a trained foot however and need to know how to use momentum to your favor. Part of this is due to lighter weight nature of the chevy and ford work trucks I buy. They dont have many extras run on little skinny tires, sit much lower than HD versions with diesels, etc. Hualling a little sub 4500 lb trailer and car doesnt impact mileage that badly. I always laugh when some guy in huge heavy duty 4x4 diesel pulls up and thinks he is getting better mileage than my little lightweight 2wd small displacement V8 truck.

Im sure if I was hauling a big enclosed unit my mileage would suck! But for lightweight stuff my little V8 is very comptitive mileage wise. And I can use regular gas!

This post has been edited by grantsfo: Mar 14 2012, 01:40 PM

[billh1963]

Fuel will get worse, for sure. The good thing is I averaged 18 mpg towing the car back home. No gas powered truck will do that! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

I hear this a lot from diesel owners however I always make 17 to 18 MPG with my smaller displacement gas v8 Chevy and Fords towing on the highway if I keep it at 65 MPH and see upwards of 21 MPG not towing. My little 4.6 liter F150 work truck was mpg champ! My 4.8 Chevy gets pretty darn good mileage for being a crewcab. It takes a trained foot however and need to know how to use momentum to your favor. Part of this is due to lighter weight nature of the chevy and ford work trucks I buy. They dont have many extras run on little skinny tires, sit much lower than HD versions with diesels, etc. Hualling a little sub 4500 lb trailer and car doesnt impact mileage that badly. I always laugh when some guy in huge heavy duty 4x4 diesel pulls up and thinks he is getting better mileage than my little lightweight 2wd small displacement V8 truck.

Im sure if I was hauling a big enclosed unit my mileage would suck! But for lightweight stuff my little V8 is very comptitive mileage wise. And I can use regular gas!

Nice thought...until I get 18 mpg while towing through the mountains...and pass you and everyone else going up hill!.....which I have done on multiple occasions.

For day to day driving a small engine is great. However, for towing there is no substitute for the torque of a diesel. Also, don't forget that when towing a load my F-250 will outbrake an F-150 all day long. That makes a big difference for my towing comfort.

[grantsfo]

Fuel will get worse, for sure. The good thing is I averaged 18 mpg towing the car back home. No gas powered truck will do that! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

I hear this a lot from diesel owners however I always make 17 to 18 MPG with my smaller displacement gas v8 Chevy and Fords towing on the highway if I keep it at 65 MPH and see upwards of 21 MPG not towing. My little 4.6 liter F150 work truck was mpg champ! My 4.8 Chevy gets pretty darn good mileage for being a crewcab. It takes a trained foot however and need to know how to use momentum to your favor. Part of this is due to lighter weight nature of the chevy and ford work trucks I buy. They dont have many extras run on little skinny tires, sit much lower than HD versions with diesels, etc. Hualling a little sub 4500 lb trailer and car doesnt impact mileage that badly. I always laugh when some guy in huge heavy duty 4x4 diesel pulls up and thinks he is getting better mileage than my little lightweight 2wd small displacement V8 truck.

Im sure if I was hauling a big enclosed unit my mileage would suck! But for lightweight stuff my little V8 is very comptitive mileage wise. And I can use regular gas!

Nice thought...until I get 18 mpg while towing through the mountains...and pass you and everyone else going up hill!.....which I have done on multiple occasions.

For day to day driving a small engine is great. However, for towing there is no substitute for the torque of a diesel. Also, don't forget that when towing a load my F-250 will outbrake an F-150 all day long. That makes a big difference for my towing comfort.

Honestly I haven't found a mountain that slowed me much when hauling sub 5000 lb load in the newer Silverado? I did 70 mph all the way over the grapevine. Passed plenty of others too. Brakes on the Silverado are awesome no lack of stopping power. The older F150 wasn't best for brakes but newer Chevy had no issue hauling trailed down to a stop quickly.

Again if you're towing big enclosed rig big diesel is the way to go but smaller v8 gasser can be very efficient when towing lighter loads. You'd also be hard pressed to beat cost difference of a diesel verses cheap v8 gasser too. I bought my Crewcab with V8 and tow package new for $19k! most are flex fuel e85 burners now too which makes fuel costs even less than diesel.

Big old heavy duty diesel to hual a lightweight 914 on open trailer is a bit of overkill in my opinion. Most of new modern V8s make excellent HP and torque and are even more fuel effcient now. They have awesome brakes too.

I have just took step down to a much less capable 2012 v6 jeep Grand Cherokee. 290 hp 260 ft lbs. I getting 24.5 mpg hwy on my commute over mountain roads. It burns e85 too which I get for 35 cents a gallon less than regular. I will be towing 4500 lbs which is less than ideal but I needed a true dual use vehicle that got decent gas mileage and was nice to drive. It will be interesting to see how it works. Most of my towing is flat to local ax venue. Only a couple longer trips. My long term plan is to lighten my load by moving to a 2000 lb race car and aluminum trailer.

This post has been edited by grantsfo: Mar 22 2012, 11:57 PM