Towing with Tacoma Options

[brant]

we did a 2800 mile tow from colorado to san diego
southern route with a few small passes along the way
24foot enclosed trailer with about 7 foot ceilings (taller than average)
loaded with spares, tools, food, race gas, and extra tires for a 3 day event


4door, 3/4ton, long bed, 2wheel drive, 2003 HD dodge with a 6speed
a bit over 17mpg for the round trip. Thats actual mileage.... if your using your trip computer to calculate for you, then your numbers are optimistic.

the thing about a heavy tow vehicle is that those big trailer rated tires and 9000lb vehicle weight give a a bit of safety from having your trailer take over your tow vehicle.

I think that was really the point of this thread
tow with an undersized vehicle and when you least expect it or if any thing goes wrong.... suddenly your trailer is driving you off the road
(for example a rapid deflating flat tire, or emergency manuever)

I hate to say it, but towing is in my opinion one of those things where bigger really is better. I'd rather not face an emergency situation in the tow vehicle. I'd rather save any risk for the track.

[6freak]

I get an easy 24MPG ..26 if i nurse it along..2004 cummins turbo diesel ...1 ton 4 door long box 4x4 ..with out towing of course

that toyota will have no issues as long as you have trailer brakes ..Dad does it all the time in the same truck

MikeC

Oh for got to mention ..Its has K/N filter, exhaust, and a chip.. and on the hiway,, bout 18mpg in the city

[AndyB]

I have towed 3 different 914'swith my Tacoma and a UHAUL beast. Never an issue going downhill. With that being said she did struggle a tad in 5th gear going west on Mass Turnpike through the Berkshire Mts. Truck was never pushed by the trailer or any other issues. Yes its a V-6 and 4WD but its my tow vehicle and I wont hesitate to use it again if need be. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)

[matt5596]

I'm currently towing my first 914 with a 08 Tacoma V6 on a uhaul trailer. Where's the best place to attach the safety chains from the uhaul trailer to the car??? I can't find a good place front or rear. Please help.....

[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.

[6freak]

I'm currently towing my first 914 with a 08 Tacoma V6 on a uhaul trailer. Where's the best place to attach the safety chains from the uhaul trailer to the car??? I can't find a good place front or rear. Please help.....

thought the Uhauls came set up for tying a car down ....pulled a truck from Montana with a Uhaul and the thing was rigged for a vehicle....o just read that again ...you mean where to hook them on the car ...wheels or suspension..Jmo
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.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!

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

[messix]

i have towed alot...

a heavier truck the better, the longer the truck the better, the bigger the brakes on the truck the better.

power is not really the issue, it's controlling what you are towing. the weight on the trailer and load on it will push you around with a lighter tow rig. if you are going to use a lighter tow rig use electric brakes!!!! you can control the electric brakes separately and this can get you out of trouble that would turn out nasty if you use surge brakes.

even flat towing can get sketchy with a lighter tow rig because the towed vehicle will push you around under braking and cornering.

all that said, if you are experienced at towing you can minimize the risks and hazards while on the road.

just keep in mind you are towing a substantial amount of extra weight and you need to adjust everything you do while towing.

[Dasnowman]

I towed my teener home with my 07 Frontier V6 with a tow package with no issues at all. My buddy has a small singel axle tilt deck trailer didn't even really notice it behind me. Just leave a good distance between vehicles and make no sudden movements. If the towing amount is more then 50% of the weight of the vehicle you need trailer brakes in most states/provinces. I tow a Boler trailer with the truck in the summer to go caming. And I usually use my truck to launch all my buddies boats because they have big 250-350's with campers on the back and you have to back down a steep curvy hill to launch you boat. Saw a ford ranger get pulled down the same hill by a ski boat that was 4 feet shorter then my buddies boat.. Like my fronty way better then the Tacoma I had, it feels and drives like a full size truck.

[balljoint]

Those little Nissans are about 10% heavier than the comparable Tacomas. I'm not sure where on the truck the difference comes in but it's there. Probably spread out all over.

[euro911]

We've only towed flatbed trailers with our '96 Tacoma (4x4, 3.4L V6). I still haven't acquired an enclosed 7x16 V-nose trailer yet, so I don't know how well the Tacoma would handle it.

I just bought some slightly narrower (.78") and taller (1.0") tires (Goodyear 245/75x16 vs. the stock Bridgestone 265/70x16) for our Tundra 4x4, 4.7L V8) and noticed an increase of 3MPG so far. That's 78 more miles per tank full (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'm thinking about changing the R&P ratio in the Tundra's diffs to obtain a little bit more fuel economy, but want to retain most of the towing capacity. Stock is 7100# ... 2100# more than the Tacoma.