Hey,
I bought a 2000 pound bass boat package a few years ago, it is an heavy aluminum 17' boat with a 60 hp motor, 56" wide bottom and 83" beam. This is not a small boat, and is quite heavy when you add three batteries, gas, gear, coolers, trailer, and maybe even a full livewell.
It did NOT tow okay with an Isuzu Rodeo V6, not at all!
Not wanting to make the V6 mistake again, I naturally went and bought a Tundra V8. I went with the Access Cab because of the occasional need for a back seat. The Tundra is the first V8 I've had in awhile and tows my boat wonderfully!
So, I'm talking to a guy and he says "you should have just bought a Taco DC longbed V6, it would tow your boat just as well....blah blah blah...and get better gas mileage." and he quoted that the 4785 lb Tundra has almost equal weight to HP and weight to torque numbers as the Taco.
So I get to thinking about it and a bit of buyer's remorse starts sinking in...is it possible that the Tacoma could pull my boat as confidently as the Tundra? Am I wasting money on gas to run a V8 when a Taco would have been just as good at towing?
Tundra weight to HP ratio: 17.66 Taco 17.52
Tundra weight to ft/lb ratio: 15.29 Taco 15.55
Boy that's close. But I figure I need to add the boat into those figures.
Tundra + Boat weight to HP ratio: 25.04 Taco+Boat 26.00
Tundra + Boat weight to ft/lb ratio: 21.68 Taco+Boat 23.06
Just cause 266 ft/lb of torque gets around a 4135 lb Taco just as well as 313 ft/lb of torque gets around a 4785 pound Tundra (or does it?) Doesn't mean the Taco would handle the extra 2000 pounds as well as the Tundra. Extreme example you could have 150 ft/lb torque in a 2000 pound car and you know it can't pull a 2000 pound boat!!
Am I thinking right here? Anybody tow with both? Did I do the right thing going with the Tundra, when towing capacity was THE reason I switched rigs? (If I didn't have the boat, I'd be driving a V6 RAV4 Sport.) Really, I got the truck to tow the 2000 lb boat confidently. Did I buy the right truck?
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2006 4WD TRD Access Cab
Salsa Red Pearl
I haven't had mine for very long, but the short answer your looking for is YES!
I to just stepped out from towing my travel trailer with a V6 to a V8. There is more to it than HP. Comfort while towing has GREATLY improved. Why yes it's true the Taco weighs less, but that can also be a disadvantage when towing. Generally speaking, the more the tow truck/car weighs (comparatively) the more comfortable and safer the combo is while towing.
I was totally shocked the first time we towed our camper with the Tundra. Being able to comfortably tow on the highway @ 65 mph in 5th gear (torque converter locked up) at only ~2,250 rpms was very pleasant compared to towing in 3rd gear at 3,000 + rpms @ only 55-60 mph with my V6.
At the end of the day most of us all get about the same mpg while towing anyways no matter if you have a V6, V8, or diesel. It's a little to early for me to tell for sure but I think I'm accurately getting 1-2 more mpg with my V8 while towing than I got with my V6.
Take a look at where the torque peaks on these two engines and that should answer your question. The Tundra is 600rpms lower. Even if the weight to ft/lb is in the ballpark, one is going to be revving a lot more to move the load the same.
Really, peak numbers don't mean a whole lot, especially when you consider that both of these engines have the VVTi system, which gives a fairly significant increase in peak power. If you're towing for a long period of time, chances are the VVTi system wouldn't be on that entire time. I haven't seen dyno graphs, but I'm sure the V8's torque curve is much broader than the V6's, and makes much, much more torque at low RPMs. Plus, the V8 Tundra has 3.92 gears and the DC V6 Taco has 3.73s, which is going to help your acceleration, especially while towing.
You made the right choice to go with the Tundra. Don't look back.
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2006 Tundra SR5 4x2 V8 TRD access cab- Phantom Grey- debadged with a steering wheel cover and a stubbie antenna (woot woot!).
2005 4Runner SR5 4x4 V8 Sport Edition- White (the wife's).
SOLD- 2002 Tundra SR5 4x2 V8 TRD access cab- Imperial Jade- Bassani rear exit exhaust, debadged.
The Tundra really is not designed to tow much. I believe it's payload is near the top when it comes to hauling stuff in the bed, but not so much for towing. If towing capacity is important you may have wanted to consider not really the Tacoma (it isn't great either), but one of the other manufacturers (my $.02). Not that I don't love Toyota trucks, they just excel in other areas, and not as much in this category...
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2006 Tundra DC SR5 TRD 4x4. Pretty much stock besides the Extang Trifecta Tonneau, Hellwig sway bar, shorter antenna, & Kel-Tec in the console.
Don't worry, you made a great choice in the Tundra and don't look back. My theory is even though the power to weight ratio is very close between the Tundra and Tacoma, this would ONLY mean they would be very close in acceleration if you were to race one against the other. As far as towing goes, the Tundra is a larger, heavier truck WITH more torque at lower RPM that will IMO, handle your boat OR even something a little heavier MORE comfortably than a Tacoma would. Also the Tacoma only gets about 4 MPG better mileage than your Tundra AND I would bet that the difference would be even slightly less when actually pulling a load. Plus the Tundra STILL has a good larger, solid steel bed that you could mount a camper on if you want.
The Tundra really is not designed to tow much. I believe it's payload is near the top when it comes to hauling stuff in the bed, but not so much for towing. If towing capacity is important you may have wanted to consider not really the Tacoma (it isn't great either), but one of the other manufacturers (my $.02). Not that I don't love Toyota trucks, they just excel in other areas, and not as much in this category...
In this case, the OP is more concerned with towing 2000 lbs <i>better</i>, not with max towing capacity. 2000 lbs is not enough to discount the Tundra being a better ride in the first place vs the "other manufacturers". I think the Tundra is designed to tow just as much as it is specified to be capable of, and to do it well.
Hey,
I bought a 2000 pound bass boat package a few years ago, it is an heavy aluminum 17' boat with a 60 hp motor, 56" wide bottom and 83" beam. This is not a small boat, and is quite heavy when you add three batteries, gas, gear, coolers, trailer, and maybe even a full livewell.
It did NOT tow okay with an Isuzu Rodeo V6, not at all!
Not wanting to make the V6 mistake again, I naturally went and bought a Tundra V8. I went with the Access Cab because of the occasional need for a back seat. The Tundra is the first V8 I've had in awhile and tows my boat wonderfully!
So, I'm talking to a guy and he says "you should have just bought a Taco DC longbed V6, it would tow your boat just as well....blah blah blah...and get better gas mileage." and he quoted that the 4785 lb Tundra has almost equal weight to HP and weight to torque numbers as the Taco.
So I get to thinking about it and a bit of buyer's remorse starts sinking in...is it possible that the Tacoma could pull my boat as confidently as the Tundra? Am I wasting money on gas to run a V8 when a Taco would have been just as good at towing?
Tundra weight to HP ratio: 17.66 Taco 17.52
Tundra weight to ft/lb ratio: 15.29 Taco 15.55
Boy that's close. But I figure I need to add the boat into those figures.
Tundra + Boat weight to HP ratio: 25.04 Taco+Boat 26.00
Tundra + Boat weight to ft/lb ratio: 21.68 Taco+Boat 23.06
Just cause 266 ft/lb of torque gets around a 4135 lb Taco just as well as 313 ft/lb of torque gets around a 4785 pound Tundra (or does it?) Doesn't mean the Taco would handle the extra 2000 pounds as well as the Tundra. Extreme example you could have 150 ft/lb torque in a 2000 pound car and you know it can't pull a 2000 pound boat!!
Am I thinking right here? Anybody tow with both? Did I do the right thing going with the Tundra, when towing capacity was THE reason I switched rigs? (If I didn't have the boat, I'd be driving a V6 RAV4 Sport.) Really, I got the truck to tow the 2000 lb boat confidently. Did I buy the right truck?
Jesus christ. What are you worrying about?
A 2000 lb boat behind a access cab Tundra that can pull up to 7100 lbs is fine.
You have nothing to worry about with either a Tundra or a Tacoma.
You will just have a lot more comfort in the Tundra.
I just traded a 05 Tacoma dbl 4x4 and it pulled my 18 Ranger bass boat with no trouble. I knew it was back there, but it handled the weight with ease. I haven't towed it with the Tundra yet, but a full size truck is going to handle the weight better and braking should be improved as well. The Tacome would pull and stop the boat, but in a panic braking situation, the boat would just pust the truck. The truck wasn't heavy enough.
The Tundra really is not designed to tow much. I believe it's payload is near the top when it comes to hauling stuff in the bed, but not so much for towing. If towing capacity is important you may have wanted to consider not really the Tacoma (it isn't great either), but one of the other manufacturers (my $.02). Not that I don't love Toyota trucks, they just excel in other areas, and not as much in this category...
Hmmm... How 'bout we take a closer look at that.
My Tundra has a max tow rating 6800 lbs. I pull a 5200 lbs trailer with 1000 lbs of stuff in the truck (500 lbs of water bags, 500 lbs of gear). Well within the limits, right? Well, I'm actually at my GVWR for the truck and the GCWR. If I load the same stuff and hook the same trailer up to a Nissan Titan, it will be overlaoded. Same for a Dodge MegaCab 2500HD with a diesel engine (yup, a 3/4 ton truck). The Titan is rated to tow 9,300 lbs and the MegaCab 12,500 lbs. That's a heckofa lot more tow rating than a lowly Tundra, yet they both would be overloaded with my rig that is within the limits of my Tundra. Know why? Max tow rating is a bunch of BS. Most trucks hit their GVWR due to hitch/pin weihgt and cargo long before they get to their max tow rating. But the max tow rating looks good in the brochures.
The Tundra towing specs are well balanced and realistic. Toyota could just up the GCWR (which they apparently did in 2006 to 12,800) and get a bigger max tow rating for their brochure. Not a lot of risk in doing that. Upping the GVWR requires some engineering and upping the axle ratings requires some actual hardware. But any way you look at it, it donesn't mean squat unless you have a well rounded package.
A 2000 lb boat behind a access cab Tundra that can pull up to 7100 lbs is fine.
You have nothing to worry about with either a Tundra or a Tacoma.
You will just have a lot more comfort in the Tundra.
No, my name is Joe but thanks for the compliment. I'm NOT worried about towing the boat with the Tundra. I don't even know it is there, accelerating or stopping. It is awesome. Yes the boat is nowhere near the max but that just makes it all the much easier.
I was wondering about the Tacoma thinking that I maybe got more truck than I needed when I bought the Tundra. The fella with the Ranger boat answered my question on that, referring to the panic stop situation.
The Tundra has a better seating position and rides better and tows like a dream. The Tacoma would be a step in the wrong direction on all three counts. Since I got the V8 to put towing worries completely behind me, pun intended, I did the right thing getting the Tundra and not the Tacoma.
thanks for the input guys
Joe
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2006 4WD TRD Access Cab
Salsa Red Pearl
Tundra vs. Tacoma and towing
Linear Mode
