06' Tacoma 2.7L Towing

[fauskar]

Before I begin, here's a little trailer and vehicle information:

• Tow vehicle: 06' Tacoma SR5, 2.7L (5 speed. Manual Transmission, K&N air filter, 2WD, Bed Cap and hitch) with a curb weight of 3,630 lbs (CAT scale).
• Trailer: Featherlite 1610 w/MC package (1440 curb weight plus 550 lbs of cargo) totaling 2,000 lbs. and 200lbs of tongue weight. No trailer brakes and 15” Carlisle tires.
• Hitch: Class III/IV Hidden hitch w/2"ball and trailer Guardian installed.

What follows is my personal experience in towing my trailer. Maybe it will be helpful to anyone considering towing using a 2.7L/4-cylinder 06' Tacoma.
The wife and I traveled four days and 2,800 miles with a steady state average speed of 65 mph (Interstate) round trip from Wisconsin to Florida. Where the outside temperatures ranged from the low 40's to the high 80's. It included light and heavy rains. Ninety-nine percent of the total miles were highway and it took two days to reach our destination in Daytona. Most of the trip was relatively flat and uneventful; except for Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. Interstate 24 and 75 has its share of hills, especially around Chattanooga. The only bad traffic was found in and around Marietta Georgia.
Based on my driving experience, there hasn't been any noticeable change in my vehicle's performance compared to before or after the trip.
I have made some general observations about my experience.

It's probably not a good idea to tow 2,000 lbs with an automatic transmission, remember I have a manual transmission. Grades greater than 3 percent required down shifting into 3rd gear. However, grades of 3 percent and higher were no problem in 3rd ("I even passed a lot of vehicles"). To pass or hold higher speeds on the Interstate, grades of 2 to 3 percent required occasional down shifting into 3rd gear. If I had used an automatic, the transmission would have been constantly shifting between 3rd and 4th. Use the automatics for towing stuff to the dump.
Featherlite trailers are easy to pull and there were no surprises. No time during my trip did the trailer sway or pull, even at speeds over 70 mph. Trucks passing me had minimal effect on the Tacoma or trailer handling. Vehicle responded to braking as expected, as one would expect pulling a 2K trailer. Some people claim that the Carlisle tires made in China are bad. Mine were new and made in China. They handled and held up quite well.
Don't even think about turning on that air-conditioner. There's just not enough power to go around. I did find that the air coming out of the vents when the control is set to the defrost position is cooler than outside air. Whenever we turned the control to the floor or mid level point, the air reached outside temperature quickly. Not sure why but I didn't care because it was cooler.
The fuel economy is decent if you can keep your speed down. My trip yielded 15 mpg on average. You can obtain 16 and 17 if you keep the speed down. Keeping the speed down is difficult when you have to drive for 20 plus hours to reach your destination and every other trailer is passing you.

That's enough for now. I wrote this because I couldn't find alot of real life information about using a four-cylinder vehicle for towing. Maybe someone out there finds will find this information useful and dispels some of the myths.

[mdbrjb]

Good report of your experiences!

I also tow with an 05 Tacoma 2.7 reg cab PreRunner SR5. Almost stock. Only changes are 265/70/16 tires, Rostra cruise control and Extang tonneau cover. And most important, I replaced the rear shocks with Monroes. The factory shocks were awful when towing. Lot's of bounce.

I tow a 2006 Palomino Pony pop up trailer, it weighs about 1600 empty and perhaps 1800-2000 with all my stuff. It has electric brakes (Prodigy controller).

I've towed it from SC to MI a couple of times. A few trips into the mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, and two trips to the beach. Going camping in Charleston for Thanksgiving and camping in Orlando for Christmas. I figure I've towed about 6000 miles with the Tacoma so far.

I average about 20 mpg towing at 70. There are only two grades through the mountains where I have to drop to 3rd to maintain 55 or 60. Most of the time I can maintain 70 (cruise control on) without any difficulty at all.

I think that 2500 lbs would be about the most I would want to tow with the 2.7. I like to be able to keep up with the traffic...

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one doing this!

[2morrow]

I am looking at an '05 with similar setups and am looking to use it for at least 2 cross country trips pulling under 2000lbs. I am still in the research process so my question is would 4cyl. work for this or should I keep looking for a v6 equipped tacoma. Most of the trucks fall into either

4cyl, lower miles <16000, 04-05
v6, higher miles, <90000, 01-03

Considering the truck will only be used for towing few and far between I am partial to the newer, less powerful truck. However I want to make sure it will hold up for at least 2 cross country trips. Suggestions?