Tacoma 2.7 4cyl. engine

[Paddy Morris]

Well just purchased a 49cc Honda Jazz scooter cause it gets 100+ MPG and now looking at either selling my 2004 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab 4x4 V6 in favour of the Tacoma Access Cab 4x2 4 cylinder truck or trading it in at leases end shortly, anyone towing with one of these? Towing Capacity is 3500 lbs, so easily will handle my Trillium 4500 and easier on gas and insurance. Paddy

[John Perry]

I am on my 2nd 2.7L. Toyota. I bought an 05 with a manual tran. when the first came out. I got tired of shifting and bought a new 07 Tacoma with an automatic just last week. They offered me so much for my 05 with 68000 miles on it that I did not have to sell it myself. High resale is one great advantage of owning a Toyota.
I live in the MTS so if you live on the flats you may get better mileage, but I averaged 24 MPG, when towing it went down to 20, 21 mpg in my 05. When I added my 605 lb ATV in the back of the truck along with the 13' Scamp it went down to about 19. The power was more than adequate. First tank with my 07 is 24 mpg with less than 700 miles on it.

I have towed a Trillium 4500 3 times and it really slowed me down compared to my Scamp. On hills I was always one gear lower than with my Scamp. On the flat I could use 5th gear when towing my Scamp, with the Trillium I could not. I have a standard cab, the Acess cab is going to weigh more.
The last time I towed the Trillium was to weigh both the Scamp and the Trillium. At the time the Trillium was empty. No water or battery. The Scamp was ready for camping with the exception of no water. The Trillium weighed only 110 lbs. more than the Scamp but it was not camping ready.

If my truck had been a six cylinder I would have kept the Trillium because of the extra room.

Tow ratings are based on towing on flat ground and with no headwind!

Hope this helps,
John

[steven jones]

hmmm... i don't think you can tow with the honda jazz...
--- steven

[Angelo F.]

I am on my second 2.7l as well. I bought my first in late '95 and after regearing to 4.10:1, towed an 1100lb (dry) Fleetwood tent trailer for eight years with it. I pull my 13' Perris Pacer (990lb dry) with my current '02 and hardly even know it's there. I get 19-20 mpg consistently and can pull @ 80 mph no problem. Not that I need to, but can.

[Paddy Morris]

hmmm... i don't think you can tow with the honda jazz...
--- steven

Oh Yeah?

[Paddy Morris]

Great replies, thanks, Paddy

[Mark McIntyre]

I too have a '08 Tacoma 2.7L and am looking at either a 16' Scamp or a 17' Escape and am wondering about the weight. I was looking at both their 5th wheels originally but Escape said it would be too heavy and Scamp said no problem..... something to do with the box design in the truck mainly. Does anyone have experience in trying to haul a 5th with a Taco ? Need the queen bed....

[Roger H]

Unfortunately, it's not so much a matter of weight as it is attachment of the 5th wheel hitch assembly to something solid. The Taco's bed is composite, not metal, and in most 5th wheel hitch installations, the bed itself is part of the structural support of the hitch. In the case of the Scamp hitch, the bed IS the structural support, nothing goes through to the frame. The Taco's bed won't give enough structural stability to the hitch to allow it to tow a fiver safely.

If you want the queen, the only small (17' and under) trailers that offer the big beds are the EggCamper and one of the Casita options. Your Taco will do OK with either of them. It won't be a ball of fire, but it'll tow them. The only other queen option is the Bigfoot 25RQ which will be way out of your weight range with the 4cyl.

Roger

[pjanits]

Someone on this board ( I can't remember who) had brackets welded to the Taco's frame with threaded holes for bolts for the 5th wheel hitch. There are photos also.
That revived my desire for a Taco.

[Mark McIntyre]

The gentleman I talked to at Scamp asked me the year of the Taco and said they have a kit they would ship for $400 and I have to get my Toyota dealer to install.... so I am assuming they have figured out a way ?? I will call them today and clarify, my pkg did not come in the mail yet so I need to see what happened to that anyway. Will keep you posted as to what I find out. Thanks all.

[Mark McIntyre]

Someone on this board ( I can't remember who) had brackets welded to the Taco's frame with threaded holes for bolts for the 5th wheel hitch. There are photos also.
That revived my desire for a Taco.

Oh and yes... As I read somewhere else in recent days they do not recommend welding anything to the frame as it will burn off the inner coating of the boxed steel frame and allow rusting to start that would be impossible to deal with, makes sense I think.

[pjanits]

The gentleman I talked to at Scamp asked me the year of the Taco and said they have a kit they would ship for $400 and I have to get my Toyota dealer to install.... so I am assuming they have figured out a way ?? I will call them today and clarify, my pkg did not come in the mail yet so I need to see what happened to that anyway. Will keep you posted as to what I find out. Thanks all.

When you get the info please post it here. I for one am very interested in the kit.

Thanks.

[Mark McIntyre]

When you get the info please post it here. I for one am very interested in the kit.

Thanks.

I got an email back from Scamp advising me the hitch assembly is available but I would have to install it myself locally as it required some welding to the frame. My concern with this is the frame is a box and burning off the coating inside the box frame will expedite rusting and you have no way of re-coating this steel. IMO its going to shorten the life of the truck by half likely, expecially in climates such as mine with road salt and slush. Back to looking at the 16 footers I guess.

[Isaac M]

I tow a 19' Scamp with a 1996 Tacoma 4 cyclinder (2.4L manual). I had brackets installed to the frame of the truck. The shop that I had do mine did indeed weld it. I've restored two of these trailers and had a very good local shop install new axles on both. I talked to the installer about attaching brackets to the frame and he recommended that they be bolted to the frame. This would address concerns with rust inside the frame. I believe that this is also how true fifth wheel hitches are generally attached to the frame (the Scamp hitch is not a true fifth wheel).

As for the composite bed, the brackets can be attached to the frame and they extend up into the "ribs" of the bed (using spacers) so that the composite bed is sandwiched between the bracket and the hitch, thus protecting it from unwanted loads.

Some pictures of by installation are in the link below.

-Isaac


http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.php?showtopic=26133

[Mark McIntyre]

I tow a 19' Scamp with a 1996 Tacoma 4 cyclinder (2.4L manual). I had brackets installed to the frame of the truck. The shop that I had do mine did indeed weld it. I've restored two of these trailers and had a very good local shop install new axles on both. I talked to the installer about attaching brackets to the frame and he recommended that they be bolted to the frame. This would address concerns with rust inside the frame. I believe that this is also how true fifth wheel hitches are generally attached to the frame (the Scamp hitch is not a true fifth wheel).

As for the composite bed, the brackets can be attached to the frame and they extend up into the "ribs" of the bed (using spacers) so that the composite bed is sandwiched between the bracket and the hitch, thus protecting it from unwanted loads.

Some pictures of by installation are in the link below.

-Isaac


http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.php?showtopic=26133

Hi Issac,

I have a dozen questions for you about using the Taco to tow your 19'. I tried to look at the pics and the link dosen't seem to be working. Is bolting possible without having to weld ? Also how do you find the towing on the highway and hills, my auto has a 2.7L and I am wondering about the power when you close to 3000 Lbs. Do you have other pics you could mail to me if they won't post ? Ok, I'll slow down and try to contain myself.

Tks,
Mark

[Isaac M]

Mark,

I must be link-challenged. Another way to find the post is to click on my name (Isaac M) above the picture of my tow rig (on the left), select "Find Member's Posts", scroll down until you see the one titled "SOLD: 1989 19' Scamp Fifth Wheel", click on the title of that post and it will pull up the entire posting. If you read through the posting, I think that it will answer most of your questions.

I've never bolted one to the frame, but the local installer (who does the majority of trailer frame/axle repairs, services large trucks and busses, and does hitch installations for several local RV shops) said that it would be the best method for installing the brackets. The main reason was that it eliminates any local weakening of the frame that the welding can cause.

Feel free to contact me if you have further questions. If you PM me, I can provide my phone number if you have other questions.

-Isaac