towing with tacoma

[garry g]

I sealed the deal on a very nice Trillium4500 on the weekend,our first trailer.It is out of town and we will be picking it up in April. My question if you can help me,what sort of hitch will I need if towing with 4by4 Tacoma. What I mean is will I need a straight hitch or should I have one that drops a bit? Will post pics of this beauty when we pick her up.We are soo excited.Thanks for your input.

[Bob Miller]

contact the seller and ask him to measure how high the receiver is when the trailer is level, then get a drawbar based on the height of your truck, of which we have no clue.
OR
Get an adjustable height drawbar and be ready for anything.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

then get a drawbar based on the height of your truck

Drawbars are usually measured in even inches, which can be confusing to a newbie.
What Bob says will give your trailer a slight nose down to the trailer when hitched (desired). Most vehicles rear drop an inch or two when connected to a trailer.
Have someone stand on your rear bumper when measuring to emulate the tongue weight. Also consider how much gear you might pack into the pickup bed. Then pick a drawbar that fits between the two; i.e. Bob's empty and loaded.

Drawbars are not very expensive, I have a number of them that allow me to easily swap out to tow different trailers.

[thunter]

I have a 2005 Tacoma pre runner 2 wheel drive. It will be about your height above ground. What I would do is use what you have for hitch. if you do not now have one buy a2 in drop down. set camper on hitch. Check for level camper tong weight will effect ride height. If you need to change you can go to wallmart and get what you need .My truck has a v6 in it .I tow a 16 ft Scamp On interstate highway get 16 17 miles per gal. 2lane get 17 18 mpg. truck handles camper good I need to look back to see if camper is still there. Have fun camping thanks Kenneth Smith

[Raz]

I've towed with a first gen Tundra and a Frontier. I used the same draw bar to tow a Chalet and a 1300 Trillium. Both trailers had 13" tires. The draw bar is 2" down. Nice find on the 4500. Raz

[Jack L]

I tow my Bigfoot 17CB with an 07 Tacoma extended cab 4X4 with the off road package and was surprised how much the rear of the truck drops when loaded for camping. The load of gear and the toung weight of the trailer drop the back of the truck 3 inches or more. I really like my Tacoma but when Toyota built these trucks they were not thinking of heavy loads. I added "Air Lift" suspension and it is fabulous. Other Tacoma owners have posted similar experiences to mine and also used air bag suspension.

[Carol H]

Etrailer has a good explanation on how to measure/determine your ball mount drop or lift needs.

[garry g]

Thanks for your input.Pics in April

[SRD]

Originally Posted by Jack L

I tow my Bigfoot 17CB with an 07 Tacoma extended cab 4X4 with the off road package and was surprised how much the rear of the truck drops when loaded for camping. The load of gear and the toung weight of the trailer drop the back of the truck 3 inches or more. I really like my Tacoma but when Toyota built these trucks they were not thinking of heavy loads. I added "Air Lift" suspension and it is fabulous. Other Tacoma owners have posted similar experiences to mine and also used air bag suspension.

Ahhh, I remember the days of towing our 17.5CB with a V6 Tacoma. Loved the truck but a heavy hauler it ain't. Always felt the trailer was leading the dance and any decent load in the box dropped the rear end more than expected. And going up or down any sizable hills was usually a white knuckle experience. But to the Tacoma's credit it got the job done.

[Jack L]

Originally Posted by SRD

Ahhh, I remember the days of towing our 17.5CB with a V6 Tacoma. Loved the truck but a heavy hauler it ain't. Always felt the trailer was leading the dance and any decent load in the box dropped the rear end more than expected. And going up or down any sizable hills was usually a white knuckle experience. But to the Tacoma's credit it got the job done.

The only issue I experienced with my Tacoma was the drop in the back end with a heavy load and the trailer attached.. The air bag suspension eliminated that issue. I never had the other issues you have described. I really like the set up I have now that the air bag suspension has been added.

[SRD]

Originally Posted by Jack L

The only issue I experienced with my Tacoma was the drop in the back end with a heavy load and the trailer attached.. The air bag suspension eliminated that issue. I never had the other issues you have described. I really like the set up I have now that the air bag suspension has been added.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Tacoma is a nice truck but there's no denying it's a lightweight truck with all of the lightweight truck characteristics, especially when hauling/towing. Not taking anything away from it but it does have its limitations. How does your rig perform on a 6% grade when towing the Bigfoot?

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by garry g

Thanks for your input.Pics in April

You might want to considering coming out to the BC Glass Eggs Fiberglass meet in Fort Langley this spring... a number of long time Trillium owners around to answer any questions you may have on it.

[Jack L]

Originally Posted by SRD

Don't get me wrong, I think the Tacoma is a nice truck but there's no denying it's a lightweight truck with all of the lightweight truck characteristics, especially when hauling/towing. Not taking anything away from it but it does have its limitations. How does your rig perform on a 6% grade when towing the Bigfoot?

Again, the only issue I've had with the Tacoma was the soft rear suspension and that issue was taken care of with the suspension upgrade. I have the longer wheelbase 4X4 and while it's rated to tow 6500#, I am just over half that figure. The Bigfoot weighs about 3500 # with about 400# on the toung . The Bigfoot has been mine for about 2 years and has been towed about 9000 miles. 6% grades are quite common in this part of the U.S. Most of those miles were in Utah and California with some significant grades especially Utah where I encountered some 12% and 14 % grades. I never felt I was close to loosing control. I did use lots of fuel going uphill and the first time I saw the 14% downgrade I was surprised and cautious but the scenery was fabulous. I'm headed back to Utah this summer and would like to drive the 14% "Hogback" again.