hello all

shopping around for a rear tube bumper and i'm having trouble finding info on towing capacity.

i've contacted badlands, addicted offroad, davez offroad performance and i've not had any direct responses beyond a very frank acknowledgment from Scotty at addicted explaining that the testing to rate bumpers is expensive but that given the towing capacity of our trucks, he thinks it should be ok with a weld to the frame.

i think he's probably right but i still want to get a sense of what i'm putting on my truck because although towing is not something i do all the time, i do it every now. a few months ago i towed an auto-carrier (the trailer version, not the auto dolly) with a 2WD toyota pickup and had no problems with my current towbar set up.

in short, if i go with the tube rear bumper, is something like that (auto carrier)totally out of the question with a tube bumper?

thanks

 

You won't find them rated for towing due to testing costs, liability, and they are typically meant for off-road use only.

:wabbit2:

 

thanks. i understand they won't be officially rated (Scotty's explanation makes sense) and that they are off-road only, just wondering what people's experiences are with them.

 

Your truck's towing limits are 2500lbs. If you exceed that and get pulled over, you are asking for a MASSIVE fine.

Towing another car with a early Toyota pickup is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. If you need to tow weight like that, then you need buy a legit tow rig. Its not a problem with getting it up to speed. Its a problem with stopping it when you need to in a hurry. The early brakes are not up to that task. So, regradless of what the hitch says you can tow, its the owner's manual that will give you the real world info.

 

If i was you i would find a bumper that has a little bite more weight to it than a tube bumper unless you like sliding all over the washboards on dirt roads

 

admittedly, i hadn't thought of the possibilities of fines for towing over the limit. max towing weight with my mighty powerful 3VZE is 3500lbs so i was probably a little over that when i towed the 2WD (2700lbs) + auto carrier.

not to encourage others on this but i was pretty impressed with the stopping power of my truck and the way the 3VZE handled the extra weight. i don't think i would do it again (at least not with the auto carrier, those things are just too heavy).

like i said, not something i do that often (it was just that one time in a looong time) but i do want to get a sense of what i'm giving up if i loose the tow bar, especially because i will probably get a trailer (for camping purposes) in the near future.

 

good point, i hadn't thought of that. i mainly started looking into tube bumpers because i like the additional (side protection) and i want to improve the departure angle on my truck. this too would be something to consider.

 

Not to stir the pot, but I'm curious...


We're talking about trailers/pulling with a brake pkg right? I mean, I hope so. lol

 

Depending on what kind of bumper you get.

You would still be able to use a receiver hitch.

I have towed The Miller Big 40 Diesels on a welder trailer with cables etc weighing about 2000 pounds with no issues.

 

ahh..i knew i should have remembered the name...there was a Tube rear bumper created for our toyota's that was EXCELLENTLY rated for towing..

maybe do a search on here...i want to say 4xinnovations...but i'm not positive.

 

I wouldn't tow another car with a Toyota truck unless it was an '05 + taco, tundra, sequoia or 4th gen + 4runner

 

I towed towed many vehicles with my 91, most full size Chevs and Dodges with a 20 ft tow strap... back from the trail because they broke down... but there was someone in them applying brakes, so it wasn't all too bad, lol


The most I've ever towed was 2 four wheels in a trailer, along with 4 FULL coolers in the bed, and that was a real struggle to stop; scare the bejesus out of me a few times in the 1 hour drive. I would NEVER tow anything that comes close to the full weight of a vehicle with a truck that small


But back on topic...



I would say these tube bumpers are fine for little trailers, maybe a single 4 wheeler on a trailer or something, or maybe a small aluminum boat or canoe or something, but it's definitely not going to have the weight capacity of say a class 3 hitch