ammonm

I have a 1996 Taco, V6 4x4 ext cab. It came with a chrome bumper and receiver hitch on the bumper. It says it is rated to 3,500 lbs if the vehicle can handle it.

I plan on towing a car from Vegas to Denver this weekend with it. The car and dolly come in at just over 3000 lbs.

Will the stock bumper receiver handle that much weight?? Help please!!!

kford

only one way to find out

Sorry, don't know but here's a bump. I only have experience with the seperate tow package on 3rd gen runners.

Sherpa

If the Owner's Manual says it can handle 3500 pounds, and your total trailer weight (trailer and vehicle on it) is only 3000 pounds, you should be okay. Just make sure the towed car is balanced over the trailer's axles and not way far forward on the trailer. More important than the overall weight is the tongue weight of the trailer on your bumper. For us 4Runner owners with a class 3 hitch, we can pull 5,000 pounds and handle a 500 pound tongue weight. If you are rated at 3500 pounds, your tongue weight will probably be about 350 pounds. That means you want the towed vehicle nearly centered on the trailer.

Be sure to increase the air pressure in your tires. Tires are designed to work best at a certain air pressure for the load. Also, will the trailer have at least one axle with electric brakes? I would recommend that given the relative light weight of your Tacoma. Also, be sure to use your engine to keep your speed in check when decending Colorado's mountains. Before you get going too fast, downshift and let the engine compression help.

If you have any more questions, let me know!

-Scott

Oops. I just reread your post and noticed you are using a tow dolly, and not a trailer. That means you won't have to worry about the balance issue and probably won't have to worry about the tongue weight issue either. Instead, you won't have any other brakes than the ones on your Taco. Be very careful not to overheat them! -S

lunatic14r

you should not have a problem but make sure 3000 pd is right most car dolly are about 400 to 900 pd so you must be towing a yogo or a civic

ammonm

Close, I am towing a Datsun 240Z. It comes in at 2250 lbs! Very nice ride... (if only it drove)

Now I just need to get it here....

Mean04Tacoma

just make sure that your tongue weight doesnt exceed the 350lbs. thats where you see most of the problems.

ammonm

Thanks. So the 3000 lbs won't rip off my bumper when I'm accelerating up the hill?

I still don't know if I should try it or not. Maybe it will be worth paying the extra gas $$ to take my '84 suburban... what to do....

shazaam

Also check your tranny fluid and coolant, and brake fluid levels .. you'll be fine.

ammonm

Well, we made it! I ended up getting a class III hitch for it to be safe.

And WOW! That Taco pulls like no other! We had no problem going 75 mph most of the way, and we pulled 65 mph up most of the hills! For the big passes, I had to kick it into 3rd. But those only slowed us down to 55 mph.

Nice job Toyota on the 3.4L V6. I am VERY impressed!!!

SLC Punk

Glad to hear it went ok!

I towed my buddies 92 Celica GT-S (which is a heavy car) with my 4Runner before it was supercharged. I was surprised that it pulled it as easily as it did. With the S/C, my Runner pulls my 3,500 boat very easily!

Fahrenheit 451

Ooh, that was almost my first car. A sort of silver blue 240z with only 24,000 miles on it. I wanted it so bad I could taste it. The owner's son was going to be getting his permit and they didn't want the kid driving the car. They were friends of my mom and we went over to look at it. I told her I wanted it. She told me I could buy it, but I would have to move away from home because she didn't want to watch me get killed in it. So, I bought a 1971 Chevy 3/4 ton 2x4 instead and two weeks later I got hit head on by a drunk right in the middle of town. First thing out of her mouth when she saw me and the truck? "If that had been that Datsun, you'd be dead" :pat:

Sherpa

I'm glad you chose not to move out!

-S

Sherpa

I have the opportunity to move about 2,000 lbs of hardwood flooring plus other items from here to New River, WV in about 10 days. I really want to load it into a Uhaul trailer and go, but the Mrs. of the person I am helping would much rather me rent a truck for my safety and for the safety of my vehicle.

It would be much less expensive for them if I used my 4Runner, which means I could make a better profit from the deal. I am a little torn on whether I should go ahead and use Sherpa, or if I should listen to her concerns and rent a big truck.

I have longed for the opportunity to tow something with Sherpa for quite some time now. With the Supercharger and airbags in the rear coils, it is probably up for the job. The only drawbacks (other than her reluctance) is the Uhaul trailers only have surge brakes (not electric) and no anti-sway mechanism.

If I do this, I would probably be very close to the 5,000 lbs limit.

What do you guys think?

Fahrenheit 451

Me personally, any time I can wear out or risk damaging a vehicle other than mine, I'm all for it
I used to drive a dumptruck around in the summers as part of doing roofing work and that big old truck that was made for hauling loads and taking a beating wound up with me saying "Ok" to a state trooper at a roadside inspection station who had just told me I could make one last run with it and then it was red tagged and couldn't even leave the yard.
Even when they are specifically designed to take a beating more damage can be done than you might imagine or even realize at first.
If it wasn't so close to the limit and the trailer had a better set up I'd say go for it, but why risk doing damage you might not even be aware of until some time later?

Sherpa

Thanks Fahrenheit 451, you've made an excellent point. I will put off my desire to pull something until later.

I do have some good news. I was able to find my Dad's old anti-sway hitch equipment in the garage last night, so I have it available when I want it, since they will never use it again.

Thanks for the story. I'll go with the truck.

-Scott