Can a V6 Tacoma pull a 22' Cruiser?

K

kevrangray

New member
I currently own an 08' F350 Diesel and am looking at getting a different truck that is capable of pulling my 22' Cruiser due to diesel prices in California. I have found a really nice 01 Tacoma with a 3.4 liter in it and just curious if anybody else on here uses a small truck like that to pull there Dory. The pulling capacity was like 5,000 pounds for the Tacoma but some boat owners say that it is too small of a truck to pull it. Just trying to see what my fellow brothers and sisters think. Any advice is welcome,

Thanks,

Kevin
 
I know the Joe And Ruth of R-Matey had a Tacoma that pulled thier C-Dory. They had a CD22 before they got the CD19 but not sure if the Tacoma the CD22 or the CD19. Hopefully they will enlighten us.
We pulled our first CD22 with a 2000 Dodge Dakota 4X4 with the V-8 it it did great. Pics of that in our album.
 
We tow the 22 with a Toyota Sienna -- we keep the boat as light as possible with little or now fluids and we have had no problem. Slow up the mountains for sure. Stopping power has been fine. We do take the extra step of having our trailer brakes serviced before long trips -- and we maintain a safe speed and distance. Last year we did Tahoe. Before that we did a couple trips to the San Juan Islands.

This year we'll replace the Sienna with a Highlander. That'll give us a bit more towing capacity.
 
kevrangray":q8z4vnzv said:
I currently own an 08' F350 Diesel and am looking at getting a different truck that is capable of pulling my 22' Cruiser due to diesel prices in California. I have found a really nice 01 Tacoma with a 3.4 liter in it and just curious if anybody else on here uses a small truck like that to pull there Dory. The pulling capacity was like 5,000 pounds for the Tacoma but some boat owners say that it is too small of a truck to pull it. Just trying to see what my fellow brothers and sisters think. Any advice is welcome,

Thanks,

Kevin
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I am looking at getting a 22' boat and asked this same question a few weeks back. I have a 08 Tacoma with 6500lb towing capacity.
Here is a link to my post:
Hope it helps.
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=16540
 
I have towed a 22 with my old ranger with a v-6 four litter. The ranger would out tow any 3.8 toy on the road. susan had one, toy 3.8, and we pulled a small ski boat with it. on a trip up the hill to ice house lake she over heated and had to turn around. the truck just could not get up those hills.

Can you do it ? sure but with where you live in the foot hills why would you want to? you are not going to get any better gas milage while towing and most likely worse. Whats the empty mileage on the diesel? 20? the toy is something like 22? maybe. towing it will be 8 to 10mpg. My point is that you are not really gaining that much if its just your tow vehicle and you are giving up a lot. power, both taking off , up hills and stopping. Stopping going down hill my ranger would sometimes get pushed. now 4 wheel brakes on the trailer take care of that but not all the time.

whats the differance in the price of diesel over gas there? 10 to 20 cents times how many gallons a year? maybe 1000 dollars differance? Do the math and then weight the safety. If you lived in the flat lands and never ever went to the coast or the high lakes then sure it will work, but why limit your self for a couple of grand?
 
Questions I would be asking is also the ride of the F 350 diesel vs the Tacoma when towing--as well as "handling" characteristics. Looking on one of the gas/diesel sites--it shows that the "76" station in Shingleton is only 10 cents a gallon more for diesel than gasoline--other places it is 30 cents or so a gallon more. Even at 30cents more, the efficiency of the diesel is 30% greater than the gasoline (of course you have to take into account the weight of the truck and air resistance). But it would be interesting to see what real life towing miles per gallon, or even better, dollars per mile, of the diesel F350 vs the Tacoma gas vehicle.

I towed the C Dory 22 behind several vehicles--including a Honda Pilot (somewhat comparable to the Tacoma in engine size), Dodge Road Trek 3500 gas with V8, Ford Excursion Diesel and 30' RV with Ford V 10. The most efficient was the Ford Excursion diesel. It was also the best tow vehicle--although I didn't notice the C Dory 22 or 25 behind the RV, except for length considerations.
 
Make sure the tow vehicle has at least a 50 sq. ft. frontal area rating. I'd be wary of a small rig without such a published rating.
Frequently small pickups have a larger rated towing capacity when equipped with an automatic transmission. Check this as well.
Our 4.0L Ranger gets 14 mpg towing and is is rated at 50 sq. ft. and 9,500 lbs. GCWR. I don't think you'd want anything smaller.
 
I bought a Toyota Tacoma to pull my C-Dory since the published towing capacity was well within specs. Yes, it can pull it and it worked fine on small jaunts on low speed-limit roads. But, when I towed it on the interstate it felt like the boat was in charge. I had at least 10% of the load on the trailer tongue and wasn't so much wagging as being blown around by side winds. It was an hour and a half white-knuckle ride to and from the lake. I decided then and there to sell the Toyota (an otherwise very nice truck) and purchase a F-250. The F-250 seems not to notice that there's a boat on a trailer behind. Almost the same mileage towing or not (~17mpg). Also, the Toyota barely got 10mpg on that trip since I had to avoid using the overdrive in the automatic transmission.

No contest...
 
tomherrick":1eqn0nqw said:
I bought a Toyota Tacoma to pull my C-Dory since the published towing capacity was well within specs. Yes, it can pull it and it worked fine on small jaunts on low speed-limit roads. But, when I towed it on the interstate it felt like the boat was in charge. I had at least 10% of the load on the trailer tongue and wasn't so much wagging as being blown around by side winds. It was an hour and a half white-knuckle ride to and from the lake. I decided then and there to sell the Toyota (an otherwise very nice truck) and purchase a F-250. The F-250 seems not to notice that there's a boat on a trailer behind. Almost the same mileage towing or not (~17mpg). Also, the Toyota barely got 10mpg on that trip since I had to avoid using the overdrive in the automatic transmission.

No contest...
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Hello,
What year Tacoma and which one. I have the 08, manual V6, 4wd with towing package and was told that towing 4000-4500lbs is not a big deal. Have also read on different sights that you can tow that weight according to the people that have done it. Knowing what I know now I would probably buy a little bigger truck since I plan on buying a bigger boat but at the time I had no thoughts of getting a bigger boat than my little 13' Valco. I will buy the boat first and if it feels unsafe (two hour drive to the ocean from Sacramento) to me then will get a bigger tow vehicle which will suck since mine is about paid off.
 
tomherrick":5gj42824 said:
I bought a Toyota Tacoma to pull my C-Dory since the published towing capacity was well within specs. Yes, it can pull it and it worked fine on small jaunts on low speed-limit roads. But, when I towed it on the interstate it felt like the boat was in charge. I had at least 10% of the load on the trailer tongue and wasn't so much wagging as being blown around by side winds. It was an hour and a half white-knuckle ride to and from the lake. I decided then and there to sell the Toyota (an otherwise very nice truck) and purchase a F-250. The F-250 seems not to notice that there's a boat on a trailer behind. Almost the same mileage towing or not (~17mpg). Also, the Toyota barely got 10mpg on that trip since I had to avoid using the overdrive in the automatic transmission.

No contest...
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What year and model? I have the 08, V6 manual , 4wd with tow package with 6500lb tow capacity. Was told and have read that towing 4000-4500lbs is no big deal even on the freeway. Just need to be careful but that is with any tow vehicle.
 
That's the one. I forget what year ('07, 08?) , but it was the 4WD with 6,500 towing capacity; I had an automatic tranny. Maybe I'm a wimp but I much prefer the F-250 over the Tacoma. It was the side wind across the Interstate that had my attention. The little truck just didn't have the weight to counteract the sideways wind action against the C-Dory. I never veered into the left lane, but it was a full-time job to keep it in my lane. I know, driving is a full-time job for any conscientious driver, but you probably know what I mean...
 
chucko":2vpdsxhi said:
MY 01 TUNDRA WAS Barely rated to carry 6k lbs and it was V8,with tow pkg . so don't expect the 6 to do it IMHO...
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This is from experience? What did you tow?
 
I think you will regret getting rid of that F-350. I have an 06 F-350 and I have never thought "my trucks too big" except maybe when parking it. I have owned various 150, 1500 series trucks and they just won't tow like the big guy will or carry a load like it either. You can pay for an awful lot of diesel for boat tow trips with the money you would save with no new truck payments. :smiled
 
I've used my 96 V6 Taco 4x4 to tow a 22-cruiser with no issues. airbags in the back will help, also having 16 inch wheels (TRD or later Tacos) rather than the lower end LX 15s help. Take it slow, leave lots of space between you and the cars in front. Power wise, the 3.4L Tacos have plenty. You'll average 12-15 MPG. 20+ towing nothing. I hope this helps.

PS: A Tundra would of course be the best Toyota for towing. They get roughly the same MPG's as the Tacomas (with a V8!) bigger, wider, heavier, etc. Used (up to 07 body style revamp) they seem to cost roughly the same as the Tacoma too...it's quite strange.
 
T.R. Bauer":2wamhyt4 said:
Oh here we go with the little truck pulling the big boat story........Good luck to you all and hope your insurance is all paid up.....
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Don't let this guy scare you. Tacoma's are great trucks that can handle a 22 just fine.
 
T.R. Bauer":3lvx1305 said:
Oh here we go with the little truck pulling the big boat story........Good luck to you all and hope your insurance is all paid up.....
Click to expand...

I agree with TR. I had a 1996 T100 (4.0L), and it was barely adequate to pull the boat over the coast range. No relative power on the climbs, and it felt like the boat was pushing the truck at stops.

If you're going to much more than just a few miles to the ramp and back, use the Ford.
 
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