I am looking to purchase a in the next couple of month. One of my problems is that neither of my vehicles are ideal for it and selling and buying another is something I'd like to avoid. One of the options I'm considering is installing a Supercharger on the 4-cyl of my 2001 Toyota Tacoma Ext Cab. It has enough wheel base and a Class III hitch but It is only rated for a tongue weight of 350 lb and a gross trailer weight of 3500 lbs. I live in the Ventura Area in Southern California and would like to take it to Long Beach from time to time for a Catalina cruise but the Camarillo grade is something I don't think this package will be able to handle. My questions are these:
1. Will a supercharger on this vehicle help in increasing the towing capacity?
2. Has anyone towed their Mac with this vehicle from this forum?
3. Will it be necessary to upgrade the rear suspension to maybe airbags and upgrading the brakes all around?
My son had a '97 Tacoma (TRD) V-6 with factory-installed supercharger. It had plenty of power to tow over the Sierras from SF to Las Vegas. However, the rear suspension was a disaster for towing the Mac.
Even when he reduced tongue weight to about 220# the truck was still squatting badly - trailer holding the pickup's suspension close to the stoppers. Of course with tongue so light, it was also blown onto the shoulder whenever trucks passed him. It was a miserable 1200 miles. He would have upgraded with Air-Shocks, at minimum, if towing the Mac had been a regular deal.
Candidly - installing a supercharger plus Air Shocks is an easy $4.000, right ... and since that 4-cyl isn't prepped for boost ... seems you might be better to trade to a larger tow vehicle.
I live in Oxnard and whenever I am going to Long beach or down to San Diego, I tow down the 1 along the coast. After 1000 hrs there is not much weekday traffic and it gets you around the 405 pass too!
i guess upgrading the 4 banger may be more hassle than trying to sell my truck and purchasing a replacement for possibly the same price. sounds like though the upgrades would be a possible solution for short trips to Long Beach along the PCH... sigh... this is almost as tough of a decision as choosing between a and a
Towing at greater than your drivetrain's capability will wear it out faster because you spend more time in the upper range of its capability. But it is protected somewhat by the limit of the engine's power. Regardless of how heavy the towed load, the most torque the drivetrain will experience is that provided by the engine.
When you boost the engine's output significantly, and tow that heavier load faster than the unboosted engine was capable of, the drivetrain is now subject to torque far in excess of what it was designed for. The wear goes up at a much higher rate, and the probability of breaking something is much higher.
Air bags do one thing well... assisting only the springs, they hide the fact you're overloaded and punishing your rear axle bearings, and possibly the tires.
If you want a Tacoma that blows blue oil smoke on acceleration, has a slipping clutch or auto transmission, or growling from the rear axle, then go ahead, boost it, and tow a Mac up steep grades with it.
moe, blowing blue oil smoke and growling rear axle huh. That sounds bad. youre making my trusty old tacoma out to be a Geo Metro . After all, it does sit on the same chassis as a 2001 Toyota 4Runner just minus the oomph. I guess I am pretty envious of Tom's '05 2500HD with Duramax anyways.
(btw, is that blue smoke the same shade as the blue on the ? maybe that will help me push up the grade )
I have towed Mac26X several times with Tacoma (acces cab version,2.7L, 4x4,manual trans). The truck towed the Mac quite well. Much better than I expected from what I read of others tow experiences. With manual tranmission, starts on hills seemed somewhat abusive to clutch. If my plans were only some short tows I would stick with the Tacoma. Since I plan on towing from NY to Fla. this summer I will be exchanging Tacoma for Tundra on Wednesday.
cool. I'm glad to hear someone had some experience with a 4-cyl tacoma. I think I will stick with Captain Steve's recommendation of avoiding the hills. I will give it a shot with the Tacoma and just launch and retrieve locally and see how she does. I would probably upgrade or rent a tow vehicle for extended trips.
in the next couple of month. One of my problems is that neither of my vehicles are ideal for it and selling and buying another is something I'd like to avoid. One of the options I'm considering is installing a Supercharger on the 4-cyl of my 2001 Toyota Tacoma Ext Cab. It has enough wheel base and a Class III hitch but It is only rated for a tongue weight of 350 lb and a gross trailer weight of 3500 lbs. I live in the Ventura Area in Southern California and would like to take it to Long Beach from time to time for a Catalina cruise but the Camarillo grade is something I don't think this package will be able to handle. My questions are these:
and a 
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