Is a Toyota Tacoma suitable to tow a two horse trailer with?

[Renn_aissance]

I had an unforgettable experience as a passenger in a Tacoma which was towing a two-horse Sundowner loaded with a small horse, a large pony, and show equipment. As we drove up the foothills of the Pocono mountains, the truck strained, strained, STOPPED, AND STARTED TO GO BACKWARDS. To this day I have no idea how the driver managed to get it going forward again and we did get up the hill.

Once we got home she sold the Tacoma and and bought a 3/4 ton SUV.

I do not frequently drive in the foothills of any mountain range, but I tow with a 3/4 ton pickup and usually just one horse in the back. In questionable or difficult conditions I am always grateful to have more truck than I need, and sometimes I’ve needed all the truck. That peace of mind is priceless. (By the way, that particular truck and trailer setup went up the same stretch of the foothills with a big rangy Thoroughbred and a moose of a Warmblood, two tack trunks in the dressing room, and hay bales in the truck bed. No problem.)

[FitToBeTied]

I wouldn’t do it. A lightweight, not a brenderup, two horse trailer is going to weigh @ 3000 lbs empty. When you add horses and other things the weight goes up quickly. Suddenly that 3000 is more than 5000 and you have little to no margin of error.

[soloudinhere]

I do think it’s important that people not go down the road of “seventeen years ago I rode once in a Tacoma and it couldn’t tow at all!” Trucks have changed and a new truck is not the same thing as an old truck.

I still wouldn’t do it, but there was a time when an F250 was the same size and tow rating as a 2018 Tacoma.

[Jim_in_PA]

@FitToBeTied

I wouldn’t do it. A lightweight, not a brenderup, two horse trailer is going to weigh @ 3000 lbs empty. When you add horses and other things the weight goes up quickly. Suddenly that 3000 is more than 5000 and you have little to no margin of error.

The TrailersUSA Minuteman Sport 2H BP I towed with my 2012 Hemi Grand Cherokee weighed in at 1980 lbs from the factory and about 2200 lbs with storage/equipment. With two horses aboard, I was a full ton below the towing capacity. Zero issues for what my local hauling needs were. There are many, many North American type 2H BP trailers that weigh far below 3000 lbs empty for folks who want to safely tow with more modest rigs. That said, if money were no object, I would have had a Böckmann Portax as an even better rig, but the price was right on the TrailerUSA unit used…and I later sold it for $1500 more than I paid for it.

I wouldn’t tow that same trailer with a Tacoma, however. Only a Euro trailer for that.

[Guilherme]

@soloudinhere

I do think it’s important that people not go down the road of “seventeen years ago I rode once in a Tacoma and it couldn’t tow at all!” Trucks have changed and a new truck is not the same thing as an old truck.

I still wouldn’t do it, but there was a time when an F250 was the same size and tow rating as a 2018 Tacoma.

…which suggests to me that there’s at least as much “Mad Ave Magic” involved, here, as genuine engineering!!!

Yes, trucks have evolved but I’m a skeptic on claims of capability. There is only ONE way to KNOW what the towing capacity of any given truck is and it’s NOT determined by looking at ad copy or company videos.

The First Rule of Towing Anything is that “starting is optional; stopping is not.” So while all kinds of mondo kool stuff might be written about engines and drive trains who talks about brakes? Damn near nobody. I wonder why that might be, hmmmmm?!?!?!

Don’t get seduced by name plates or guys who claim that the brand they’re hawking “doesn’t set the bar; it IS the bar.” If you value your health, safety, and welfare, and that of your horses, take a LONG look behind the curtain.

G.

[soloudinhere]

@Guilherme

…which suggests to me that there’s at least as much “Mad Ave Magic” involved, here, as genuine engineering!!!

Yes, trucks have evolved but I’m a skeptic on claims of capability. There is only ONE way to KNOW what the towing capacity of any given truck is and it’s NOT determined by looking at ad copy or company videos.

The First Rule of Towing Anything is that “starting is optional; stopping is not.” So while all kinds of mondo kool stuff might be written about engines and drive trains who talks about brakes? Damn near nobody. I wonder why that might be, hmmmmm?!?!?!

Don’t get seduced by name plates or guys who claim that the brand they’re hawking “doesn’t set the bar; it IS the bar.” If you value your health, safety, and welfare, and that of your horses, take a LONG look behind the curtain.

G.

Towing stability is as much a function of axle ratings and overall size as it is of engine power. It’s unarguable that you can pull a house off the foundation with a very limited amount of horsepower - having a vehicle big enough to control it on a trailer is another thing.

I find it humorous when people say they will tow with a 1997 F350 but would never tow with a brand new 150 - which is physically larger, weighs about the same, and makes more power and torque. Bigger brakes come with bigger wheels and bigger trucks.

It’s not something where the experience of 25 years ago carries forever.

[Guilherme]

@soloudinhere

Towing stability is as much a function of axle ratings and overall size as it is of engine power. It’s unarguable that you can pull a house off the foundation with a very limited amount of horsepower - having a vehicle big enough to control it on a trailer is another thing.

I find it humorous when people say they will tow with a 1997 F350 but would never tow with a brand new 150 - which is physically larger, weighs about the same, and makes more power and torque. Bigger brakes come with bigger wheels and bigger trucks.

It’s not something where the experience of 25 years ago carries forever.

I would agree that there is “evolution” in trucks. I’m skeptical about just how much there has been!

Like I say, there is precisely ONE WAY to determine the legal towing capacity of any truck. And that’s for pulling a “dead” load, not a “live” load.

G.

[hosspuller]

“Live load” A few years back we had a rash of local firetrucks rolling over on the way to a call. Seems like a bunch of new drivers didn’t figure the water in the baffled tanks would move, upsetting the weight distribution…

Horses are like that, they move and are high centered. I’m reminded every time we’re stopped and the whole rig shifts from the horses.

[TheHorseMutterer]

I have a Tacoma and a two horse trailer and trailer locally on the regular. I’ve also gone from Atlanta to Lexington (one big horse on the way home) and done travel around the metro Atlanta area for several years now with my little rig. Rig specs are: '06 Tacoma Pre-Runner 2WD, short bed, double cab and ugly, red '93 bumper pull Carry-On two horse slant (Atlanta folks, say hi if you see me out!).

Tiny truck, tiny trailer.

My experience has been this:
I don’t particularly want to travel on the highway for long distances. The stability of the smaller truck is not the best when you’re getting passed by semis and other large vehicles. I’ve done it, don’t get me wrong, but those are the times when you realize your truck is pretty under-sized (and yes, I know it is).

The trailer brakes make the difference in braking, for me. I would not, under any circumstances, tow that trailer without the brakes with my truck - but I’m a little nutty about wanting to be able to stop.

Local hauling (1-2 hours tops) is fine. Anything that isn’t a several lane highway seems like no problem at all. I don’t worry about anything unless I expect to be passing/passed by a lot of large vehicles.

You’re not going to accelerate fast. It’s a Tacoma towing near its limit. Thems the breaks.

I have relatively small horses and haul two of them no problem in this trailer (14.2h and 15.2h). The big guy is 16h and long. He actually doesn’t even fit in my divider. Hauling him is fine as long as it’s just him. Since he’s divider-less, I haven’t hauled him and anyone else yet. My other two horses are likely in the 1000# range each. Again, hauling both isn’t that big of a deal.

The bottom line is that it’s do-able. A light trailer is super helpful. The Tacoma is awesomely versatile (mine has almost 200k on it and hasn’t had ANY major issues). Sans trailer, it’s a comfortable daily driver and can park just about anywhere a car can. I’d trade up to a full size or 2500# if I could afford it, but I can’t. So long as you’re going with the newer, bigger body Taco, I think you’d be alright. But don’t expect to be the nicest looking rig anywhere you go

[dkcbr]

@abbylee

Thank you to everyone for your informative responses! Sounds like I would more likely be looking into a F-150 or Tundra at least.

I would most likely be towing on very short trips (15 minutes max) once a month or so to get to lessons and cross country schooling, and then longer trips (2-4 hours) maybe three to four times a year for shows. I would be open to having someone else haul for shows if I only had enough truck to haul locally, but being able to do both is obviously preferred for independence sake. I live in a relatively flat area, we have some hills but nothing particularly steep.

I am not going to need anything larger than a 2 horse trailer for a while, and I have mostly looked into Brenderups. Any other lightweight/good braking system trailer recommendations?

As someone else alluded to, we all want the unicorn rig that will safely haul a horse or two, but also serve as a reasonably efficient and easily parked daily driver, that can carry multiple passengers or dogs.

I would definitely look at the Boeckmanns (sp).

Also check into the Cotner Lone Star (it’s a single-horse, but you can’t safely trailer two horses with a Tacoma anyway imho). I had one until fairly recently. It had all the amenities of a regular two horse, and it hauled beautifully with my Toyota 4Runner.

In the past I also had a similar one-horse trailer, a Sterling EqOne (no longer made). I hauled that with a Jeep Cherokee a few times, but pretty quickly moved up to a larger/heavier/longer Ford Explorer, and that was fine. The Jeep was too short a wheelbase and also was…hill challenged with even the EqOne.

I always wished I could find a nice Rice trailer in good condition that was affordable. Never did.

I should add that since 1976 I’ve also had three different “normal” two-horse trailers, the last of which was a lovely Hawk that I hauled with a Ford F250 extended cab long bed. I don’t subscribe to the notion that you MUST have a 3/4 ton, but I would not attempt hauling a standard two-horse with a Tacoma. It’s not just about will it haul, it’s not just about will it stop, and it’s not just about will your transmission and other parts survive the effort. It’s ALSO about handling the sway factor that can and does arise with live animals and a high center of gravity, compounded by - for instance - semis passing on the freeway. (Witnessed this myself. Not pretty.)

Good luck finding just the right combination for wants and needs!

[McGurk]

Back in the bad old days, late 80s or so, I went into dealerships looking to buy a 3/4 ton truck because I was doing a lot of hauling pulling a 4 horse steel stock BP. Every single salesperson tried to talk me out of the 3/4 ton, and using boat hauling metrics, told me that a 1/2 ton would haul just fine.

I absolutely knew better, but because I was female and had mud on my boots, I was treated as if I didn’t know what I wanted. When some salesperson pressed the issue about why I thought I needed a 3/4 ton, I snapped back and told him that I needed to drive 55 over Afton Mountain in August with the a/c running and not blow the transmission or overheat the engine. I did eventually buy the 3/4 ton.

Why did they fight me so hard? Besides girl with mud on her boots? Probably because they had more 1/2 tons on the lot, or the profit margin on a half ton was better.

So I don’t pretend to know how much better and more efficient the newer vehicles are, because my tow vehicle is 20 years old.

But I do know to never, ever, ever believe what a salesperson tells you about towing capacity because they don’t understand the difference between towing a boat and towing horses. And they don’t care if you blow the transmission in 40K miles. I also tend to be very skeptical of other people’s towing claims unless I see them with a loaded trailer at the same places I frequent.

[Guilherme]

@McGurk

Back in the bad old days, late 80s or so, I went into dealerships looking to buy a 3/4 ton truck because I was doing a lot of hauling pulling a 4 horse steel stock BP. Every single salesperson tried to talk me out of the 3/4 ton, and using boat hauling metrics, told me that a 1/2 ton would haul just fine.

I absolutely knew better, but because I was female and had mud on my boots, I was treated as if I didn’t know what I wanted. When some salesperson pressed the issue about why I thought I needed a 3/4 ton, I snapped back and told him that I needed to drive 55 over Afton Mountain int August with the a/c running and not blow the transmission or overheat the engine. I did eventually buy the 3/4 ton.

Why did they fight me so hard? Besides girl with mud on her boots? Probably because they had more 1/2 tons on the lot, or the profit margin on a half ton was better.

So I don’t pretend to know how much better and more efficient the newer vehicles are, because my tow vehicle is 20 years old.

But I do know to never, ever, ever believe what a salesperson tells you about towing capacity because they don’t understand the difference between towing a boat and towing horses. And they don’t care if you blow the transmission in 40K miles. I also tend to be very skeptical of other people’s towing claims unless I see them with a loaded trailer at the same places I frequent.

Why? Because you’re a girl with mud on your boots!!!

I’ve had people pull the same thing on me (as an aged male) because I don’t always look (or talk) the part of the “farmer” looking to buy something. They assume I’m a “Walmart cowboy” with more money than sense. Once I see that I either leave or, if I’ve not done anything to entertain myself that day, I’ll “string them along” by playing “Walmart cowboy” just to see where the game goes. Not nice on my part, I’ll agree, but a fair comeuppance for some of the “city slickers” I sometimes have to deal with.

G.

[exo.pragmata]

NO. We made this mistake so you don’t have to (lol). We have a 2016 Tacoma and “by the numbers” it should tow the trailer I have and one horse fine, and so on. I have a 2017 4 star 2H BP, 2300#. When empty, it tows awesome. Loaded, it becomes a bit nerve-wracking. I tow very seldom, but as soon as we are able the truck will be traded in. I wouldn’t even bother with a Tundra or F150. At a minimum we will be looking at a Ram 2500. It is the winds, stopping power weight that is critical for me.

[Jim_in_PA]

exo, are you using a Weight Distribution Hitch? You really need to do that to solve the weight balance thing between your axils which will solve both steering and braking stability. A lot of folks in the horsie world either don’t know about WDH or don’t want to spend the money, but they are an essential safety tool for towing, not just for this application but any application where the tongue weight exceeds a certain amount for a given vehicle. I’m not discouraging you from getting a larger tow vehicle, but the honest truth is even a larger pickup truck can often benefit from WDH.

[enjoytheride]

I always view people who spout “but what about stopping?” as people who don’t really know anything about trailering.

You’d better believe I want to know about pulling. Can I make it up a steep gravel hill from a standstill? Can I enter an onramp onto a 70mph freeway?

There are very very few to zero rigs that could stop on a dime in an emergency with or without trailer brakes. If you’ve never felt your truck being pushed by your trailer you’re lucky. I’ve been pushed with a 1 ton pick up truck by a 3 horse slant aluminum with one horse. People that believe their truck can stop their trailer stop too late, tailgate, and are waiting for an accident.

It’s as much about your engine and your wheelbase as it is about your brakes. You can have an 8.1 v8 under the hood but you are less stable with a 6 foot bed than a 8 foot bed.

I know a certain horse trailer dealer that has a 2 horse living quarter with a slide they advertise as capable of being towed by “any half ton.” Considering that the trailer weighs 6,000lbs empty and has a GVWR of 10,000 that’s simply not true. I have a friend with a 2018 F150 with a V6. Great on gas, tow capacity of 5,000lbs.

[McGurk]

I love the WDHs and used one with both my two horse and a 16’ stock. Nice to have on the two horse, made a big, big difference on the 16’ stock.

[vxf111]

@enjoytheride

I always view people who spout “but what about stopping?” as people who don’t really know anything about trailering.

1. I suspect a lot of it comes from what people find most stressful about trailering. Thank god, I don’t encounter many inclines. But I often have to go right through Philly and you bet A-holes or cutting me off left right and center and slamming on their breaks. So for me the most nerve wracking part about trailering is stopping.

2. Stopping is not the only thing people don’t think about but it’s one of them. And usually the dealers are all about towing which is why people bring up NON towing considerations like stopping.

3. People also usually mention other things (like for example the fact that horses are not dead weight, which lots of people have mentioned, hills, which lots of people have mentioned etc.)

[tabula_rashah]

@enjoytheride

I always view people who spout “but what about stopping?” as people who don’t really know anything about trailering.

Well excuse the hell outta me but yeah I consider braking awfully important. And yes I am quite knowledgeable about hauling thank you considering I hauled professionally for years as well as own a business that deals in hauling other materials. Check out the tests for getting your CDL- see how much of the material is on braking vrs accelerating. No one is saying you should be able to stop on a dime but that should you be able to stop in an appropriate amount of time & distance for your weight. And no one is saying that there aren’t other important factors in hauling- just that stopping should be a top priority. It’s part of the reason I always prefer to haul with a manual- I want to be able to stop no matter what.

[TullyMars]

I am a huge advocate of having a large footprint. A small footprint may struggle to hold the rig in a evasive maneuver, getting blow by from another truck. The smaller trucks are narrow, shorter, lighter,(parking/fuel efficiency) and just don’t have the stability that in a swerve or fast stop the trailer won’t over ride you. Regardless of the normal, can it get it moving and get it stopping, I want the largest footprint on the ground to stabilize the trailer if I have to swerve (god forbid) or encounter something that gets my trailer swaying. I don’t think you have to overdo it, but a Tacoma is not a great idea. I personally would not go less than 3/4 ton, but that is me.

[cutter99]

Accelerating is easy. Stopping is hard. This coming from a woman who hauls through the mountains regularly. And no one worth a lick or who has hauled regularly expects a truck and trailer to stop on a dime. If you do, you are an idiot.