Quote:
Originally Posted by nova
I can't talk Tacoma because I don't know their specs off the top of my head so I'll talk Colorado instead.
Take my travel trailer as an example. The smallest lightest one I've found, that wasn't a popup, was around 2900lbs dry weight. Towing capacity on my '06 Colorado tops out at about 4000lbs. That doesn't leave a whole lot of extra capacity for all the other stuff that goes in beyond dry weight.
On top of that, based on my prior towing experience ( I towed a load that topped out around 3800lbs once) the Colorado is inadeqate in the power and braking department (even with trailer brakes) for loads that size, even on flat terrain, and gas mileage drops to around 12 mpg..
As a comparison, I've towed north of 5000 lbs with my dads '06 Sierra and had a lot easier time of it. Additionally he tows loads like that pretty regularly and doesn't see nearly as much MPG dropoff as I did towing 3800 lbs. IIRC he said his fuel economy only drops down to about 15mpg at that load.
A diesel could probably overcome a lot of that, but to be really worthwhile I think you'd have to beef up the tranny, suspension and brakes to really get a package that would work.
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That's a stock Tacoma pulling around a 5,000lb trailer through the dessert in 115 degree heat....
The diesel engine with all its torque would be a BIG plus on power and capability... The suspension is the strong point of the Tacoma right now, so it wouldn't need a ton of beefing.