Towing with 2011 Toyota's, Cimarron and Titan Trailers

Tundra full size 1/2 ton is a top towing truck in it's class with 401 torque from it's 5.7L V-8, a 6 speed auto, 4.30 rear axle ratio, engine and transmission cooler.  EPA fuel mileage rated at 13 city and 17 highway.

With the price of fuel you may need an oil well above or a load of hay (left) to ride your horse to Starbucks. Tacoma handles the Titan Trailers dump trailer well. Tacoma with 4.0L V-6 and 5-speed automatic transmission is rated EPA 16 mpg city and 20 highway. This Titan dump trailer is 6 x 8 ft and dumps your mulch, sand, hay etc without messing up your truck bed. Titan rated 6000 lb GVWR, just right for the Tacoma.

Toyota trucks are usually associated with quality, long life and fuel mileage. Tundra has become a larger truck in 2007 and can tow with the best of the 1/2 tons. Towing ability is the hidden equation with most trucks. Marketing departments keep the public confused on how much trucks can tow by bragging about a trailer towing weight and then in the fine print explaining that weight is only for a 4x2 regular cab. Finally there's hope comparing truck models towing ability. SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has established towing standards that go into affect 2013.

The Society of Automotive Engineers along with a group of truck manufactures, trailer manufactures and hitch companies decided to determine which tests and rules should be used to give consumers the most accurate and comparable tow rating, classified as standard J2807.

Toyota takes the lead with tow ratings, being SAE J2807 standard compliant on all 2011 models already. Many of the new tow ratings on identically equipped vehicles from the previous year have gone down, in some cases considerably.

2011 Tundra CrewMax 4x4 trailer towing was10,100 lbs, 2011 is 9000 lbs. down 1100 lbs.

2011 Tundra DoubleCab 4x4 trailer towing was 10,300 lbs, 2011 is 9,800 lbs. down 500 lbs.

2011 Tacoma DoubleCab 4x4 trailer towing was 6,500 lbs. 2011 still 6,500 lbs.

This may not mean the vehicle has changed in any way, just that it is being tested more thoroughly than before. Pay special attention as to whether the pickup truck you are interested in buying is SAE-rated or not.

Read the whole story on SAE and Toyota trucks

Tundra SR5 Double Cab, bold looking truck, surprised it had steel wheels,  V-8 with great acceleration is a towing machine.  The big knobs for heat and ac are done right. I drive several truck models each year and the big knobs are the easiest for me to figure out quickly, like when you need defrost and it's night. I'm not a fan of a small backup screen in the mirror for the backup camera. It's a sharp screen with a grid that does help and is useable if you have 20/20 vision.

Any truck that has tilt and telescoping steering wheel gets extra points. The gated shifting improves control for downshifting down the mountain. Electronic Brake Force Distribution and trailer sway control makes trailering safer. For normal driving, traction control, Vehicle Stability Control, and the front and rear parking sonar take away the need for trucking skills. Anyone can drive it.

SR5 Package for towing includes receiver hitch, 4.30 rear axle ratio, trailer brake controller pre-wire, tow-haul switch, transmission temp gauge, supplemental transmission cooler, engine oil cooler and HD alternator for $915

The bed cargo tie downs with railing, great option for keeping us all safe from flying cargo Tundra has outside the frame rear shocks like the Ford F150 for stability Backup camera screen in the rearview mirror is small and clear, the grid helps backing to a trailer Front and rear sonar is the cat's meow for parallel parking

Tacoma Access Cab, not a full size nor are the seats. Driver seat sets low so your thighs are in the air. But I'm not the demographic (old fat guy), it's a young drivers truck that wants to play on the weekends. Rated to tow 6500 lbs of trailer with the V-6, it's sufficient to tow a two horse Cimarron trailer and the 6000 lb Titan dump trailer I hauled hay with. Fills good on the highway, solid ride, in pot holes it does bounce harder than a larger truck but good control.

Picture left, TRD Off-Road package gives you all those toggle switches, from rear diff lock, traction control, hill decent, locking diff, and on/off switch for the AC converter. AC plug in the bed (right) is what I add to my trucks, very useful. Small compartments in the bed and under the rear seats in the Tacoma bed will come in handy. Both the Tundra and Tacoma had the cargo hooks in a track that I think all trucks should have. Securing cargo in truck beds is so often over looked.

As an off-road truck, the TRD TIX Pro Package has performance exhaust, beadlock 16" wheels, off road tires and adjustable tire air settings (right.) This way you can set tire pressure for sand or mud. To complete the well equipped off roader, you can manually engage the rear locker, use hill decent to crawl down the trail and Traction Control to crawl up the hill. Vehicle Stability Control keeps the truck and steering wheel going the same direction on slick roads and improves how empty trucks handle. Electronic Brake Force Distribution is an interesting feature for truck braking to match brake pressure empty or loaded.

V6 Tow Package $650; Class 4 receiver hitch, oil coolers, HD alternator and battery a must for trailering.

TRD Off-Road Extra Value Package $4035 and TIX Pro Package $1699, is what makes this Tacoma a sport/off-road specialty truck. All the toys on a truck you can go anywhere on the weekends. Which explains why it's just $3190 less than the Tundra SR5 instead of $10,000 on a lesser equipped Tacoma.

Picture left, subwoofer with on/off switch and blue light. My Snoop Dog CD sounds better on it than Shania Twain. She needs more bass guitars.

Nice layout 110 AC outlet and storage compartments in bed Access cab rear seats all opened for storage Side seats fold up with storage under

Rearview mirror with backup screen is on the small side... But it will get you close to your trailer ball Nice, oil filter sits inside of funnel, all trucks should have this The graphic, tires, fender flares, exhaust tip and beadlock wheels, all say "cool"

Cimarron two horse bumper pull trailers is one of the easiest trailer to tow. Wish I had a wind tunnel to see why. The tongue is narrow, but the V-nose angle is similar to allot of trailers. This trailer has a total empty weight of 2700#.  Coupler weight = 280# (10.4%).   Axles weight = 2420# (89.6%) Easy towing aluminum two horse bumper pull, that's just 400 lbs heavier than a lightweight Brenderup.

This is important for towing fuel mileage. Not all trailers tow the same, some are lead sleds and some like Cimarron can be towed with smaller vehicles.

Picture above you can see how flat the drop down feed doors sit on the trailer side. Picture left, closed feed doors with lower latch.  The aluminum siding is also inside the fender well. A trailer of beauty you can give to your grandchildren when you retire.

Big bus windows on tail side Running boards are beveled on the ends Grommets were all wire looms pass thru metal Tongue is well braced to the floor

Strong floor where you can't see it and.. and solid where you can see it Grease jerks on all hinges, look at the beautiful welds. Rubber wiper on rear doors, works no mater which door you open first

Door gasket all around doors like a truck Aluminum cam rods with bracket spacer keeps the latches quiet and free Triple framed feed doors and custom heavy duty Right kind of stall door slam latch, you don't have to think about it

Thanks to Transwest Truck Trailer RV for the Cimarron 2h horse trailer and Titan Trailers for the SUV dump trailer.