R pod 195 and Toyota Tacoma

[Slugo]

My wife and I are planning an epic trip to the National Parks of Colorado, Utah, California, Oregon, and Washington. We plan on pulling an r pod 195 with a Toyota Tacoma. Should we use a 4 cylinder or V6? Does it matter if we use a 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive? Is a Tacoma a good choice?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Slugo

My wife and I are planning an epic trip to the National Parks of Colorado, Utah, California, Oregon, and Washington. We plan on pulling an r pod 195 with a Toyota Tacoma. Should we use a 4 cylinder or V6? Does it matter if we use a 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive? Is a Tacoma a good choice?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Personally, you should get a true 1/2 truck.
I have lived out West all my life and towed through those states. Not sure if you have ever towed in real mountains or not. A naturally aspirated v-6, pulling a full height TT through the air, will not be pleasant. Especially through real mountains.
It's air resistance that regular v-6 engines struggle with.
Not sure why you would even consider a 4 cylinder as an option.

[eye95]

Originally Posted by Slugo

My wife and I are planning an epic trip to the National Parks of Colorado, Utah, California, Oregon, and Washington. We plan on pulling an r pod 195 with a Toyota Tacoma. Should we use a 4 cylinder or V6? Does it matter if we use a 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive? Is a Tacoma a good choice?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

My advice has always been to pull with more than you “need”. When the wind and the hills and the road conditions gang up on you, you’ll be glad you didn’t skimp.

[Koz 65]

We plan on doing the out west road trip this sept. We will be pulling a rpod 189. our tow vehicle will be a 2018 gmc acadia with the tow option. I was concerned also if this would be enough.
We have had no problems so far, but we have only traveled
in Ohio, Kentucky, Tenn. and Mich.

[moose074]

Is it possible yes, tow standards require a certain amount of frontal area on the trl when being towed based on weight. When manufacturers test the vehicle going up a steep hill truck has to start and stop and accelerate to certain requirements. It has to be warm outside as well. I will post the chart.
I am not a fan of a 4 cylinder but if I told you that the 4 cylinder could never perform to it’s listed capacity but that my 350 Dually diesel could I would be a hypocrite. The 4 cylinder probably will give you more payload than the v-6.

I would choose the v-6 just because I have a heavy foot. If you have reasonable expectations like going slower up hills or mountains, lower mpg you should be fine. Go visit the Tocoma forum you will see some wild towing set ups I imagine. On a side note I arrived in Woodland Park Co Sunday ( scenic route) and I had to press the accelerator a little harder on the steeper hills and when I could maintain speed those tight corners forced me to slow down any way my mpg were down as well . anybody remember these I still see them from time to time oddly more often in the mountains of Northern Cali and Southern Oregon

[cpttimerstraint]

I have driven all over the West during my last 5 annual 4k Mile road trips. I have seen a lot more undersized 3/4 ton trucks pulling fifth wheels and large trailers than a Tacoma pulling an rpod. We have towed our 189 with my wife's 4 cylinder diesel canyon and it pulled great. My buddy has a Wildwood 177 bh he tows with a v6 Colorado and is happy with it. I have seen a lot of rpods in Montana and Wyoming this trip being pulled by midsized trucks and SUVs.

[AZ Pete]

I tow an rPod 180 with a 2018 Tacoma TRD Off Road V6. No issues in the mountains. I have towed all over the Rocky Mountain West, Intermountain West and West coast.

[Dirt Sifter]

We have a '17 Tacoma 4x4 with the 3.5 L V-6 tow package, towing our Rpod 195. The V-6 is the only way to go. No problem with the Coast range, Cascades, Blues, Eagles, or those mountains in N. ID and W. MT, EXCEPT when we got into a strong headwind situation (40+ mph gusts with 30+ sustained). After about forty miles on an 80 mph ID freeway, we pulled off for the day as we were a hazard at 55 mph top end. I continue to pull with the Tacoma most of the time. Watch my extended mirrors, pull over when traffic starts to back up on long steep grades, and can pass slower rigs when necessary. Two wheel drive gives you more room to carry stuff weight wise. You'll want a tow package, and weight distributing hitch with some kind of sway control. Enjoy the trip!

[AZ Pete]

Regarding a weight distribution hitch. I don't use one with the rPod 180. I have also towed the 180 without sway control, though I do have it now, as insurance.

I do have 500# Sumosprings though, in lieu of WD.

There are some light weight options for WD hitches now, which I would likely have opted for, had I known about them.

One being Camco Recurve which can be had in 400# tongue weight with a 2" ball and sway control.

[Dirt Sifter]

Like AZ Pete, when we had a 179 we could use a 2" ball hitch with sway control and did fine with the Taco. I liked the 'feel' of the WDH when I used it so continued when going on longer jaunts. The problem we found with the 195 in addition to the extra 600+ lbs, was with so much storage you bump the hitch weight easily even when careful. For us, the WDH became necessary. Get yours, load it and weigh it before you get the WDH so you get the right one for you, if you decide to use one.

[eternal wanderer]

I'm 9 months late to this party but I'll just say that I have the R-Pod 202 and tow it with my 2018 Tacoma Off-Roadv (V6). I'm also using a Equalizer WD hitch. To me, the truck has no problem towing this 25' trailer and I am not certain I'd try to tow the 195 with a 4-Cyl to be honest. Folks saying you need a F150 for that R-Pod model aren't really doing their homework. Below are the numbers I used to best judge which trailer to haul for my truck. Maybe this will be helpful for another Tacoma owner trying to decide.

[sacramentocamper]

Hi all,

On a moderately related note I tow my Rpod 179 with a 2008 Toyota Sienna minivan which has a 3.5 V6. It works, but its not ideal and mountains are a challenge.