2005 toyota tundra double cab towing capacity ??? WTH ???

I just looked in my manual and it says the towing capacity is 3175 with the towing package???? Obviously, I am going to have to get a different truck to tow a light weight 25 ft travel trailer....... How the heck are these people I see everywhere towing trailers etc with these trucks and SUV's ??? This was a shock to me!!!! Just venting !!! So now I need recommendations for a truck. We would be using it mainly for towing the TT and trips to baja without the trailer. Need to buy used, any recommendations would help. Thanks again

Budget?
4X4 or 4X2?
Gas?
Diesel?
How big a family?
Lots of off road or not?

I think that a lot people out there have never given a second thought to whether or not their TV is capably of safely handling what they are towing. I know the feeling though, because I was looking at towing number for my rig awhile back, and I was quite taken aback when I realized that it could handle nowhere near what I had assumed it might be capable of.

There are only 2 of us but occasionally we will have 4. Not much off road.. My house in baja has a sand road that we can maneuver in the Tundra...but I'm  not sure if we get a bigger and heavier truck. We would not be taking the trailer to baja .... I would really rather tow a fifth wheel, I'm familiar with them. So I guess now that we need to look at a new truck we should get one that can tow a fifth wheel. We live in CA. So diesel is more expensive than gas. I'm really uninformed about trucks and appreciate any input. My other half is way to busy golfing to do all this research ( LOL) so the info gathering and decisions are left to me... Thanks again !!!

If you plan on towing a 5th wheel, a diesel truck is definitely the way to go. You could get by with a gas engine, but it will provide a less than optimal towing experiences. The torque curve for a gas engine is such that it makes peak torque at much higher RPMs than a diesel, so in other words, the diesel will get the job done without a big fuss, with considerably less wear on the engine and improved MPGs over gas engine.

As far as diesel trucks are concerned, it all depends on your price range. You said that you live in CA, so any diesel model year <1998 is smog exempt. If you are on a tight budget, take a look at pre-1998 Ford's or Dodges. Dodge had the Cummins 12v which is a proven engine and will last a long time. Ford began offering the 7.3 powerstroke in 1995 which also has an excellent reputation. Before that Ford had the 7.3/6.9IDI engines which also are good power plants and don't have any fancy electronics, so are easy and cheap to fix. 1994 was the first year that Ford offered a turbo, so anything older than that might not have one unless it is aftermarket. The Chevy/GMC diesels of that era were the 6.2 and 6.5, which are not known for being especially suited for heavy towing, they were more intended as engines to achieve reasonably good mpgs in place of a gas v8. Depending on who you talk to, some would say they weren't too reliable.

For some of the newer trucks, Ford offered the 7.3 powerstroke until 2002/20003 after that, there was the 6.0 and 6.4 powerstrokes which don't have a good reputation, especially the 6.0l. Avoid those if possible. The duramax overall has a good reputation, they had some issues with injectors in the early 2000's. Dodge had both the 5.9 cummins and about 2005 or so switched over to the 6.7 cummins. Both are good engines and I don't hear much bad about either of those.

As far as price range, you can get an older Ford or Dodge for <$10k, early 2000's trucks will be in the $10-20k range and the newer you get will be closer to the $50-60k prices of the current ones. Hope this helps you out.

You may be looking at the wrong number. From what I see, the lowest rated Tundra Double Cab has a 4.7L gas engine and is rated at 6500 lbs towing. Most versions are 6800 lbs, which coincidentally is 3175 kilograms!

Does that help?

Gary RV Roamer said:

You may be looking at the wrong number. From what I see, the lowest rated Tundra Double Cab has a 4.7L gas engine and is rated at 6500 lbs towing. Most versions are 6800 lbs, which coincidentally is 3175 kilograms!

Does that help?

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i think he is too, my tundra had way more towing than that

What year/engine/transmission/drivetrain Tundra are we talking about?  That rating DOES seem awfully low.  The 2013 iForce 5.7 was rated up to 10,500 properly equipped.  3175 lbs seems like S10 and Ranger territory. 

The OP said it's a 2005 Tundra Double Cab. Those have the 4.7L V8 and the 2WD version is rated for 6800 lbs and the 4WD version at 6500.

Yeah, just re-read the thread title.  They should still be able to find a decent bumper pull in that weight range.

Susanlonnie said:

I just looked in my manual and it says the towing capacity is 3175 with the towing package???? Obviously, I am going to have to get a different truck to tow a light weight 25 ft travel trailer....... How the heck are these people I see everywhere towing trailers etc with these trucks and SUV's ??? This was a shock to me!!!! Just venting !!! So now I need recommendations for a truck. We would be using it mainly for towing the TT and trips to baja without the trailer. Need to buy used, any recommendations would help. Thanks again

Click to expand...

We just sold a Tundra 2009 V8 Engine and could tow 9500 pounds. We easily towed a 25 foot TT. There might be a big difference in the years. Perhaps you could just get a newer one?

Thank you everyone.. Maybe I read it wrong... I will look at that again... It seemed crazy low to me!!!! But I really would rather pull the fifth wheel so we might just change trucks anyway. You guys are the best !!!

I may be flagged for piling on, but our '06 Tundra Access Cab 4x4 with the tow package is rated at 3175Kg or 7000 lbs. The rating is listed in the book in Kg with the lbs rating in parentheses next to it.

Out 25 footer is rated at 5500 GVW and tows like a dream!!!!