Mods for towing horse trailer

[Ghillie_Ohio]

Will be using a Toyota tacoma dual cab with a extended bed for towing . Looking to two either a two or three horse trailer . What upgrades would i need to tow a bumper style horse trailer safely ? Beef up the rear ? Type of hitch ? weight distribution ?

 

[Erik N]

Not wanting to rain on the parade, but...

Horse trailers are HEAVY. And so are horses.

My vote is a 3/4 ton truck with a receiver hitch, MINIMUM.

 

[FishPOET]

What upgrades would i need to tow a bumper style horse trailer safely?

I'm with Erik. Upgrade to a 250/2500 truck with a class IV hitch

 

[Deleted member 13060]

I'd suggest the Tundra mod..... 07 or newer = 3/4 ton truck with a 1/2 badge.

3 horses + trailer = 4500lbs minimum. Max tow with Tacoma = 5000lbs.

Don't forget the "max payload" on that Taco includes passengers and fuel. 4 avg adults = 300lbs + 21 gallons of fuel is roughly 130lbs... You just knocked 430lbs out of what you can haul... Still haven't added feed, gear, water, more stupid horse gear, saddles and tack to the equation.

I pull a 2 horse trailer w/2 mid sized horses and all the crap for a 2 day event (Sister competes) behind a 3/4 ton Ford with an inj big block and a proper hitch set up and you KNOW that trailer is back there. I pulled just the trailer across town for my Sis with my 06 TRD Prerunner and said "never again, this is why they build real trucks."

 

[Black Dog]

Did you every see the ED commercials where the guy used the horses to pull the truck and horse trailer out of the mud hole?

 

[Hill Bill E.]

2 horses + tack +feed behind a Taco?

I agree with the above posts......get a bigger rig.

I've hauled a few horse trailers (always with a 3/4T or dually 1T) and you KNOW you have that trailer behind ya!

 

[SLO_F-250]

I pull a 2 horse trailer w/2 mid sized horses and all the crap for a 2 day event (Sister competes) behind a 3/4 ton Ford with an inj big block and a proper hitch set up and you KNOW that trailer is back there. I pulled just the trailer across town for my Sis with my 06 TRD Prerunner and said "never again, this is why they build real trucks."

Well Said! Im with them. No way would I pull a 2 or 3 horse trailer with that truck. Course the trailer might pull you around. :ylsmoke:

 

[Martyn]

I have a two horse Featherlite that I tow behind an F250 with the 7.3 diesel. It tows it fine but you know it's behind you.

I wouldn't recommend you tow a trailer like this behind your rig. I always laugh when I look at the "featherlite" sticker on the trailer The thing tows like it's made of lead.

 

[Erik N]

more stupid horse gear
all the crap
and said "never again, this is why they build real trucks."

LOL I'm with ya. More of my hard earned cash has gone into that hole than I even want to think about.

In my opinion, the OP should buy a brand new 8000# dually 4x4 crewcab, put in a 5th wheel hitch and couple it to a brand new 5000# horse trailer (w/living quarters) so that they can tow their hobby around. Use it as a daily driver.

After all, horses eat grass and crap manure. They are good for the environment!

 

[Buliwyf]

Well, I think it's pretty darn odd that you want to pull a Tacoma with 3 horses. Why not just get a proper wagon or Amish buggy or something. A Tacoma is pretty heavy for three horses to pull, but doable. Draft horses?


Seriously though, drive the yote into a pond and get a 1ton Superduty. I won't pull 3 horses around with anything less. In fact I want to recommend a dually. I drive a 250, being converted to a 350, and even I feel like 3 horses is a decent challenge. A Taco is just plain suicide.

I've seen people try 2 horses with a Tahoe, but it was pretty pathetic.

 

[Revco]

We pulled a Buick Grand National on a 16' car hauler to the dragstrip behind a '93 Toyota Reg Cab 5spd 4cyl 2wd Pickup with 3 Adults in the cab. 240 mile round trip and the little truck didn't skip a beat. It sweat a little, but it pulled the trailer just fine. Keep in mind we were young and stupid and were desperate to put an end to some ********** talking at the dragstrip...and we did.

But still, you should get a bigger truck. A friend had a late 90's Chevy 2500 extended cab 4x4 with the 6.5 Diesel and he said he didn't like how it struggled to pull his ALUMINUM 3-horse bumper pull trailer. He stepped up and bought a Dodge Dually with the Cummins and he said "what trailer?"

 

[rxinhed]

We pull a two-horse straight load trailer with a fairly large tack room with an '05 GMC Sierra 1500 2wd crew cab SB. With our goats aboard the trailer, no sweat even over the Cascade or Sierra grades. Simply putting one horse in and driving 10 miles 1-way on flat ground, there was a definite difference in the weight distribution of the trailer on the hitch.

Our trailer laughs at my little Mitsubishi truck and Dodge Raider, stalled our Class C motorhome on a grade even with a 350 V8, but did not sweat the Ramcharger or GMC.


Empty weight = 3,800 pounds

My $0.02.

 

[Buliwyf]

So your trailer and 2 horses can weigh in around 8,000 pounds. Maybe 10,000 with 3 horses. No matter what your GCVWR's says, that's serious weight. Not something I'd want to pull with a halfton or less. Something I'd rather not tow with a 1 ton van, but I do every day. The piece of mind in a 1ton+ truck is priceless.

I think people forget how much horses weigh sometimes. Most that I've ridden started at 1,800 and went up way beyond 2,000.

 

[Ghillie_Ohio]

Been doing a lot of research . More than 2 horses would be to much for a tundra too from what i've read . I'm also doing a little research in the process for a future horse vet . Trying to find a 2 horse trailer that would fit any size horses . I did find 2 horse trailer that i need to look into more . Elite and cimmaron . HD and a goose neck is recommended for 3 or more horses . Kind of settle on 4.6 L V8 Tundra or older version . I glad to see that it offered 6.5 bed . Thoughts on air suspension hitches ? Thoughts on Blue Ox Patriot Supplemental Braking System or something similar .

 

[FishPOET]

Get the right truck for the job the first time

Why mess around with a Tundra that will be maxed out or worse hauling two horses?