Toyota Tacoma Towing Capacity

Written & researched by Briar Callahan Overlanding & Power Systems Editor

Published Sep 29, 2026

Quick answer: the current 2024-and-later Tacoma tows up to 6,500 lb with the i-FORCE gas engine (on SR5 i-FORCE and TRD PreRunner XtraCab grades) and up to 6,000 lb with the i-FORCE MAX hybrid, per Toyota. The 2016 to 2023 Tacoma tows up to 6,800 lb with the 3.5-liter V6 and Tow Package, rated to SAE J2807, depending on configuration. Four-cylinder third-gen trucks were rated at 3,500 lb.

Tacoma Towing Capacity by Generation

2016–2023 Tacoma: Rating by Configuration

The third-generation Tacoma is the clearest example of why the advertised maximum rarely matches the truck in your driveway. Using Toyota’s SAE J2807 ratings, Cars.com broke the 2023 Tacoma down by configuration:

The pattern is consistent: adding 4WD, a larger cab or a longer bed adds curb weight, and every pound the truck carries itself comes out of the combined rating available for the trailer. A 4WD Double Cab, a common off-road configuration, sits 400 lb below the headline number.

What the Tow Package Adds

On the 2016 to 2023 truck, Toyota made the Tow Package standard with the V6 and available with the four-cylinder. It includes a Class IV towing receiver hitch, an engine oil cooler, a transmission fluid cooler (automatic only), a power steering cooler, a 130-amp alternator, a 4- and 7-pin connector with converter, and Trailer-Sway Control. If you are buying a used third-gen Tacoma for towing, confirm those parts are actually on the truck rather than assuming them from the engine alone.

2024+ Tacoma: Gas vs Hybrid

The fourth-generation Tacoma switched to a 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. Toyota rates the i-FORCE at up to 278 hp and 317 lb-ft (228 hp and 243 lb-ft on the entry SR) and the i-FORCE MAX hybrid at 326 hp and 465 lb-ft. Even with that torque advantage, the hybrid is capped at 6,000 lb versus 6,500 lb for the i-FORCE on SR5 i-FORCE and TRD PreRunner XtraCab grades — Toyota's release doesn't explain the gap, but the hybrid's added battery mass eats into the combined vehicle-and-trailer weight rating in the same way a heavier cab or longer bed does on the gas truck. Toyota makes a Tow/Haul mode standard on all i-FORCE MAX Tacomas.

Finding Your Truck’s Real Number

Three checks give you the number that actually applies. First, identify the exact configuration on your window sticker or build sheet: engine, cab, bed, drivetrain and transmission. Second, read the tire and loading placard on the driver’s door jamb, which states how much weight of occupants and cargo the truck can carry. Third, remember that tongue weight counts against payload: passengers, a bed full of gear and a 10 to 15 percent tongue load can exhaust a Tacoma’s payload well before the trailer reaches the tow rating. Our Tacoma payload guide and the towing and payload capacity checker walk through the math.

Worked Example: Tongue Weight Against Payload

Ford's own towing guidance (used industry-wide as the standard rule of thumb) puts a conventional trailer's tongue weight at about 10–15 percent of its loaded weight. Applied to a Tacoma actually towing near its rating: a 6,500 lb trailer loaded to that maximum needs roughly 650–975 lb of tongue weight resting on the truck's hitch — weight that comes out of payload, not out of the tow rating. A 2024 Tacoma's payload (see the payload guide for exact figures by configuration) has to cover that tongue weight plus every passenger and every pound of gear in the cab and bed before the truck is loaded to its GVWR. A trailer at the lower end of the tongue-weight range needs less payload margin than the same trailer loaded heavier toward its own rated capacity — which is why two owners towing "the same" 6,500 lb trailer can have very different amounts of payload left over.

If the trailer you want is routinely near 6,500 lb, owners generally report a better experience moving up to a full-size truck; see Tundra vs Tacoma. For hitch hardware, see weight distribution hitches, and for ownership notes, the Tacoma owner hub.

How We Source Towing Figures

Ratings on this page come from Toyota’s press releases for the 2021 and 2024 Tacoma and the i-FORCE MAX Tacoma, with third-generation configuration figures from Cars.com’s breakdown of Toyota’s SAE J2807 ratings. We do not tow or test vehicles ourselves. See how we rank for our method.

Toyota, Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Jeep and Ram are trademarks of their respective owners. 4x4 & Overlanding is an independent publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by any vehicle manufacturer.

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