Towing a T@b 400 on the Beartooth Highway with a Tacoma

Jbreunig

We are heading to Yellowstone this summer. wondering if anyone has towed a T@b 400 over the Beartooth highway from Red Lodge MT into Yellowstone with a Toyota Tacoma?   We have a 2017 Tacoma and tow a 2020 T@b 400 BDL.  Is the Beartooth more than my Tacoma can handle towing the 400?

bergger

I've never been on the Beartooth Highway, it's on my list, but I'd say you'd be fine.  Just plan on going slow and taking your time.  I have to go over an 11,000 foot pass and an 11,300 foot pass, starting at 5,280 feet of elevation and ending at over 10,000 feet every time I go to my house from the Denver area.  While I do not own a Tacoma anymore, I owned nothing but Tacomas for almost 25 years.  I towed my 2600lb popup trailer and my T@b 400 over that route multiple times and did fine.  The truck will work to do it but you'll be okay.  Just go slow and steady and make sure your breaks are good.  Also use your gears to slow down.  Enjoy the trip! 

HuCamp

Agree 100% with @bergger. The Tacoma can do it - just prepare for a slower pace and taking breaks to gas up! My Taco gets about 9 mpg while towing, uphill might be worse. You have the V6 in yours, yes?

BridgerSunset

As you probably know, the Beartooth Highway in altitude is similar to those numbers @bergger mentions.

While I have no experience with towing the T@B or towing with a Tacoma, I've been up the Beartooth dozens of times, and a few times with small campers & truck campers.  

There's a posted advisory on maximum length of your rig - I think it's somewhere around 45' overall.  This is because there are a lot of hairpin turns to negotiate.  Even pickup trucks alone must pay attention in some places.  (Guard rails have a lot of scrapes!)

It's a fairly narrow 2-lane paved highway with only limited pullouts; a handful will accommodate a TV/Trailer combo - so be advised if your transmission or coolant heats up, that you might need to pull over whenever you find one.  Summer means lots of tourists pulling over to photograph the Beartooths or mountain goats or make snowmen - so plan on competition for those pullouts.

It's a drive more spectacular than Yellowstone Park, but only for those who appreciate the ruggedness of it.

bergger

HuCamp said:

Agree 100% with @bergger. The Tacoma can do it - just prepare for a slower pace and taking breaks to gas up! My Taco gets about 9 mpg while towing, uphill might be worse. You have the V6 in yours, yes?

Yes your mpgs will suffer.  I always carry a spare can of gas when I do long trips out west as the stops can sometimes be far apart.  

Denny16

If your Tacoma has the V6 engine and factory tow package you should be fine. (the tow package gives you then transmission and oil coolers which you will need), as others have mentioned, go slow and take your time.  You can improve your right road experience and reduce suspension sway by adding the Tacoma Bilstein® shocks option, which is standard in the wheel drive Tacos.
cheers

Jbreunig

Thanks for all the comments.  I plan on giving it a try nice and slow and easy.  I have added a ScanGuage to my Tacoma so I can monitor the Transmission Fluid temp and the Engine Oil Temp.  It also shows percentage of Load on the engine.  Great little gauge to know how hard the truck is working.  Thanks

Denny16

If you do not have a transmission fluid and oil cooler, I would give this tip a miss.  Pulling steep grades with my Dakota truck (equipped with the engine/tranny coolers). and a TaB320 size cargo trailer up mountain passes from Idaho to Oregon and down to California put a strain on the engine and the tranny heated up, had to go slow (45 mph max) and stop to allow the tranny to cool.  This truck had the factory tow package with the coolers and was rated for 6,000 lbs.  I was towing around 4,000 lbs.
cheers

jkjenn

I took my 320 over the Beartooth Highway with my Grand Cherokee a couple of summers ago. I had no problems. Like any mountains, don't ride your brakes and you will be fine.

Denny16

Yes Jenn, but doesn’t your GC have the factory tow package with engine oil and tranny coolers?  I was referring to the OP not going if he didn’t have the coolers.
cheers

jkjenn

Denny16 said:

Yes Jenn, but doesn’t your GC have the factory tow package with engine oil and tranny coolers?  I was referring to the OP not going if he didn’t have the coolers.
cheers

I have also towed a smaller trailer over the Beartooth Mountains with Wrangler without a factory tow package. It isn't necessarily a straight up ascent like some roads; it winds its way a bit more gradually to the top. I have had more trouble towing on the plains, against a headwind, on a hot day.

If you look closely, you can see the road snaking through below 

Denny16

Thanks, good to know.  I was going by past experience on steeper grade accents.  A winding switchback road is more like the coast highway in California, for the most part gradual climbing and decent, with the occasional steep grade for a short distance (less than a 1/4 mile.
cheers