New escape

[Ladywolfe]

Greetings, I am new here. I currently have a Northern Lite camper. I am planning on purchasing a new or used Escape either a 21 or 19. Within 2 years. I love my camper but cannot load it myself. The Escape is similar to the Northern Lite. Does anyone pull with a Tacoma?

Barbara

[Mike G]

A quick search for "Tacoma" turned up these members:

Mike Lewis
Chasing Trials
Red

There may be others.

[diannelgraham]

Originally Posted by Ladywolfe

Greetings, I am new here. I currently have a Northern Lite camper. I am planning on purchasing a new or used Escape either a 21 or 19. Within 2 years. I love my camper but cannot load it myself. The Escape is similar to the Northern Lite. Does anyone pull with a Tacoma?

Barbara

I pulled my 2017 19 foot with my 2016 Tacoma and currently tow my 2021 21C with the same truck. Can be slower going up high passes but the rest of the time It tows great. I have no reason or desire to upgrade my truck don't see any reason to do that.

[Chasing Trials]

Originally Posted by Ladywolfe

Greetings, I am new here. I currently have a Northern Lite camper. I am planning on purchasing a new or used Escape either a 21 or 19. Within 2 years. I love my camper but cannot load it myself. The Escape is similar to the Northern Lite. Does anyone pull with a Tacoma?

Barbara

I have had 3 Gen II Tacomas. My last is a 2014 PreRunner, bought to tow a E19(I'm single, so just decided to stay with the E19(ordered a new one). I use it as "just my truck" too. I have pulled my 2013 E19 about 10K in the last year & a half. Up & over Apps Mts. about 10 times(NC to Wis) & then from NC to NM. Has done fine, in strong winds & those Mts., but then I'm not going 65=70+, at my age, no hurry. It's gas tank is small & I did find it a problem out west, as I tried to use secondary roads, & sorry state of small towns in some places, with no gas stations. I had to go back on 40 with the Semi. Will carry gas, when I head out west again(picking up my new E19). I've owned F150s, E250, & the last F250(14 yrs). I'm tired of climbing into big trucks at my age. Why the Gen II too, Lower bed height yet, & I have a ($2K new)topper with side opening windows, kept wanting to move over. Some "say" Gen II tows better?

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by Chasing Trials

...It's gas tank is small & I did find it a problem out west, as I tried to use secondary roads, & sorry state of small towns in some places, with no gas stations. I had to go back on 40 with the Semi. Will carry gas, when I head out west again(picking up my new E19).

While our 2017 and 2019 Nissan Frontiers did a good job pulling our Rpod, which is significantly lighter than an E19, it struggled in the mountains out west but, like others have said, as long as you aren't in a hurry it's no big deal. The 20 gallon fuel capacity and poor mileage, however, produced "range anxiety" and had us carrying extra fuel which consumed valuable space in an already small bed.

[DanandDaphne]

Originally Posted by Chasing Trials

Some "say" Gen II tows better?

They are quite a bit heavier, I haven't heard that they tow better. Not sure how much heavier on the 19 but I sort of remember on the 5.0 it was almost a thousand pounds. Hopefully your Tacoma will continue to work well for you with the increased weight.

I would recommend a full size truck for all but the 17 but that's just my opinion having only ever owned the 5.0 and towing it with a 2002 Tundra. For where we live I feel it is just barely enough for the 5.0.

[Selkirk]

I just finished towing my brand new E19 about 1200km from Chilliwack to Calgary via the Crowsnest Highway using a manual-transmission 2014 Tacoma.

This was my first trip ever towing a trailer of this size/weight with my truck. The route consisted of several steep/twisty mountain passes with elevations ranging from sea level to over 1700m. The only real straight/flat section of the whole journey was the final 160km leg from Ft Macleod to Calgary. It wasn’t a white-knuckle experience, but I still found it challenging for a newbie.

I think the key to towing with a Tacoma is managing your expectations. I knew the trailer was behind me for every moment of the trip, but I never felt that the tail was wagging the dog. The Fastway E2 hitch seemed to work well. I didn’t hold up traffic too badly on the flat sections, nor on moderate grades. Heavy grades were another matter. I spent a lot of time pulling in 3rd and 4th gear….and even a couple of instances in 2nd while cresting the Alison and Kootenay passes. 100 more HP would have been very nice on those climbs.

Descent control wasn’t an issue, the manual transmission made it easy to engine brake going downhill. Stopping performance was also good when using the truck/trailer brakes.

Overall, I felt the 19 was at the limit of my truck’s capabilities. I don’t think I would have been comfortable making the same trip towing an E21.

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by Selkirk

I think the key to towing with a Tacoma is managing your expectations.

Some of the best advice out there. You will go far, Grasshopper.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Ladywolfe

Greetings, I am new here. I currently have a Northern Lite camper. I am planning on purchasing a new or used Escape either a 21 or 19. Within 2 years. I love my camper but cannot load it myself. The Escape is similar to the Northern Lite. Does anyone pull with a Tacoma?

Barbara

Hi: Ladywolfe... Here's a pic of our Escape 5.0TA w/ our former 4L V6 Frontier long bed, in Waterton Glacier International Peace Pk. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Chasing Trials]

Originally Posted by DanandDaphne

They are quite a bit heavier, I haven't heard that they tow better. Not sure how much heavier on the 19 but I sort of remember on the 5.0 it was almost a thousand pounds. Hopefully your Tacoma will continue to work well for you with the increased weight.

I would recommend a full size truck for all but the 17 but that's just my opinion having only ever owned the 5.0 and towing it with a 2002 Tundra. For where we live I feel it is just barely enough for the 5.0.

I was talking about Gen II Tacomas(2015 & earlier) towing a little better. I have been pulling a Classic E19 with my 2014 Prerunner with no problems to me, a slow driver. Always have been one, towing, as most of my towing past was my horses! So I know of the weight increase of the Gen E19. Why I stayed with the E19 when I could have gone to the E21 at that point of getting a new one. When I do have to up grade TV, I will go to the Tundra dragging my feet. I wish they would bring back the Old Tundra size. Loved it, but awful MPG. Owned one for a year.