Towing with Tacoma?

Hi All..........

After years of fishing out of a modified aluminum boat (15 1/2' Greggor) I
now have the time to fish more (retired) and can afford a larger more stable
boat. I am looking at something around 17'-18' in the Ranger line, but may
go with another brand if it seems right.

My real concern is my tow vehicle. I have a low miles 2000 Toyota Tacoma
4-WD PU and am concerned that one of these boats may be too heavy for my
truck. One of these rigs w/trailer must weigh in around 3000+ lbs and that
is probably near the limit for my Toyota, but I don't know that and am
looking for others with experience with towing boats of this class with
trucks similar to mine to offer their thoughts. I see that the trailers come
with surge brakes but will that be enough? I am a conservative driver with a
lot of towing experience through the years. I live in San Diego and mostly
fish locally, but will probably do some fishing in the Central Valley so
longer trips north are a possibility too.

I could go to a smaller boat but am hesitant to do this as the boat would
probably be less stable. I have to add that the stability issue is
important to me as I am balance challenged (no, not from too much beer ;-)
from a back surgery a few years ago that damaged some nerves in one of my
legs. So I really favor the 17-18 length.

I suppose the I could move up into a larger truck but with the cost of the
new boat doing a truck also would really hurt.

Any experience?

brian