Towing capacity , tongue weight

Hello, new here, trying to buy a 2015 trd sport and wondering what is you all that own them experience with towing trailers? Specifically concerned about tongue weight , I have to pull a tandem axle car trailer with electric brakes about 4100 lbs. Not sure on the tongue weight ,as the car i tow comes relatively far up toward the truck.

 

Just mention the word tow and you could possibly open up the towing flood gates of hell. I will make this one statement then I'm out.... Before you are told a dozen times to get s bigger truck. I pull fairly often a 16 foot enclosed trailer with a Polaris ranger 900 crew and lots of rescue gear. The trailer is 1700 lbs the ranger is 2100 lbs and about 500 lbs of gear making it about 4300 lbs. my 2012 v6 auto long bed pulls it great. I did install a trailer brake controller and it does a great job. As far as your trailer you want about 400 lbs on the hitch, or about 1-2 inches of suspension drop. I think you will be very happy with that set up and can expect to loose 4-6 mpg with an open car trailer. Hope this helps. Nick

 

You want about 10% to a max of 15% of the tow weight on the tongue up to the max towing capacity of the truck. So if you are towing 4100 pounds you should have at least 410 pounds on the tongue to a max of 615 pounds if your truck is rated for that much.
http://www.gmc.com/trailering-towing/tongue-weight.html

 

you want about 10-15% tongue weight.

 

What they all have said....you are also getting up in the area where it would be nice to use a load equalizing hitch if you can't adjust the car on the trailer to give you the correct tongue weight (if you have too much tongue weight use the equalizing hitch). If you can move the car on the trailer you can adjust it front to back to get the correct tongue weight.

 

This looks about 10-15% tongue...

 

Check this link out.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/towing/4031-tacoma-towing-bible.html
You may be able to find someplace (CAT scale, DOT scale or even a junk yard that will let you use their scale for a small fee) that you can disconnect the trailer and check the tongue weight. Like the others said, 10-15%.
A WD hitch will help, as well as sway control. Make sure that your brake controller is set correctly.
Any questions or concerns on towing, definately refer to the towing bible and your owners manual.

 

10-15% for most trailers but NOT all. Boat trailers, with trailer axles much closer to the back of the trailer, rather than utility and travel trailers where axles are centered (front to rear) generally do better with 7 up to 10% tongue weight.

In OP situation with a car on the the trailer, may have to back it on the trailer if tongue weight is too high.

 

Tongue weight obviously increases as the car gets closer to hitch. You can measure the tongue weight with a tongue weight scale like this:

http://www.etrailer.com/Tools/Sherline/5780.html

http://www.sherline.com/lm.htm

I used this scale to determine the best position of my John Deere tractor on my car hauler trailer. Took some time, but I measured tongue weight with the tractor parked at different distances from the hitch to determine the best position without exceeding the tongue weight max.

There is a 1000lb version of the Sherline scale that is more accurate than the 2k version for the weights that we can tow.

 

I have a 2014 Tacoma Limited (comes w tow package) and tow a 2012 Jayco X213. The X213 weighs just under 5000 loaded with water and gear etc. I use a WD hitch and friction anti sway.

I did all the reading about "not enough truck" and "don't tow in the mountains". BS. I have towed Vancouver to Pemberton and Vancouver to Merritt (via the infamous Coquihalla Hwy). The truck as pulled BEAUTIFULLY. For most of the trip uphill in the mountains, I can maintain 90 km/hr (56 mph). On the 8.5% grade, I was down to 75km/hr. But so were most other trucks towing. Make sure drive in 4th, not Drive.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

Sorry, forgot to mention that the tongue weight with my X213 is about 560 lbs. I did have a 150 lb canopy on the truck and it did tow fine. However, I decided to reduce weight by switching to a 55 lb Bakflip G2 tonneau.

I use a Tekonsha Prodigy P1 brake controller. It works great. On another truck I had the P2. It was more hi-tech but tough to set up boost, etc.

The trailer is about 23 feet long. Factory weight is about 4300 lbs (measured with a full tank of propane. With water and gear, it tows at about 5000 lbs. TT GVW is 5500 lbs, same as the Tacoma.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

Not certain if i understand your 'tt gvw is 5500 lbs, same as the Tacoma' statement.
Per the owners and code on the drivers door sticker, the prerunner v6/tow, max is 6500 lbs., 650 tongue.

 

I have a 2005 Tacoma TRD Sport (comes w tow package) and tow a 2011 Hideout 19flb. The 19flb weighs just under 5000 loaded with water and gear etc. I use a WD hitch and friction anti sway.


You might also want to throw in a ScanGauge to watch transmission temps while you are towing.. or you might not, they have a tendency to drive you crazy..

 

He's referencing the gross vehicle weight rating, which is 5500/5400 depending on configuration.

 

Thanks KMitch.