Upgrading Travel Trailer

sechsgang, I appreciate your input. This is my third camper so I'm not a complete newb to towing. You are right that the payload and the tounge rating on the Tacoma is the acheles heel for towing a TT near the tow rating. Not to mention the shorter wheelbase. Is there a larger truck in my future? Absolutely when the lease on this one is up. For now I am comfortable with how everything handled and owe that to the WD Hitch. I was already aware that we wouldn't have much payload left to put anything in the bed and I'm OK with that.

A trip to the scales is the only way to be sure I'm within ratings. It is on my to do list.

Here's how I see it even before the mysteries of how the hitch distributes the weight.

Payload of the truck is 1395
subtract 800 (a guestemate) on the tounge is 595
subtract my family 580 leaves a whopping 15 pounds.

Tight yes. Now add back in the mysterious action of the WDH. Using your guestemate based on the photo (133lbs) and I'm 148 pounds from going over my payload. Again tounge rating is the killer. Using our made up numbers, 800 minus the transfered weight to the trailer, 133 equals 667 lbs. Thats 17 lbs over and I can live with that.

As far as gcvwr I'm over by 190 lbs IF the TT is loaded to it's max of 5940 lbs. I'd be suprised if we have more than 500 lbs of stuff in there in travel mode. Some say 1000 lbs of stuff is a good average for what people put in a TT. So lets take the larger average 1000 lbs and add it to the delivered weight of the TT, 4160 and we get 5160.

11100 gcvwr
minus 5160 and the truck's maxed out 5350 gvwr
leaves me 290 lbs under.

Bottom line... I appreciate your input and know you are trying to help. We knew going into this that I am close, but confident I am under the ratings.

The only way to tell will be to weigh it.

 

afob, not to keep this going, but you forgot the weight of the WDH itself (80-100 lbs or so), and I think the WD does not really reduce the tongue weight. Some manufacturers spec two different numbers, but Toyota doesn't, and our 650lbs assumes WD.
So I believe with the assumption of an 800lbs tongue weight, you are about 250lbs (or close to 40%) over the limit.

The real big problem is liability and your insurance in case something goes wrong, even if an accident was technicallly not your fault.
Hey, stay safe and drive carefully with that rig before you upgrade the truck. It's yours and your families safety.

 

Good news... Well sorta...

Tounge weight is less than we thought. (Used the bathroom scale setup widely recognized on some other rv forums. It's incredibly easy to do & pretty accurate.)

Weight without the WD hitch is 735.
I attached the ball right to the coupler and added my bars and it jumped up to 780.
The WDH has gotta help there some since every other hitch receiver I have ever seen recognizes a larger rating with WDH. This is the acheles heel.

More good news... Real weight of Family is 480. I over estimated myself and my wife - please don't tell her Do you know how hard it is to slip, "How much do you weight?" into a conversation without getting something thrown at you?

Even better news... We are looking at full size SUVs and Trucks but don't feel like we need to cancel any of our short local trips.

 

Good to hear. I'm thinking about full size as well and out TT is 3870 on weighed on a local cat scale. My tongue is 550 using bathroom scale method and my total GVWR is like 8900 as weighed as one unit at the scales.

Power isn't the problem, I would like the wider stance of the full size to improve stability. Adding a little more weight via a heavier tow vehicle won't hurt either.

 

Yeah, I am looking at full size trucks as well, especially for the payload. I would like to be able to just throw firewood, dirty cooler, toys, bikes, camping gear after a rain storm in the truck bed instead of having to put everything in the trailer.
The 2012 F150 sounds good, as they will start offering the HD payload package for the 4x4 supercrew cab starting in 2012. 2,360 lbs payload, pretty much twice that of my Tacoma.
Unfortunately, while our Taco's can *theoretically* tow these TT's, it is in my opinion not practical with a family of 4 and camping gear in the long run. I am at the limit with the people in the truck and the camper connected. NOTHING I could theoretically put in the bed. That is no fun, really.

Afob, good to hear. Still, your tongue weight is >800lbs with the hitch. Yeah, you know, those few short trips, I kinda agree, but it's not a long term and *fun* solution. I thought different at first as well, but after three trips with that trailer, and three stops at the scales I have been convinced otherwise. As fajitas says, the power is not *really* the problem, but I am sure the 365hp of the F150 and 420ft-lbs of torque will come in handy, especially since all that comes with essentially the same fuel consumption, probably even better while towing (I get 160-170 miles out of a tank towing at 65mph. )

Afob, let us know what you get at the scales if you ever weigh your rig! I'd be extremely surprised if you'd be happy with those numbers!

 

I did say power isn't the issue, but I do think we both agree we wouldn't complain if we had more!!!!!!!!!

I want 400+ ft lbs....

Gonna get it...wife gonna be pissed...don't care.

 

Problem Solved....

Traded the Taco in on a 11 F150 SuperCrew with the Ecoboost and max tow package. Only problem now is waiting for the recomended 1000 miles to pass before towing.

This is the only pic I have of it so far since it has been raining since we brought it home on Monday.

 

you, you, you .... I just don't know what to say besides .... congrats!

I think you made the right choice for your trailer.

 

I actually traded my truck in too for a 2011 Silverado. I love the fords too but dad sells Chevys so I got a deal I can't beat.

I love the Ecoboosts. Congrats on the new truck, it will pull the mess out of your trailer.

 

im sorry tundra ftw when it come to halfton truck and im a chevy guy at heart...nice trailer though

 

The Tundra lacks the payload needed to support the tongue load of a TT plus camping gear / people in most cases, unfortunately.

 

Damn! How you like the Ecoboost? I've heard mixed reviews and am really curious how it does towing!

 

I test drove it, and it was impressive.
I think I'll end up going the same route. If I do, I'll add the HD payload package, though, to have 2,340 lbs available with the super crew cab 4WD.
Afob, what does the payload rating sticker in your door jamb say it is with the max tow package you got?

 

I'm honestly a Toyota guy. This is my first domestic truck, I didn't like the Tundras. Dad sells Chevy, pretty much made my decision.

I dig the F150's as well. My Father in Law has a 2006 and it pulls like a champ still. Good Truck IMO.

As a side note, Chevy is working on an LF3 engine, which is a 3.0L v6 + Twin Turbos on their EcoTec engine to do a EcoBoost clone. I personally don't care who did it first, competition will hopefully dictate in a few years on who did it best.

Either way, Ford and Chevy likers will win, as the TT V6 wars start