3820 dry weight on HTT, now what?

I have a 2012 Tacoma DBL cab with factory tow package, got a brake controller installed and the hybrid travel trailer (HTT) we just bought came with a weight distribution hitch, the HTT is a Forest River Zepplin 2006 EZ190, paperwork that came with it says 3820 lbs dry. Was able to tow is from Schenectady to Plattsburgh (2hrs) without too much concern, but it did take a full tank of gas! the camper is about 21 feet long, two axles. My questions are:
1. will that 'dry weight' include the stove/AC/microwave/fridge?
2. should I be concerned that adding propane, bedding, food, water to 45 gallon tank,etc. make the trailer too heavy? I kind of don't think so considering the 6500 lbs capacity as per the manual.
3. would the 6500 lbs include passengers in the vehicle and stuff in the bed of the truck? I kind of don't think so but want to double check.
4. what is the deal with tongue weight, is that the same as 'hitch weight' in the brochure for the camper? how concerned should i be with tongue weight?

we are new to towing and having a camper, any help on the forum will be greatly appreciated!

 

1. Yes
2. As long as it's not more that 2700 pounds of weight that your adding
3. No. GCWR is ~11k pounds
4. Yes tongue weight = hitch weight. Taco with towing package has 640lb tongue load capacity

 

Welcome to TW btw!

 

appreciate the fast response, awesome! So if I understand everything so far, with the combined weight of 11k, the 2012 tacoma 4x4 dbl cab with tow package weight plus a fuller loaded camper needs to be under the 11k lbs. I will check on the tongue weight of the camper too.

 

You're within the specs dry, and seem to have a bunch of slack left over to load it with cargo.

Published dry weights for trailers probably aren't as accurate as you would like. The best thing for you to do with respect to the trailer dry weight, is to get it weighed. In fact, it would probably be a good idea to weight it dry AND weight it "prepped to go". This will give you a much better idea about how much your cargo weighs and an idea how much you can really load into it. Weight adds up fast when you're dealing with fluids like water and propane!

The 6500 pound trailer weight is not dependent on the truck's load (passengers, cargo), however, the tongue weight (aka "hitch weight") IS. Look at the truck's payload capacity, from that SUBTRACT the TONGUE WEIGHT to determine your remaining payload capacity (passengers, fuel, cargo). The tongue weight is not supposed to exceed 650 pounds on Tacoma. Assuming that your tongue weight is maxed out, and your truck's payload capacity is 1200 pounds, that only leaves 550 pounds for fuel, passengers, and cargo. I'm sure you can realize just how easy that would be to use up.

Tandem axle trailer tongue weight should not be less than 9% of the total trailer weight, should not exceed 15% or 650 pounds, whichever you hit first. Within these constraints, you can adjust the tongue weight by moving weight front to back in the trailer. When in doubt, its better to put too much weight on the tongue than not enough.

Yes, fuel consumption hauling something like that will be TERRIBLE. This is because you're hauling a massive air dam. The only advice I can give you on this is to SLOW DOWN. Fuel consumption increases exponentially with speed. Dropping your speed by 10 km/h could reduce your fuel consumption by 25%, or even more, depending on how fast you usually drive.

 

Correct. Depending on where your going camping, I would try and leave your fresh water tank empty.

 

I thought payload is 1430 for v6?

 

That's correct for a PreRunner. 4x4 equipment eats into that and knocks it down to 1295lbs

 

It doesn't matter what the truck payload really is, in each case, the vehicle owner should familiarize himself with his own specific vehicle and options.

Some prerunners have a capacity of over 3/4 ton (1500 pounds).

 

That's not true, as with 6,500 lbs behind you, you'll go really quickly over the GCWR of 11K lbs if you load up the truck. A double cab 4x4 weighs around 4,200 lbs empty. 4,200+6,500 = 10,700lbs. That really just leaves room for a 150 - 200lbs driver and nothing else once you consider small stuff here and there that everybody normally adds.
But I agree with you that for the OP, the payload / GVWR will most likely be the limiting factor.

 

+1 with a small fix.

While the towing rating is 6400/6500, the first response nailed it with the "additional" 2700lbs...

Depending on the model of Tacoma, you may exceed GCVWR with less than 5900lbs in tow.
As mentioned, best way to be sure is to pull the rig onto a scale and weigh it road-ready.


Water adds a lot of weight... 45 gallons water tank is over 350 pounds, and it is normally ahead of the axle.
Most people I know travel empty and fill the tank at the campground or the nearest place to the campground where potable water is available.

 

Go back and read the question I was responding to, and then re-read my answer to it.

 

People should remember tongue weight is part of payload allowance.

 

Your answer is still incorrect, because the GCVWR will be exceeded with a 6500lb trailer and a truck loaded to it's GVWR.

You can easily bump into the GCVWR with the trailer as low as 5600.

 

Maybe we have a different interpretation of the question and answer, but I still think what you said is incorrect, sorry.

 

The question was:

The answer is NO, the truck's payload capacity is independent of the trailer's total weight. Only the TONGUE weight would impact the vehicle's payload.

I.e., VEHICLE LOAD = passengers + cargo + fuel + tongue weight.


What he is asking is very simple: he wants to know if he should observe the following relation:

passengers + cargo + fuel + trailerGVW < 6500.

No.

He needs to observe this;
(passengers + cargo + fuel + tongue weight < truckPayloadCap AND trailerTotalWeight < truckTrailerCap).

More clear?

 

Here's a good guide. Tacoma info at bottom of page 2.

http://mediap04.toyota.ca/media/pdf/09towing_guide_e.pdf