I'm freaking out about a trailer I bought!!! Thoughts/comfort on towing please lol

I'm big on getting out for a couple months a year and traveling around. This will be my first attempt at a DIY camper build (solar, shower, stove, fridge, AC and so on) from an enclosed trailer (I've traveled in a motorhome and done a DIY step van build I traveled in) and this one fit pretty much everything I wanted as follows:

100 sqft (roughly)
Dual axle
V-nose
All aluminum
Screwless sides
Flat roof (for ease of mounting solar and such)
Tube walls (instead of z or channel or top hat style)
Super low (for a 7x14) 1,550 curb weight

Things I wished it had or need to do:

Diamond plate aluminum floor
Spring over axle
Roof rack
I wish the belly were covered
I wish the wheels were flush with the trailer


Wow though, the MPG...ouch!!! I normally get 19mpg, on the way up to get the trailer I got 17mpg because I was doing 85mph the entire way. I tried doing 75mph towing on the way home (in 4 not D) and that dropped me to 7.8mpg, I eased the speed some and got 10.5mpg doing 60mph the rest of the way.

I will however say that I'm kinda freaking out after towing it home, I know it's like pulling a parachute but I'm used to towing with a F-250 so the Tacoma felt small to me. I'm going to add roughly 3,000 to it so I will tome in at 4,500 and I have the tow package, I'll add a leaf to the rear, a weight distributing hitch, brake controller and so on. All the same, the Tacoma seemed soooo little with this thing behind it.

Also, I ended up getting it for $4,000, I haven't bought many enclosed trailers and couldn't find many like it locally so I don't have a frame of reference and don't know how to feel about the price.

Thoughts, input, ideals, opinions, criticisms?

 

That ARB bull bar adds like +759 HP so you’re good.

 

You have a ARB bumper up front and when that trailer is done with the tongue weight you'll be close if not over your GVWR. I know 4500# is well below what Toyota says it'll do but that'll be pushing the realistic limit. Read this.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/

 

You are gonna want a Tundra. I hate to say it, but you are not ever going to relax towing that trailer.

If you were a contractor working around town at less than 40mph speeds, it would work OK.

 

I think this is spot on. 6500# is the limit for these trucks pulling a Uhaul across town or a boat 10 miles to the launch. Long hauling of heavy loads is no fun. The most I’ve towed with mine is 3800 lbs and it was a true hand full. I think the lack of weight in the rear (plastic bed) makes it all too easy for a trailer to push these trucks around if your not dialed in with your tongue weight. When I loaded trailers with my old Chevy 1500, it barely cared about weight distribution in the Trailer. This truck does.

 

I have a similar size enclosed trailer with a single axle, and even my 4.7 Tundra feels a bit strained at times pulling it, especially up hills. No way I'd try to tow it with my Tacoma.

The only thing I tow with the Tacoma is a 5x8 mesh floor trailer with a riding lawnmower.

 

I'm not one to defend my plans if they're ill advised and I'm certainly willing to adjust them if safety is an issue however these seem to be more user or comfort level based than empirical data relating to the trucks abilities and so on. I should have clarified that by "freaked out" my concern is mostly blowing up my truck than my own comfort level driving it. I very well may put 10,000 miles on it over the course of two-three months and I may do that yearly for that matter so I just want to know I'm not going to murder the truck doing it. I will be also be adding an additional double pass heat sink style cooler along with the stock trans cooler.

For a frame of reference comfort level wise last year I spent 5 weeks and 6,000 miles traveling in this, fully loaded, through the mountain passes of Colorado (11,000 ft elevation in the rain) as well as doing 75 on open roads and navigating downtown Minneapolis (and Milwaukee) for a week while staying there and it was well within my comfort zone even sober and with 3 kids bickering the entire time.

 

Adjusting your receiver height and leveling the trailer should help a bit. With it angled up in the front the aerodynamic hit is a little worse(although don’t angle it down either)
Having said that - if it were me, I would go to a full size truck if towing that size trailer on a regular basis.

 

Towing is fine just not mpg. You just need the proper setup. Weight distribution sway system and bags or in my case Dakar leafs

 

A motor home pulling a trailer smaller than what your planning on pulling with your Tacoma is not a fair approximation. I just pulled this 520 miles Thanksgiving weekend. 3000# w/electric brakes and a WDH.

My truck is a 4X4 AC with factory towing package. This is the largest I would go!
Oh, and you WILL need electric brakes.

 

Do you know your weights? And I'm just curious if you're in that 10mpg range as well? Have you dealt with many inclines? I'm certainly going to be adding all the needed items to make certain I'm in good shape for towing and the trans in happy.

 

Yep. 10MPG

 

How about adding a supercharger? or for same money, just upgrade to a tundra. You will be getting the same mpg in either rig. most likely better in the tundra.

 

If you watch TFL trucks on YouTube the tundra actually did worse on fuel economy

 

Trailer is 4600 empty. Packed probably around 5K. Definitely around 10nog. Only mod left to do is upgrade the trans cooler. I put a fan on the factory one for traffic.

 

I already own an F-250 with a 4:10 rear end and granny gear that I could pull a house with but it isn't the same kind of truck. No way I can tow this trailer 2,500 miles to a camp site then go offroading in the Ford and fit into some of the tiny places I want to get to. If I were going to get a bigger truck (or use my Ford) I would just buy a 40' gooseneck Featherlite and be done with it but then it wouldn't be the same type of stealth camping and getting to the same places I'm wanting to go.

 

I wouldn’t want to be pulling that across Wyoming during there daily windstorms with a little Tacoma.
Sure it’s rated to tow it weight wise. But to handle it in challenging conditions will be a white knuckle event.

 

I agree wholeheartedly, the tundra sucks in the trails. I take the Tacoma off road.

 

https://youtu.be/UVC-JZ-5i2Y

Yeah I was watching this, I wouldn't run my truck that hard but I've done that pass (actually in the motorhome setup you see above) and know it's tough on a rig. It's just so tough to gauge because you got those guys doing it and saying it's fine with even more weight than I would run and then you have people saying they wouldn't tow anything over a lawnmower, arrrrrrrg, asking questions online adds two questions for every one it answers!! I've driven a semi so this pint size trailer and mini truck aren't a stress for me I just don't want to be coining phrases like "I'd like an oil change and a transmission please".

Seems like the two issues are 1) can I stop it and 2) is it within my comfort level. I'm at 75% of the max towing capacity so I'm fairly comfortable with that and I'm comfortable with it so I think the conclusion is I'm sane and safe here, well, I'm safe here.

 

I have a 2000 tundra v8 and a tacoma 4x4. If you look at the specs, both trucks weigh the same at 4100lbs. The tacoma has 10 less hp than the v8 tundra. My Tacoma pulls just as good as the tundra. I put an oversize trans cooler,

$197 Derale 52506 25 Row Core Stacked Plate Cooler Kit , Black

Derale 52506 that gave me a solid 30 degree temperature drop while towing my 5K lb travel travel trailer. I also have air bags on the rear. The best money you can spend for towing is a scan gauge to monitor your trans temps. You are killing your trans pulling those hills in the mountains.