Towing With my 3rd Gen! Advice and help request

5700 pounds is the heaviest I've got listed and that is AFTER adding 1500 pounds for gear, water, etc and I think 1500 pounds is way more than what we would put on the trailer. The water tanks full only add 315.4 LBS. The water tank is 38 gallons, 8.3 LBS a gallon is 315.4 pounds.

Basically what I'm saying is 5700# is the heaviest thing I've got on here and that is fully loaded... And that would be 700# less than max tow rating, on top of that I'd be towing in the flat lands of Texas, and my travel trailer would be one of the most aerodynamic travel trailers out there.

We will see. Math sounds great in my head but may end up being a different beast in practice. Time will tell.

 

You also have to add the weight of yourself and the other passengers into the equation!

 

We did that earlier, payload is 1000#. My wife, and I are about 300# children are less than 100 pounds together. Plus car seats, still under.

 

My 20-footer Jayco weighs 3900lbs, and we have a lot of extra gear, including larger water tanks, solar panels etc. the truck does fine even here in the mountain states. The one thing you will notice is gas mileage (bring extra), and higher RPM’s (drop it into S 4th if you have an AT). Also get a good weight distribution/anti-sway hitch and you’ll do fine.

 

I don't want to discourage you or tell you what to do but that math doesn't really work. If your family is 400 pounds combined that leaves you with 600 pounds of payload. The manufacturer used 11% for tongue weight so we'll use that same thing. Let's say you only load the trailer to 5K not the full 5700. At 11% you're at 550 pounds of tongue weight and add at least another 50 for the WDH and you're at 600 pounds.

That 600 pounds plus your family and you're at the limit. That means any thing at all puts you over it. Again you can probably get away with that but its up to you if you're comfortable being over payload in all likelihood. I get not wanting to step up to a bigger truck and still getting the biggest trailer possible. Lots of guys go over payload and get a away with it.

I did 4 times over the weekend but was only going 2 miles on backroads. I could for sure tell that weight was back there. In the end it's all about having a good time and truly hope you and your family do. Makes for great memories.

 

You be fine. Proper WDH with sway control and brake controller it will tow like a dream. Nice trailer choice btw @4x4erik

 

Thanks for the advice. You are absolutely right, I was not taking tongue weight into my payload. Basically, the lighter options I have on here are good to go, the heavier option is teetering on overweight if I have a full 1500 pounds of water, gear, etc. Thank you for the clarification.

I'll probably end up going with one of the lighter options.

We will see when I run a couple test setups.

To be clear, 5700 pounds is dry weight plus 1500 pounds, on the heaviest setup option I have here.

 

What's the dry weight on your trailer? Thanks for the input, I really like these Travel light Trailers. Wish the Tacoma could haul a little more, but I like the size of the Tacoma for the day to day.

 

Keystone Hideout 19FLB 4200lbs dry ~5000lbs on the way to the campsite.
eq hitch, brake controller, SGII for trans temps, friction-sway, MFC Fuel can, s-mode and ECT.
Tows fine, 1000km back and forth across BC last summer.

 

Man that thing is really dragging ass.

 

Dry weight is 3800. I hauled a full tank of fresh water (50 gallon) this weekend and noticed a bit of difference but generally the WDH does a good job of sorting it out. Allows nice even power delivery. Brake controller is also on one of its lowest settings too.
Edit- cruising at 100 km/h is a bit of work if you want to be up there but I find 90 is the sweet spot (manual trans)

 

Airbags incoming..

 

There are a couple of factors I haven't really seen discussed much, i.e. distance you plane to travel and the terrain or geography where you'll be. Paved highway only or some dirt/gravel? Prairie and mild hills or the continental divide trail? Short weekend trips to the local lake or extended routes (weeks or months)? I have an all aluminum square drop that weighs 1,260 dry. My wife and I are under 300 lbs. and we don't over pack. But I can still feel the trailer, especially the wind load and MPG really drops, especially in mountains. I don't know how you guys pulling 4,000 lbs. + stand it.

 

When i had my 01 4.7 tundra, i towed a triton 2 place enclosed snowmobile with 2 sleds inside and 1 in the bed of the truck 500 miles to quebec and back doing 75+mph without much of issue, and toyota rated that truck to tow less that these v6 tacoma's....go figure. All i had to do is wire it for the brake controller, and electric trailer brakes. That 4.7 v8, and rest of drivetrain was one of the sweetest combinations i've driven with.

 

This have briefly been discussed in passing. I will be in the flat lands of Texas, but may tow to New Mexico (still flat) and possibly to Nevada, maybe once or so a year. It's primary use will be short trips to lakes. Less than 2 hour road trips.

As far as you feeling your trailer, I had a 2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax 4x4 as my last pickup. I owned a flat bed trailer for the toys, and consistantly traveled with 2 dirt bikes and a bunch of gear on it. I also had an 18" Bayliner Capri that I towed regularly. I never had a moment where I "couldn't feel the trailer". Ever. I've pulled my dad's 26' pontoon boat with his 2011 Ram 2500, many times, and I still feel the trailer. I had a 1998 Ford Ranger and used to pull my 24' enclosed trailer, I definitly felt that trailer.

Towing is not like driving without a trailer. It is easier with some trucks, for sure, but at the end of the day it's more stressful, ride is not as comfortable, etc. I think the idea of "I definitly felt the trailer in my Tacoma" is a common thread in this thread. (Pun intended) and I just think it's important to realize that towing is towing. No matter what you drive. Haha! Carry on. Sorry about the tangent.

 

Haha I agree, those Tundras were great. Also, the Titans were a beast of a machine as well.

Honestly, I think many people expect to be able to tow at 75-80 miles an hour comfortably. I just don't. I don't think travel trailers are designed to do that. Many of the trailer tires are NOT designed to do that, especially boat trailers, people still do, but they are not designed for it.

Now, that doesn't mean you can't do it. I used to pull an old 24' Pontoon boat with a Nissan Titan at 80 mph. It was fine, but honestly I don't think it was intended to be that way.

 

I get it; been towing for 40 years--heavy, light and everything in between. I just worry about the strain on the little engines and lightweight chassis these Tacomas have. It perplexes me that they have about the lightest payload rating in their class but a seemingly enormous towing capacity. Others have mentioned the difference between what you can do and what is practical. For your use case I'm sure you'll be fine. (I'm in Texas too, btw.)

 

It has the lowest towing capacity in it's class though, doesn't it? The Ford Ranger has a 7500 towing capacity. GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado are 7700#. Obviously, only when properly equipped. I think the link posted earlier to how they come up with towing capacities and the J2807 test is wildly interesting. It takes the guess work out of things. My Tacoma as equipped can safely handle 6400 pounds towing. Now, is that a comfortable weight? Maybe not. It can do it safely, though.

http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/towing/1502-sae-j2807-tow-tests-the-standard/


I think it totally makes sense the new mid size trucks can tow upwards of 6000 pounds. My old extended cab 1998 Ford Ranger 4x4 was rated at 3400 pounds max towing capacity, I think, but those trucks were tiny in comparison to my current Tacoma. I was so shocked when I was looking for a truck, I was dead set on getting an F150, Silverado, or a Sierra, until I sat in the new Ford Ranger. Me and my wife were like "This is oddly roomy inside!" Then, we went and looked at a Tacoma, and I was sold. I started looking for one. The 8 cup holders in the front seat definitly had something to do with it. Yes, I am calling the odd square thing in the center console a cup holder. Point is, the trucks are huge in comparison to their predecessors! Also, the HP and Torque numbers are huge in comparison as well.

 

I think so too. Tbh I am thinking one of the lighter options from Travel Lite will be the winner. The 24ft Falcon 24RBK is only 3775 Dry, and the other one I'm looking at is the Falcon 23TH which only weighs 3125 dry, and I could put my dirt bikes in it.

 

Picked this up on Friday. 377 pound hitch weight (dry) 3097 pounds (also dry) pulled it about 120 miles 1600 feet in elevation gain. And it pulled great (noticable on the bigger hills obviously) got a WDH and trailer break controller...