Should have bought a half ton

Just got back from pulling my boat out and towing it back to the house for pressure washing and storage for the winter. A buddy came with me that helped...very impressed with the taco as he's heard much bs about them. This truck had 0 issues especially when backing up the trailer in the boat launch as its very tight. The backup camera is really nice to have compared to straining your neck on my old tundra. All in all i piece of cake. For the most part i used the s4 mode with the ect on for the windy secondary roads, then occasionally slipping it in s5 on the flatter sections of the main highway. With a couple hundred lbs. on the trucks tail it rode pretty good. Handling was great, better than the tundra.

 

Depending what your towing and the grade roads i didn't have any issues going to s5 at times...truck pulled my 2k lb boat just fine at 55-60 mph. I could of even gone faster but 55 was the highway's posted speed limit.

 

X2 on the 2lo mod, a game changer.

 

its a 176, I really like the bunk beds, and the kitchen is the slide out but I think the next one I get will have a different layout. The wraparound dinette will fit 4 adults but you have to squeeze by the table which makes it awkward for drinking/card games.

I forget which model but I like the idea of the couch/dinette being the slide out.

 

Thats unfortunate. Maybe your auto trans has something to do with the hunting?... they can hunt even unloaded. Do you have the up to date TSB s?

I tow this well enough. 3900 + lbs. Proper hitches make all the difference

 

I think (could be wrong) most towing speed-limits are attached to weight. So a towing-speed limit doesn't kick in unless the vehicle/trailer exceeds 10,000 - 14,000 lbs. Except for California. Any vehicle with any trailer is limted to 50 or 55mph.

My truck weighs 4,000 lbs. My trailer is 1,500 lbs - 5,500 lbs (give or take) putting me well below the trailer speed limit regulation cut-off

 

Its not an actual atkinson cycle engine right. The 3.5L simulates by leaving intake vavle open during a compression stroke. It switches to full otto when engine is under load.

 

There is a strongly suggested limit in the owners manual.

 

I disagree. Common sense and here in Cali is mostly 65mph freeways and people still do 75+mph. I can only imagine how fast some drivers are actually going where you live.

 

Oh for sure with CA traffic! Thankfully cars are safer these days. My observation on I-90 is that cars set their cruise control at 80 or slightly over it, and I'm not talking about towing. The State Patrol pulls people over at 90.

 

I have not seen one in a hard side, but if there is one I highly recommend the "J" dinette. It's super efficient for the small space and comfortably seats 5, or uncomfortably 6.



Here's a fun little article. It reviews varying designs seen in popup campers, but the dinette portion applies to all small campers.

https://robertssales.com/articles_tutorials/not_all_dinettes_are_created_equal.html

 

Huh. Reading those instructions for backing up... it seems I've been doing it wrong for the past 43 years. I have never gripped the wheel at the bottom. I just flat palm it at the top and just back the trailer up. After all these years I don't even have to think about it... the trailer just goes where I need it to go. Little biddy short trailers are a PITA to back up though.

 

Just because it can, doesn't mean it is perfect. TFL Truck showed the difference in one of their videos. They towed a Corvette on a flatbed behind an F150 and behind the Colorado Duramax. The trailer weight was about 5600 lbs, well within the ratings of both vehicles. The Colorado experience was not very comfortable compared to the F150.

 

Small trailers are the _worst_. Especially when they're heavy, and its muddy....

 

That's nice! I was just looking at that J dinette in a Rockwood.

 

That picture makes me miss my old jayco pop up. So much more room inside.

here is my config, you can see what I mean about having to squeeze by. Although it does make for less cleanup at festivals or events since your trailer doesn’t turn into the party one!

 

After further thought, I think the idea behind gripping it at the bottom is to make it more difficult to oversteer/overcorrect. Its easy to may way too big of corrections the other ways, but holding it at the bottom limits your range of motion.

Its a theory anyway.

 

(EDIT) I do like the booth on the back as you've got windows all on three sides around it.

 

Yeah I see what you mean. I see the logic behind that floorplan (especially if you have kids), but definitely not a layout I would choose.

 

Please do tell this story. Pics will help to