Gen 3 Towing Thread

Obviously, the biggest difference between pulling a boat and a TT is the wind resistance. We have a 28' fifth wheel that we pull with a Ford F-250 Super Duty crew cab long box and the wind is the largest variable factor in fuel mileage an performance. The boat? Not so much.

Our boat is a 21' deck boat on a tandem axle trailer. The trailer has very good surge brakes and I've installed the largest trans. cooler I could fit in the space available on the Taco. The tongue weight is such that the Taco rear sag is not distinct enough for me to install bags or a Sumo Springs set-up. I would estimate no more that between 2"-3". My wife pulls the boat and she's very sketchy regarding stability at highway speeds (I pull the camper and she pulls the boat) and she's very comfortable pulling the boat at speeds up to 70 MPH. All our towing is on flatland. The mountains might present a different scenario.

 

My experience: towing a ~5,000lb boat on a decent tandem axle trailer feels nicer/more stable, and gets significantly better gas mileage than a travel trailer that weighs ~3,200.

 

Couldn't agree more, Fred.

 

It is all about the Fluid Dynamics:

Air is a fluid and follows similar laws to water since well, (obviously) water is also a fluid.

Boats are designed to efficiently pass through fluids, therefore, they also pass efficiently through air.

That is one of the major reasons why a someone that tows a 5,500 lb boat with no issue might not understand why someone towing a similar weight camper would have a different experience.

As pointed out already, the frontal area (drag) is also a major factor and is why manufactures that design trucks for towing have frontal area requirements that should not be exceeded. Boats are designed to "cut through the water" (or air). Big, boxy campers with frontal areas and the drag coefficient of a barn aren't.

Weight is but one of several factors that impact the towing experience.

 

Did you use a weight distribution hitch? I need to pick up a 3300 lb Jeep on a car carrier, should be in the 4300 lb range with 600 lb tongue weight. I have Deaver U402 stage 1 springs.

EDIT: I just remembered I have no electric brake controller so I will borrow my friend's Ford after all.

 

I found that out going downhill with a 5100 lb trailer. You hit terminal velocity fairly quickly. Was wondering about brakes down a long hill, but the trailer is a drag chute that keeps the truck from going too fast. It was kind of funny actually. I had to use the gas pedal to maintain speed going downhill.

 

I've def. experienced that but also had it push me down pretty fast as well. Coming down the west side of Mt. Hood for instance it wants to keep pushing me faster. I just drop it into 3rd and only touch the brake occasionally

 

bigbear1612 said: I just went over Wolfcreek Pass in Colorado 15,500 feet towing my 4400 lb TT

Wolfcreek pass is 10,856 feet. Not 15,500. Not sure which planet this Wolfcreek Pass was on, but no Earth.

 

Couldn't get the MT into 1st gear on the ramp to pull the 19' ~3500 boat+trailer out of Table Rock Lake. I had to drop it into 4Lo. The ramp had three sharp S-curves and the only way out was keeping it in 4Lo for ~250 yards. I made the turns as gradually as possible, and nothing bad happened with the drivetrain.

So what exactly are the risks and limits of 4Lo on pavement when towing up steep ramps and then backing the boat up my steep(ish) driveway?

Unfortunately the 3rd Gen 6MT lacks a plug-n-play 2Lo mod like 2nd Gens :_(

nota bene:

• Single axle trailer
• Modest Bilstein lift
• 265/75R16 Wildpeaks

 

This should help you out.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2lo-plug-play-harness-discussion.592035/#post-19804423

 

Like @RushT said above. The 2lo harness is the solution. I have it and use it for what you're talking about all the time.

 

Towing newbie here. Just got my first trailer and had my first towing experience (approx 250 miles RT, included highway and 6-7% grades up and down). Overall the experience was fine. The engine never seemed stressed out. MPG didn't take a huge hit as I kept it 55-60mph (I know my and my trucks limits....plus no brake controller installed yet and the tires are different brands/psi ratings which sketched me out). I was around 14 mpg.

The rear is definitely sagging, and feels soooo soft when I lower the trailer on the hitch. I don't like that. And then while towing at lower speeds there was definitely a good deal of bouncing/porpoising. Also don't like that.

Obviously I need to get a brake controller and new trailer tires asap. And I think I'll go with the Anderson WDH route to aid with the sag and also to provide the necessary safety/stability/comfort I'm looking for as the majority of my towing will occur on winding hilly coastal CA roads and in the Sierras. I understand WDH's may be overkill for a trailer that's only 2400#'s empty, but I think it's probably the right first step in my case....to help with sag and stability in my terrain, where simple sway control bar alone may be problematic.

If the WDH alone doesn'[t resolve my sagging issues, I'll look into helper springs. Open to suggestions on that approach.

 

@dubschweezy What is the weight of that trailer? I would expect a WDH to completely address the sag

 

Length is 17' and 2400 lbs when empty. Maybe I'll be in the 3200 range when fully loaded.

 

My Tab400 is over 3500lbs loaded. No WDH or sway control. Truck bed loaded with extra water, firewood, generator and other gear.
No sag.
These trucks don’t have enough springs in them to hold any load. They are made for comfort. Lol.

 

I brought my Apex Nano 208BHS camper trailer (around 4000lb dry) in to get new tires a couple days ago, and since it was a short drive of only about 10 minutes to get to Discount Tire, I thought I'd be lazy and see how it does without the weight-distributing/sway bars on. I didn't want to have to go down-up-down before and after to get the bars on as my hitch lift is slow as molasses, and I expected I'd have to move it around or back it in to a spot there for them to work on it, which was true, and that would also require me to remove and then reinstall the bars as well.

I have stock suspension EXCEPT I replaced my stock bump stops with the black SumoSprings. I've put the camper on with all its weight in the past before the Sumos and it sagged like crazy. It looked nearly bottomed out in the back and the front way up of course. Using the WDH with bars does completely solve this problem when it's used and even with the stock suspension it was level after hooking up, just to point that out.

BUT with the SumoSprings in there now, I was able to fully put the weight of the camper on my hitch with no WD bars and only had a very minimal amount of sag in the rear. I drove it down to DT and it behaved very well. There was a bit of wind and I could definitely feel more sway though in the trailer. Nothing unsafe, but a definite difference. On normal trips I'll definitely still use the full WDH with the anti-sway bars connected to make sure it is very good and level and help with wind/sway, but it is nice to be able to do quick connect and disconnects and move it around (need to remove them anyway for backing up and tight turns) and very short trips without having to go through the full pain of getting all that connected.

If you don't want to do a full suspension change, swapping springs and shocks, then getting bump stop replacements is a nice compromise that is very easy to do. I used SumoSprings, but I think there are also Timbrens and a couple other brands. The initial swap from stock bump stop to SumoSprings was pretty quick and easy and then I just checked the torque on the u-bolts a couple times after putting a couple hundred miles on it. (Don't skip re-checking your torque on those, they definitely loosen up! I ended up re-torquing them twice and by the third time they were holding steady.)

 

@dubschweezy So yeah, your tongue should be between 240 - 480 (480 being the max when fully loaded at 3200). The truck can def. do that, your hitch may add another 100. weight dist should put you right where you want to be

 

Thanks for the write up, when you're not hitched up and your bed is empty do the sumo springs make contact with the frame or is there a gap? TIA

Also what WDH did you go for?

 

Recently rented RPOD 190 from Outdoorsy for a camping trip:
Stats: RPOD 190
UVW: 2950
GVWR: approx - 3832
Hitch Weight: 332

My Tacoma:
2017 TRD-OR DCSB -
OEM Tow package
Stock suspension
Falken Wildpeaks A/T3W 265 /70 R16 112T SL
Added

$101 Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ Electronic Brake Control, Grey

Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ Electronic Brake Control

$25 Tekonsha Trailer Brake Controller Harness, Compatible with Select Toyota Tacoma, Tundra

Tekonsha Trailer Brake Controller Harness

$285 SuperSprings SSR-612-40 | SumoSprings Rear for Toyota Tacoma, blue

SuperSprings SSR-612-40 | SumoSprings Rear for Toyota Tacoma, blue

I had approximately 450-500 lbs of passenger/gear in the truck, and maybe 150 lbs of food/gear in trailer, plus 30 gallons of fresh water. Regular hitch. This was my first time towing so I was cautious and mostly traveling flat to hilly terrain in Texas and Arkansas. The truck handled this trailer weight with ease with only a few instances where I felt it pushing or porpoising over rough road surfaces. Never felt sway issues from wind or passing trucks, although I pretty much kept it around 60mph on the highway. Truck would cruise mostly in 4th/5th gear and around 3000-4000 rpm depending on terrain. Uphill giving it gas it always seemed to have plenty of power for me, but these were short duration inclines in Arkansas "mountains". Got around 10-11 mpg on the way to AR and camping. However, on the way home, I emptied all the RV tanks. That made a noticeable difference in both feel and mileage. MPG on the way home jumped to 14-15. I definitely would not bother with carrying full fresh water tank again since we were always using city water at parks.

Summary:
For me, brake controller and sumo springs I think are a must for towing/carrying any significant weight. Really helped provide good control for braking and the sumo springs did a great job of handling the extra hitch weight, reducing sag, and overall ride quality. I will say ride quality with sumo springs without towing/hauling anything seems a little more harsh over bumps around town than stock bump stops.
I may buy travel trailer in the future and I think the Tacoma sweet spot for me is trailer GVWR not greater than 4000lbs. I would also get a WD hitch as well. If I were driving really long distances or over the Rockies, I might consider additional trans cooler, but I tend to think Toyota engineered it beyond its documented capabilities.

 

Here's my post where I put them in. Without a topper there was a bit more than an inch of gap. Once I got the topper on, there was just a tiny bit of gap left, but still not quite touching.