Major Towing trouble

Something ain’t right here. The trailer weight and hitch weight are well within the trucks manufacturer weight ratings. Need more information and pics would be helpful. The only way what the OP describes would happen is if he had the cab loaded up with passengers and a lot of weight in the bed of the truck, like 1000lbs or so. Sounds like the truck is sitting on the bump stops. That would take way more weight than just the stated hitch weight. Even if the trailer was loaded up with 1000 lbs of stuff he should still be fine. Need more info. Cause this isn’t making sense.

 

I got the same set-up and here's the Safety & Convenience Features on my Sport:

Class-IV towing hitch receiver, ATF cooler (not available on manual transmission), engine oil cooler, power steering cooler, 130-amp alternator, 4- & 7-pin connector with converter, & Trailer-Sway Control (TSC) (V6 only).

 

2021 2wd v6 dclb and i have all that except extra trans cooler. Found one off a 4 runner in a junkyard, just haven't installed yet.

 

Tacotime55, thanks for your service.

 

The OP posted his one and only post on May 30 and has not returned to even look at this thread. Kind of a dead thread.

 

****It was my privilege and honor to serve****

As was said by @Sprig, this thread hasn't involved OP feedback. Not sure why that is but...

I bought my

$172 Tekonsha 90195 Prodigy P3 Proportional Brake Controller for Trailers with 1-4 Axles, Compatible with Ford, GM, Chevy, Dodge, RAM, Toyota, Jeep. Wiring harness sold separately.

Tekonsha 90195 P3 Electronic Brake Control and it arrived this past week.

My Sport does not have the mini stow box where some owners install their Brake Controller. I'll have to figure something out. I'm in no rush.

Here's one of many videos out there regarding this specific brake controller install:

**Starts at about 3:00. (9 setting seems to be the sweet spot)



This one is more of what I plan on doing. I'll take processes from both videos.

 

Hello everyone,
I got a 2017 TRD Sport with tow package and just got a pop-up trailer. Gross vehicle weight is 2005, dry weight is 1600 and tongue is 500. Am I going to need a weight dis hitch or break controller?
Thanks

 

Something wrong here. Dry weight 1600lbs and tongue weight 500lbs???? Tongue weight should not exceed10% to 15% of trailer weight. In your case 160 lbs to 240 lbs. max. I think your stated tongue weight is wrong but you need to look into that.
After you determine correct tongue weight you likely won’t need a wdh because that is such a light trailer. Tow it and see how it rides and handles then determine if you need a wdh. I’ve towed my 3000++ lb boat around for years without a wdh and don’t need one.
As far as a brake controller if you have brakes get a brake controller. You really don’t need brakes on that light of a trailer but if you have them then use them.

 

@Sprig This is what the door says

 

The 500 on that form is the tongue load range. It is not the tongue weight of your trailer. A good tongue weight for your trailer is 160lbs to maybe 250lbs depending on the weight of your trailer when loaded.

 

I can add my own recent newby towing experience with my Tacoma.

2017 Off Road with manual trans and tow package.

Wife and I bought our first trailer in April - 2022 Coleman Rubicon, 16', single axle, dry weight approx 3,800 #'s.

We also had a very solid WDH installed, and a brake controller. In addition, I had some minor suspension upgrades done to help with the towing. I replaced the OEM Bilstein 4600 series shocks with Bilstein 5100's all around, upgraded the front OEM coils with OME 885's (~1" added height) and added a set of Helwig "helper" rear leaf springs. I say "helper" because they are not a traditional full add-a-leaf, they are 1/2 leafs on each side, so you don't need to take apart the rear components to install there, they just go right on top of your existing rear leafs and have their own u-bolts to keep them in place. Also, with these, you don't get any extra "lift" to the rear end, they just help with the weight carrying capability.

Other than this, my truck is bone stock.

We towed the trailer about 120 miles home from the dealership, and then a couple weeks later we took it on a "test" weekend trip, about 100 miles from home to make sure everything was setup and working correctly. It did just fine. We had maybe 100 #'s of stuff in the trailer, and maybe another 100 #'s in the bed of the truck.

My truck towed it ok, but it was definitely a good workout for my Tacoma. Even on flat ground, I was barely able to get to and hold 60 - 62 MPH, unless I wanted to push the truck to its limits, and risk really, really poor fuel mileage. I never tried to pull the trailer in 5th or 6th gear, I am not sure how successful that would have been under the circumstances I was driving in. Maybe if I was going slightly downhill.... but I don't expect I will ever get up into 6th gear while towing this trailer. As it was, I dropped from my normal 18 MPG, to 12 MPG while towing the trailer.

 

Tom we have one a bit larger, Passport single axle Nameplate 4500 lbs my guess we are close to 4800 with LP tank, battery and roof AC but we do not have that beautiful topper as you do which adds another 200-300 lbs to your load. 2015 V6 Automatic and trailer towing package 6500 Lbs max rated. No WDH yet but the truck has a heavier rear suspension installed. Pulled on 20 mile trips at the most. Same experience as you, truck Can pull but I would hate to try mountains as our trip to Alaska in 2013 with different truck and trailer.

 

Look into an "EZ Hitch" Weight Distribution Hitch. I replaced all my shocks with Bilsteins in prep for towing. I had a 2021 Jayco 154BH dry weight 2,600lbs.
Took 3 trips with it and sold it. Bought a Winnebago Minnie Winnie. Towing a travel trailer is too much work for an old dude like me AND my 06 Tacoma V6 with a stock automatic tranny just could not handle it to my satisfaction.

 

Should not exceed 10-15% is not correct. At MIN you WANT 10-15% of the trailer weight as tongue weight.. you could have 90% as long as your vehicle could handle it.

 

Never ever heard that one. It is just wrong. You may exceed 15% but I wouldn’t advise doing so by much. Exceeding the 15% guideline may put too much weight on the rear tires and cause them to fail. In addition too much tongue weight makes a vehicle hard to handle in curves and turns making driving it dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. It will also put excess stress on the rear suspension leading to premature wear or failure. Cite a couple sources that state 10 to 15% is minimum and exceeding that is fine.

 

Are you just ignoring the part that said 'if your vehicle can handle it?' cite any source that says under 10% is ok.. over weight on the tongue is far better than under weight.

 

Well obviously if you have an F350 towing a 2000 lb trailer you can have a 100% tongue weight or what ever. But we weren’t talking about that. This is a Toyota Taco forum where max tow weight is around 6500lbs. I never said anything about tongue weight being under 10%. I said it should be between 10% to 15%. And should not exceed 15%. Do an internet search on trailer tongue weight. Just about 100% of what you will find recommends trailer tongue weight should be between 10 to 15% of the trailer weight and not to exceed 15%. You state 10 to 15% is the minimum. You are wrong, 10 to 15% is both the minimum and the maximum.
If you do a net search please refer me to where it says 15% is minimum and more is good or better or what ever. Bottom line is all sources state trailer tongue weight should be between 10% to 15% of trailer weight, not less, not more.

 

I could be wrong, by you may be confusing load weight and where to put your load on the trailer with tongue weight which should not exceed 10-15% of your gross trailer weight. Two different things. Yes, you want your side-by-side probably 60/40 front to back meaning 60% of its weight is on the front of the trailer. To @Sprig 's point, you do not want to go over 10 - 15% of gross trailer weight on the tongue of your vehicle.

Check out this article

Tongue weight should never be 90% of gross trailer weight. That is absurd.

Edit: I'm not trying to rub it in, but you really need to be careful when chiming in on these topics. You could put someone who is a novice to towing at risk with that 90% comment. Below are other sources confirming 10-15% tongue weight for conventional trailers and 10 - 30% tongue weight for goosenecks.

GMC

Curt

RV Geeks

 

I tow a jet ski trailer modified to carry a 400 lb stand up on the tongue of the trailer. I was most definitely over 15% tongue weight. Never a problem.

 

OP I have the exact same trailer. Exact. I use a WDH with sway bars and the truck tows it just fine. I am installing an add a leaf soon or possibly airbags to lift the back a couple inches… it I’m nowhere near as sagged out as you.