Towing help

Not the right truck to tow a dump trailer full of material.

 

FIFY

 

Yeah, that’s why I’m said in my first post they are “inherently heavy”.
I’ve been there, done that. It took an F250 to get me and the trailer out of the mess I got myself into.
I’ve done a lot of things, a lot of stupid things. I don’t typically “talk about it”. Especially on the internet, I don’t need to be reminded how stupid I was. I lived, and learned. I’ll do more of it too

 

It says it weighs 1,750 lbs. I'm not planning on over loading it. And I'm sure it'll be easy to overload and not know it. I'm just looking for helpful things I can add to my truck to ease the fact that it will be towing. I don't plan on towing for years with it. It's just a temporary situation until I can afford something that can tow it with more ease. At the end of the day I just want to protect my taco before I do some shit I shouldn't have because it couldn't take it. If that makes sense.

 

Fully understandable.
Brakes, Gears, and load distribution are the most important.

Asphalt shingles are heavy. It won’t take muck to max you out. If you max out, don’t come back here and tell anyone. Not unless you’re ready to be preached too.

Use your common sense and make it happen. We all have to make a living and get it done.

BTW, hats off to you man.
I’ve done a little roofing, not much, but some. That’s hard work. Take care and be safe.

 

Thank you. Appreciate your help.

 

You definitely need a brake controller unless you have surge brakes. I bought a Redarc, because there's precious few great places to put a normal controller that's out of the way, especially in a 2nd gen. I had a Tekonsha P2 rigged with a Safariland pistol holster "clip" in the console under the center stack, but hated that it constantly powered up the 99% of the time I wasn't using it & even unplugging the connector was a PITA.

If you don't already have the trailer, I'd go as light on the trailer as you can (I'd go single axle, probably 6k) to buy yourself payload. If dumping isn't mandatory... I just finished mucking with a surplus M1101 Humvee trailer, converting to a regular coupler & 6-lug drums with electric brakes. They weigh almost 1500 stock... but that's with runflat 37s (something like 300lb of wheels & tires) and a massive surge brake actuator with a pintle... I probably dropped 300lb of that, maybe more. Cubage is about the same as a 5x10, most of it is aluminum, and while the military rated them for 3400-4200lb, they're built for at least 5k. I might have $2500 into mine... if you did it on a budget you could swap to electric brakes for <$200, plus whatever swapping the coupler costs you.

 

You're going to be close to what you can handle with an empty trailer. Forget about putting any shingles in it. I wouldn't do this with a 1/2 ton truck

 

Just did 3000k lbs with easy in the rain. Up hill, downhill, and in reverse. I not going to push my luck by filling it any heavier than that. Specially not until I get a break controller. I have a buddy that has one of these wireless controllers that you can adjust with your phone. Anyone have any experience with them?

Also here's a picture of the 5x10 I bought.

 

I’d say keep it under 1500 lbs in it and you’re good! And remember to just shift at 3000+ on flat and crank up any steepish hills at 35-4500.

EDIT: Although, I do agree an F-250 to take the abuse is ideal, I’ve got a 7.5 and use the neighbors v-10. But hey working a Tacoma hard in a small business is what they’re made for, too.

 

Jeebus, $300, AND someone can just walk off with my brake controller in a parking lot? Sign me up!

For real, I recommend the Redarc (I just got the basic one, IIRC the only real difference is what a manual button press brake application does) for 1/2 the money. They even make a switch blank mount for the knob... then you can adjust the brakes if you need to with a knob, not trying to navigate on your phone while towing.

 

I went with a ~$100 tekonsha controller