Travel Trailer Towing

Any experiences towing a Winnebago Micro Minnie with a 3rd gen Tacoma (23 sport 4x4). We are shopping now and we keep hearing need a bigger truck.

 

Just shy of 3,800 lbs dry weight and 20.5 ft long? The Tacoma could do it but it would not be a pleasant experience. And that's 3,800 lbs before you load the trailer and your truck up with gear and people. Weight distribution hitch will help, but you will definitely feel it back there. A full size pickup would make it a much better experience. That said, there are folks here who tow something that size, so you certainly wouldn't be the first.

 

Go to the towing forum, you will find lots of information there.

 

I am going to agree.
It will do it.
But you and the truck both aren’t going to like it.

It won’t necessarily hurt the truck.
But you’ll need to pick the right gear and let the engine do the work.
The truck is more concerned about fuel mileage than it is the transmission.
That’s why it is important you use your gears.

 

What are the specs on that trailer. In a nutshell 4000-5000 lbs is a good max and closer to 4000 is better. It ain't pulling the weight thats the problem, your truck will easily pull 6500 lbs.

The limiting factor will be your trucks payload. There is a sticker on the driver's door jamb with a statement that reads something like. "The total weight of passengers and cargo should not exceed XXXX pounds" The exact amount varies depending on the individual truck but a DC 4X4 Tacoma will usually be 900-1100 lbs.

Figure 13% of the loaded trailer weight as tongue weight so a 4000 lb trailer will use up a little over 500 lbs of your payload. Be sure to use the LOADED weight of the trailer. A 2800 lb empty trailer could easily be 4000 once water, batteries, propane, food, and other gear are added.

500 lbs of tongue weight will leave 400-600 lbs for passengers and cargo in the truck. Remember, two skinny adults will be 300 lbs. My wife and I are 360 combined. With the 2 of us in a truck that wouldn't leave much available payload for gear.

Of course, your truck could be closer to 1200-1300 lbs payload and a little over 4000 lbs would be doable. You just have to check, some have that much payload.

BTW, you run into the same problem even with 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks. None of them will realistically pull the stated max trailer weight unless the truck is empty. You can either pull a heavy trailer with an empty truck, or you can load up the truck to near max payload and not be able to pull a trailer at all.

 

This, i have a second gen but i understand the specs to be similar. I currently have a deposit on a rpod with dry weight 3700 lbs. Loaded, it will be 4700 lbs once you add water and gear.

it always comes down to payload. Setup a simple spreadsheet and be real honest, and dont forget that 50lb mod you added here or there.
Quick example off top of my head as i dont have my spreadsheet. Hitch 400, wife and I 380, dog 40, various crap 100, 2 bikes in bed 40. Close to a G right there

All about the payload

Edit. put it this way. Im in mass, and i know going in ill probably be relegated to the northeast. If we have dreams of cross crountry, no doubt a bigger truck will be in the works

 

I agree with the first two above. Many people here pull that size just fine. It just isn't comfortable.



Factor in where you will be going and what a typical road trip looks like. I used to pull 12+ hour drive days with two people, three dogs and a popup trailer, and I don't care how iron-butt you are, that's miserable. The bigger the trailer, the more fatigued you get, the less fun it gets. My my fun/not fun threshold when pulling my tiny trailer seems to be at 6 hours. I can do more, but why? Its supposed to be fun. Point being, if you are just dragging it to the state park 20 minutes up the road, a bigger trailer might be for you. If you are like me and are doing multistate cross country adventures, consider something smaller, something more adventure-y. Not just for comfort and fuel, but small trailers can get into campsites that the big guys only dream about.


Again, the truck, can do it, but why? It's supposed to be fun.

 

it’s not a family vacation unless you’re sweating about the weight of the water tanks, the atf temp, how old the tires are, and whether you remembered to turn off the propane..

 

I towed a 1708fb with my 2022 TRD OR on a 2200 mile trip. When I got back, I took advantage of the great resale the Tacoma has. Don’t get me wrong, it will do it, it was just not fun. In my experience, it is a “best case scenario” tower. Put a headwind, rolling hills, and it quickly becomes tiring. Also, with such a small tank, we needed to fill up every opportunity. Many people on here will say they tow heavy with no problems, but I cannot stress how big of a difference stepping up to a half ton was.

 

I pull a rpod 177 it is around 2300 dry I put Alcan springs on and a redarc brake controller and it feels fine even on hills but it is a very small trailer and pretty light. Another pro tip is load your water in 7 gallon jugs and add it to your trailer when you get to your destination or check if the site has a water pump most forest service camp grounds do and fill jugs there. Most fresh water tanks sit at the back of the trailer and it adds a lot of weight in a bad spot it also a good way to Crack the tanks running with it loaded and bouncing on rough roads.

 

@Rock Lobster is correct,, it’ll do it, but time, distance, elevation changes will determine what’s left of you when you get to your destination.
Also, add wind resistance, adding width, height, and length behind a small truck will add to the equation. Regardless of advertised weights, many of these trailers are wide and tall AF, there’s not a magical material to get around the aero resistance.
Picture this- hauling a small flatbed with a 2-3k lbs sheet of steel on it (totaling 4-5k lbs), or a 4-5k pound windsock that dwarfs your truck’s size.

I have delt with near capacity tows,, and it is far from fun. Most recently, my buddy bought a giant 20+ footer to tow behind a Tundra. Boy it was N.I.C.E when we got there, but since I was paying for fuel too, I felt the pain of putting 30+ gallons of gas in that truck 2-3 times a day. And of course since he was driving, he was shit worn out. He spent half the trip recovering and the next half resting and dreading the haul home. Both truck and trailer have since been sold.

 

I tow a Casita travel trailer which is 2,480 lbs dry. It wouldn't be fun to tow a 4000 lb camper with a Tacoma.

 

First time I hooked up 6,500, or so, pounds on this truck I almost aborted the mission with in the first mile. Once I figured out I had to stay in the truck lanes and use the upper rpm power, lower gears, I slowly started to believe I was going to make my destination. Anyways like its been said it will do it. If I was going to doing that a few times a year, for fun, I would get a bigger truck.