My experience of towing 4,700lb travel trailer, which now weighs closer to 5,000lbs… maybe.

Hello Florida… apparently forgot to post about Georgia

not much to report about Savannah, similar to Charleston but just not quite as old, pretty or nice. No offence

Easy drive from Savannah GA to Jacksonville FL of 135 miles averaged 12.8, admittedly with a bit of drafting with a semi that was cruising at 67mph.

Sadly we arrive with the cold spell and a fair bit of wind, the ocean was muddy and frothy.

Currently camping in Kathryn Hanna state park, lots of foliage and full timers.

 

If he is doing better on soft surfaces maybe try some dog hiking booties to see if he is more comfortable. May help eliminate foot pain.
Consider a referral to a surgeon. They are often much better at finding difficult to diagnose lameness and can also perform more advanced diagnostics such as CT to look for subtle changes.
Glad he is on decent pain management. Don't be afraid to use Gabapentin every 8 hours when needed.

 

Thank you for the post. Lots of useful information.

 

It is not a pinch. But, it is a push button. You can manually control the brakes. But it is an automatic system.

I love the Redarc system. We have it on our GX

 

Here we are in Destin FL after driving 326miles averaging 11.3mpg at around 67mph.

Another day with 15mph crosswinds. I have to say the Anderson WDH is awesome in this scenario even with semis coming past going 10mpg faster I have minimal movement. I do move over to the right as they approach which sets myself up for less push/pull but even so… I love the Anderson.

Photo of my 5,000lb rig with 620lb tongue weight with zero sag. (Excuse the pin cushion distortion from my old phone)

I checked today and the frame is just sitting on the sumo bump stops when fully loaded with wife, dog and full fuel tank. I ran the fuel down pretty low today, went past the ‘zero miles left’ to the ‘Please refuel’ message. With the wife out of the car and before squeezing 20.2 gallons in I could see daylight between the frame and sumos.

 

That is sweet!

I like the dual tire set-up on the trailer.

 

Yes, and I always thought they were maybe safer if you get a flat.

 

Great photos. Looks like a very fun trip.

Just a word of caution about your weight (2820 + 2840 + 4700 = 10,360 lbs.) --you're running at 92% of the Tacoma's max GCWR of 11,360 lbs.

 

I’m actually a couple of points lower than 92%, but not much. My GCWR is 11,290lb and the TT is closer to 5klb, but some of that weight is shared with the truck (tongue weight). So 2820+2840+4340=10,000.

Below is my last trip to the scales, since this weighing I did remove a fair amount of stuff before this trip.. 2 bikes along with accessories, bedmat and I have lost 13lb in body fat too Combined probably 150lb.

 

Double axles are a lot more stable too, plus you get double the braking power and traction.

I did an emergency stop the other day from 50mph due to a traffic light and pulled up quicker than the numpty next to me. I did lock the trailer tyres ever so slightly so I have adjusted the Redarc to compensate.

A double axle trailer was a must for me.

The one downside to doubles is when reversing tight maneuvers it puts extra strain on the the bearings and the tyres will scrub a bit.

 

Sorry to disagree, but trailer tongue weight is not "shared with the truck" --it is entirely put onto the truck and reduces the payload capacity pound-for-pound. The Tacoma is tow rated to 6,400 lbs., but exceeding the payload capacity also reduces the tow capacity.

Your title states 4,700 lb. trailer and you reference that trailer weight elsewhere in your posts (but you also say it's a 5000 lb rig.) I used 4700 lbs. because it's very likely your actual typical weight. Let's call it 90%; your safety cushion is still very low.

 

I like that trailer, thank you for posting

 

Yeah it started off at 4,700lb but got heavier. So it’s around 5,000lb right now.

You are correct, tongue weight is all part of the payload of the truck.

The front and rear axle weights of my truck you listed (2820+2840) include the weight of the tongue, the trailer was hitched and the WDH was set. The third weight (4340) is the trailer axle weight which does not include the shared tongue weight of 620lb (4340 + 620 =4960) around 5klb.

With a full fuel tank, passengers, dog and cargo I am officially 60lbs over on payload (5,600lb Tacoma gcwr). This is the only weight limit that I am over and by the time I’ve used half a tank and taken a shit I’m back under that limit.

I bet most overlanders are considerably more over on axle weights and payload than I am.

If we’re being specific I am 89% of GCWR and 78% of tow capacity. Having towed 11k+ miles in the last couple of years I wouldn’t want to be any heavier but feel competent and comfortable towing with the way I have my rig setup.

Disclaimer: I am dyslexic but am pretty sure my numbers are correct.

 

Shortest drive of the trip so far, 15 miles.

We’ve been holed up in a place called a luxury resort for the last 4 nights, they charged a $23 “resort fee” for trash and such. B.S on the luxury part… no trash pick up, brown crappy grass everywhere, no pic-nic tables on site, no gym, no propane refill, no shop or vending machines, no sun shades at the pool which was only open 9am till dusk.

Anyways because of many things we left early and managed to grab someone’s cancelation at Henderson State park for 3 nights, this park is supposed to be the most beautiful park in America. That’s a big claim as beauty is a very personal opinion. It is nice and has private spaces, walking distance to the beach which has beautiful waters and the sand is some of nicest my toes have had the pleasure of stepping on. Kua bay in HI personally has the nicest sand ever.

If housing prices weren’t so crazy we’d probably be back in HI. That being said house prices in Bend OR (our second fav place) are just as expensive as HI!

 

If the resort fee is $23, how much was the campsite fee? Sounds kind of crazy to have the resort fee without the resort amenities.

 

You need better tires with higher load capacity and speed rating on the trailer if you are blowing them.

 

It was only $55 a night. Turns out they charge $23 for any stays 3 nights or more, so even the monthly rates get charged the same…

 

Happy Turkey day.

It’s been a while since I posted, lots of stuff been going on…

Whilst visiting friends in Baton Rouge we decided that we weren’t going to stay in FL but was going to head back to Bend OR. Have travelled 1300+miles in the past 3 days. One day was 480 miles from East of San Antonio heading NW with a steady 4,000 ft elevation climb into a steady 20mph wind from the North… 8.6mpg, thankful for the cheap gas in TX. The next day 430 miles and 12.8mpg, admittedly spent most of the trip at 70mph 4/5 seconds behind some semi’s.

Now in AZ with a quick 200 mile trip to pick up the wife’s car which is in storage in PHX, eat some turkey with friends and then head up through NV to get to Bend whilst the weather is good.

Only another 1,400 or so miles to go

 

Oh yeah… after 2 nights dry camping we stopped in at Holy Trinity Monastery in St David’s and I hooked up everything and the wife checked the grey/black/fresh tank levels and asked “why is the fresh tank full?”.

It appears the check valve for the fresh water tank has failed and filled the fresh tank whilst on city water… now the question is when did this happen? Did it fill here or the last time I was on city water 1,300miles ago!

 

That's a long pull. I wish I could figure out a way to bottle up some of my anticipation and enthusiasm heading out on my trips and save it to use on the way home. If I ever do, I promise I'll share it. Safe journey.