Show us what you tow.

20 ft Pontoon on a 27 ft trailer. Tow it about 4/5 hour to river.

 

grey and black trailler 7x12 v nose full of stuff (landscaping) every day for work , and 21 feet fiftwheel for the weekend.
Husky 16 k fifthwheel attach , add 1 leaf and sumospring rear end , and coilsumospring front end , michelin defender tire.
everything good , i love my taco 2012 160'000 km , gaz,oil and brakes that it

 

Michelin Defenders on the TRAILER?? Those aren't ST (trailer) tires, they are P (passenger car). trailers require much beefier side walls than cars... Most common trailer tire is the Goodyear Marathon, but there are plenty of others. or do you mean Defenders on the Tacoma? (I didn't even know those tires in Taco size, I generally see Defenders on older european cars like Volvo 240's, with sizes like P185/70R14)

 

oups! sorry , Michelin Defender (LTX MS) on Taco 265/65 R17
trailer are ST tire for sure

 

2000 Nomad fifthwheel 21 feet , 4300lbs dry.

Prodigy brake controller in Taco.

 

ah didn't realize the LTX were branded Defender now.

 

added:

$51 Hayden 678 Universal Rapid-Cool 9.5” x 11” Add-On Transmission Cooler – Not for Direct Replacement of the OE Cooler

Hayden 678 Trans cooler, Bilsteins 5100's all around(front @.85), SUMO springs to rear, ECGS bushing after new shocks installed.

 

Which Mini-Lite is that? 2106 w/Murphy bed? I also have what looks to be the same trailer. But am experiencing a little bit of sway. What hitch/sway bar and tires do you have? I don't have any other problem except wind buffeting which is worse of course on a freeway.

Cheers from NWA and thanks for any time you have to respond.

 

2017 Rockwood 2104S. Yes, it has the Murphy bed. It's just my wife and I now and we love it. I installed an additional

$51 Hayden 678 Universal Rapid-Cool 9.5” x 11” Add-On Transmission Cooler – Not for Direct Replacement of the OE Cooler

Hayden 678 Transmission cooler, SUMO springs in rear, replaced stock shocks with Bilstein 5100's all around( front set @ .85) Michelin LTX A/T 2 tires. Using a 4 point Equalizer WDH. I have no issues pulling this camper. Dry weight on it is 4400#, we probably have another 300-400# added inside. No issues with sway or anything else.
Trailer dealer wanted to give me the Equalizer E2 hitch but I insisted on the 4way hitch.

 

Towing a car to the junk yard on my harbor freight trailer.

 

Thanks for the response. I was wrong; we have exactly the same (great) trailer. Towing is fine re: power, etc. but more buffeting when tractor-trailers pass or high winds from side than I would prefer. As you know this trailer is both 'flat faced' and quite high off the ground.

I have a two point hitch and the Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure tires that come on the 2016 TRD OR. Also have Sumo Springs; stock Bilstein shocks; stock springs. I was guessing you had a better hitch and perhaps different tires. I think I'll start by replacing the hitch first and then attack the softer suspension/taller side wall tires of the OR as needed.

If you get a chance and it is easy, the model number of the hitch would be most appreciated. They make a lot of models!

Thanks again!

 

Great picture I took this winter when i took the snowmachines out. Tacoma's lead the way.

 

I had to change hitches to hook up boat this morning so I took pic below, I know it's overkill, but the dealer did not have a lesser pound model so he gave me this one.

 

I tow my hybrid travel trailer with the same hitch, even though it only weighs 3500 lbs. I figured I didn't want to go the lighter rating and have to buy another $400 hitch as my trailers got larger.

 

Can you actually feel the sway control in the hitch?

 

Absolutely!!! Well...its actually what you can't/don't feel with it that makes the difference. Without it, passing or being passed by a semi or other large vehicle was down right scary or driving in even a moderate cross wind. With it, you really don't notice it. I will never tow a large trailer without a wdh/sway control hitch installed.

You also get the ability to spread the tongue weight out to both axles, which helps with control and driveability. When I hitch my trailer up, both the front and rear suspension on the truck compress about a 1/2", and I never have the floating feeling in the steering like I did when I towed the trailer home the first time without the equalizer hitch.

I should also add, having a wdh doesn't do much good if it isn't set up right. I have seen many a truck going down the highway with a wdh installed, yet their nose is in the air and the rear suspension is riding on the bump stops. There are many videos on YouTube regarding proper set up of the hitches, especially the Equal-i-zer brand.

 

To second the improper set up ill share my experience on my last trip out with the trailer.
When we bought the trailer we got the Fastway E2 hitch, which is sold by the same manufacturer as the Equal-izer, it was setup by the dealer and worked great on the first 2 trips at the end of last season. Prior to going on our first trip out this year i added a set of the Firestone Riderite aibags kit 2407. I did not realize that i needed to resetup the wdh after installing the airbags. We went on our trip and experienced more sway and some porpusing that i didnt remember having last year. I originally attributed it to the windy days we had traveling and the rough syate of I65 in Kentucky. Well in doing some research i realized the airbags changed the dynamics of the back of the truck and how the hitch reacted. I then today decided to hook up.to the trailer and found that i could swing the trunnion bars on and off the l brackets by hand easily with all the weight on the hitch. I essentially had zero weight distrubution or sway control the last trip. So i went through, following the setup instructions and videos and completely reset the hitch, and now its seems to be set correctly as with the weight on the hitch i can no longer move the trunnion bars. We will see how it tows next week when we make the run from ohio to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tn. Im looking forward to a smoother ride.

 

I also realize when i add the Headstrong offroad lift kit with 2 inch lift coils,front 5100s set at 0 and 5100s in the rear with an 1.5" aal, and the riderites, ll have to completely redo the hitch setup again. But its easy if you read the instructions and watch the videos.

 

Yeah, if you could get the bars on and off without having to remove some of the weight off the tongue, it definitely wasn't set up right. When I hitch up my trailer I have to raise the tongue 3-4 inches to take enough tension off the bars to put them into the brackets on the trailer. And then lower the tongue back down.

You should set up the hitch with the trailer loaded to camp (water, full propane, batteries and all other equipment and clothing). Most dealers set them with the trailer empty before you drive it off the lot. Even the weight of cargo in the trailer will require a tweaking of the hitch.

Here is a video regarding initial setup.

https://youtu.be/l5TtNUxeFWc

And adjustments

https://youtu.be/ymcB2yeZr4s

 

Yep those are the videos i used. And yes my truck and trailer were loaded to camp minus food and clothes. We dont travel with water onboard at this point. So its set up much better now. Looking forward to next weeks trip.