Towing with Firestone airbags and WDH a good idea?

Hey y'all, curious to hear from those who have towed close to the GCVWR in their 2nd gen. I installed the Wheelers Offroad 5 leaf HD springs, thinking I would be towing max 4,000lbs. I was all packed up and ready to move from Michigan to California but I noticed I had a lot more sag than I had anticipated. Lets just say I was a bit off on guessing the weight of my toolbox/tools/other stuff. I found a scale after some searching and my 7x14 enclosed trailer is at 5,520lbs loaded. My GCVW is at 11,140lbs with a full tank of gas.
I talked to etrailer.com and they recommended starting with some Firestone airbags. Which I ordered up and they should be here this week. After talking to some buddies, and searching through TW, I'm thinking I might want to run a weight distribution hitch. Any experience running both systems for a fairly long trip and flirting with the Tacoma's max capacity?

 

Weight distribution hitch is a must along with good electric brakes. That's a lot of weight, I would drive slow and take your time . Or rent a full size truck. Just my two cents.

 

The airbags will definitely help to keep you level with that heavy of a load. I would add a WDH as well. You'll know why when the first tractor trailer passes you and moves you around. Keep an eye in the sideview mirror so you can prepare when they pass you. A little white knuckle moment. My truck is an auto and I towed in 4th. With a manual trans, not sure if you would stay in 5th on flats and downshift when needed? I towed max at around 62mph with my travel trailer. Does that trailer have brakes?

 

Yeah, I read through that east to west coast thread and he seemed to stay in 5th gear around 60mph. Although he has 35s and regeared, so not too sure if I'll have a big difference with 265/75s and stock gears. I've towed a lot throughout my life but grew up with diesel pickups so it's a different ballgame with the Tacoma.. Was just curious if running bags with enough pressure to keep level along with a WDH would be the best setup for the upcoming move. Thank y'all for the help

 

And yes, it has brakes on all four tires. I have the Tekonsha P3 I installed along with the leafs. Also put new 6112s upfront and 5100s in the rear to give the taco the best shot at riding well with the load.

 

just watch your tongue weight! do not exceed recommended tongue weight ! bags or no bags! WDH for sure. good luck

 

Safe travels.

 

Air bags, w/d hitch & sway control, drop hitch to keep truck & trailer level. They are very good things to use when towing heavy.

 

good lookin set up there.

 

Good look setup man. And yeah, I agree, got a good scale to make sure I stuck under the 650lbs. Dropped the loaded trailer in that parking lot and I'm sitting at 550lbs of tongue weight, right at 10%.

 

How much is that load and what PSI do you have in the bags for it using the WDH?

 

If I recall correctly, I ran mine at 25psi. I had the Airlift wireless set-up, so it was programmed.

 

Not sure what the weight was in that pic, but when I moved from AZ to OR, the trailer was ~6500 and another ~500 in the bed.
I dont know what the pressure is, I have an automatic leveling setup.

 

Alright, just trying to get an idea of how much pressure folks are running for the heavy loads with a WDH

 

I'm sure it'll be a long, slow trip either way. I'll feel a lot better about the trip being level and having full use of the steering and brakes.. the more I read on the WDH it seems like it'll add some nice sway control into the mix as well.

 

sounds like you've got it handled.
you'll be fine.

 

W/D hitch is a great place to start. A good one of you can afford it. Mine is a Harbor Freight special, but I plan to upgrade to an Anderson No-Sway hitch.
And if you havent seen it yet, https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/

 

I saw the Andersen one on Mr. Truck, when I looked on their website it appears they're all for 1,000lb + tongue weights

 

I have Firestone bags but haven't towed with it yet. They're mainly for leveling since I have a cap with rack bars and carry loads regularly and the truck doesn't handle well nose up. 40lbs stiffens it up nicely with 8-10 sacks of concrete in the back.

 

Glad to hear it. I have the shell on there and some lighter stuff in the back for the move. Those couple hundred lbs plus the tongue weight will hopefully be withing the mid range of the airbags capacity. I also use the Tacoma for all kinds of work, not sure how I got by without bags this whole time. Always thought about them but moved on to buying more tools.. haha