Novice towing questions

Haven’t towed much but has a few questions to make sure I’m doing this right.

I recently picked up a small tear drop trailer (weighs about 800-900 pounds). Currently I have a 3rd gen v6 taco that’s lifted about 3”

-considering the weight of the teardrop should I only to in S4 with the ECT on , or is the trailer light enough to use one of the overdrive gears S5?

- with my truck lifted, should I get a tow hitch that can be adjusted down?

 

Here’s the teardrop

 

Second gen with Firestone bags and no lift so I'll defer to those with a more comparable setup for gear recommendations. I would suggest a hitch height that will allow the trailer to be level when towing. Whether you get an adjustable hitch or just a receiver with the appropriate drop/rise is your call - adjustable is more flexible if you have other towing needs but also more expensive. I've got three receivers of different heights which I swap out depending on what's being towed but I'm so old the adjustable units weren't available when I started out.

Very nice looking setup there.

 

1k pounds isn't enough to worry about imo.

 

would you care to share any links or details for the trailer?

 

that’s kind of what I was thinking too- I know a lot of people run overland setups with more weight than that (skids, bumpers, tents etc)

 

It’s made by a company in FL called tiny camper company. I bought it second hand off fb market place. This is the 6x8 rugged rhino
https://www.tinycampercompany.com/rugged-trailers

 

I wouldn’t worry about that amount of weight. As for the trailer hitch; yes, you should get one that is level for your trailer. Although, ultimately, if you are taking the trailer on trails with you, you might think about lifting the trailer to your truck height. I’m no expert on trail towing, but I wouldn’t want my hitch to be the low point in my setup. That just doesn’t make good walking around sense.

 

Just taking the ball off the mount and reversing the mount, and reinstalling the ball will help a lot in your situation.

 

Goals setup!!!

 

Thankfully i'm not planning on running this thing offroad yet.... Mostly just a camper to take the family out on the weekends and for longer road trips. i feel like i need to practice towing this thing before i even give it a shot offroad.

 

I might need to check that out later tonight and see how feasible it is. Right now i've got the OEM ball mount

 

Not sure how much of a drop is in the OEM mount but if any drop at all it will give you a little raise. At the dealership I worked for we used to give out a mount with our hitch kit. Was just a basic mount, but had a little drop and some of the vehicles sit pretty low. I would flip the ball on the mount to help some customers out, it worked or helped in most cases. The nuts are on tight so you’ll need an impact or a long breaker bar. You can use a vice or just do it with it pinned in the receiver.

 

Etrailer is a good source for towing products and info. Ball mounts with different heights as referebced above are shown in the following link.

https://www.etrailer.com/s.aspx?qry=ball+mount

 

Try it S5. If it shifts too much, do s4.

 

Transmission gear will be based on how much it tries to downshift, but I think you are fine driving as normal.

As far as the hitch, I'd want the trailer level.

 

As a new trailer driver, I'd go to home depot, or somewhere with a huge lot and practice driving it. Driving it in foward is decently easy, but the trailer must be swung wide on turns, or it will clip things. Backing up can be far more challenging.
With a trailer that light you can easily position it by hand in a camp site, but there are plenty of times I am backing up in parking lots, or other spots on way to the camp site. It so nice when you can confidently throw it in reverse and position the trailer exactly where you want it.

Go to a public boat ramp on a busy day and bring a lawn chair for some good entertainment

 

Put it sideways in the receiver, attach wrench, stand on wrench, maybe bounce once or twice... If you're fat, no bounce required

 

that trike could tow that trailer.................

 

Nice looking setup!