The Tacoma Towing Bible

Not really true...

Your tongue weight should be 10-15% for proper trailer balance, but doesn't have to be. You could go as high as your hitch and ball allow, as long as it's within your truck's payload. If it's a class III hitch with a 2" receiver and 2" ball, both those parts are good for 6,000lbs or 600lbs of tongue weight typically. So as long as his truck has 600 lbs of payload to give before going over. It's possible to go over max tongue weight and stay within your tow rating on a 3rd gen, and probably easy to go over your tongue weight rating while staying under your tow rating on a 1st gen rated to tow 5,000 lbs, but with class III hitch, 2" receiver, 2" ball...

It's not hard, just know that tongue weight comes off of payload when you do factor in weights because of where it sits (on the truck's axles)

 

Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well. I'm in the process of buying my first travel trailer and want to make sure I'm going to be happy with my decision. I'm looking at a Winnebago Micro Mini with a dry weight of 3700 lbs as my first choice and a Geo-Pro which has a dry weight of 3000 lbs as my second. It'll be used mostly for weekend trips but I do want to do a multi-week west coast tour that will run a few thousand miles.

My question is: will the 700lbs make a huge/noticeable difference that'll make me regret the purchase or will I be good to go?

I appreciate any advice this group can provide.

My Truck: 2018 SR5 4x4 with tow package

 

https://youtu.be/iPhMnj1F-Lc

 

How much do you expect your fully loaded weights to bed. What is Max GVWR on both trailers?

 

Thanks for the reply.

The GVWR for the Micro Minnie is 7,000lbs (dual axle. 3,500lbs each). The GVWR for the Geo-Pro is about 3,900lbs.

Fully loaded (GCW) after some calculations: Micro Minnie: 10,197; Geo-Pro: 9,498

 

I'm looking at a Winnie Micro Mini also, model #2106fbs, 3700 lbs. It will probably be a year before we buy. If you do buy a mini keep posting so I can learn from your experiences. I'm a new Tacoma owner and have never towed anything.

 

Any recommendations for brake controllers??? Have a v6 dcsb with the or pkg and 6mt

 

Tekonasha p3 is what I use. 2013 towing 27ft travel trailer

 

Which travel trailer? What’s the dry weight?

 

4600 dry and empty. Coachmen Apex 245 Bhs

 

How do you like the trailer? I am looking at the same one.

 

Other than one spot that wasn't sealed from the factory it's been great. The paint is also flaking on the frame but I can take care of that

 

Does anyone know if the harness is still in the same location on the 2012 model? Though I did not buy my truck new, I'm pretty sure it does have the factory tow package. In my initial peek under the dash I did not see any unused plugs hanging around.

EDIT: Never mind, I finally found it on my third attempt. Damn thing was buried 8"+ up and behind the wire bundle.

 

In one of the bible verses, it says to never use overdrive. Is this only when you expect to be climbing hills or at all times?

 

Besides hills, it depends upon the weight you are towing. Do you have oversized tires and stock gears? I'd guess anything over 2500 lbs you should stay out of overdrive all the time. I used to tow a small sailboat - trailer and boat combined were only about 1100 lbs. I used overdrive on the highway unless going up hill for a long climb. Now I tow a 20' bowrider. It's 3000 lbs + an 800 lb trailer + fuel so roughly 4000 lbs total - Never overdrive for that one.

 

I`m 95% sure my tires and gears are stock. I'm planning on towing a small u-haul trailer when I move later this year. Thank you for the advice!

 

We bought the 19’ epro by Flagstaff last summer and just picked up our 2020 Tacoma Limited.
The epro is the same trailer as the Geo-pro, we also looked at the micro mini and loved it however we went for the epro because of the lighter weight and build quality, it also comes with more extra features. the only thing that will be hard to get used to is the Murphy bed but for a small trailer it’s still the best choice for us.
We have a Hensley Cub sway control hitch which we have used on other trailers and highly recommend. We towed the epro with our Tundra last summer but haven’t yet with the new Tacoma, we will soon though as we begin traveling across Canada and the USA.
One other thing with the epro trailer is that it’s a bit narrower than the the Winnebago and therefore less wind resistance.
Good luck and let us know what you decide to buy.
Tim

 

In Indiana a trailer with GVWR 3,000# or more, mandates the tow vehicle must have brake controller. On our lot, that's everything bigger than a pop-up.

 

I’m moving to another state in the summer. I have 2010 DCSB 6MT with tow package... my question is im planning to rent a Uhaul trailer and tow my wife’s Honda Civic. Would I still need a brake controller?

 

short answer YES. I sure would. Is she not able to drive it? Wont you need a trailer for all your stuff? We have a trailmanor that weighs about 3500lb loaded and coming down a grade the traffic suddenly stopped. There's no way I would got us stopped without it. Stopped about 2 feet short of the guy in front thats with me hitting the manual lever on the P2 while hard on the truck brakes.