My experience towing the Apex Ultralite 245BHS

Good afternoon. I just thought I'd share my experience towing the Coachmen Apex Ultralite 245BHS (27' 6" hitch to bumper, 4584 lbs dry, 578 lbs tongue) . My truck is a 2017 Sport DCSB, 4x4 MT. All stock, but I've added the Tekonsha P3, the Milenco towing mirrors, and the 2LO mod. My Tacoma is rated 6400 for trailer weight and 640 tounge weight. I want to buy a travel trailer, but have read so much online about how much the Taco can tow, and there's not much info on towing with a manual. People will either say "Don't tow over 3500" or "Don't tow over 80% of the rating" or "I've towed 7000 lbs without a problem" or whatever. I figured it would be smart to rent a trailer just for the experience of towing, and see for myself.



I ended up renting the 245BHS for 5 days back in July, and just wanted to do a short write up of my experience. I live in Southern Ontario , and towed the trailer about 900 km (560 mi), about 50% freeway, 40% highway, 10% back roads and around town. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. I was not loaded heavy (perhaps less than 300 lbs in the trailer, and I was by myself most of the trip), so I was probably loaded as light as is possible. While I could get it into 5th gear periodically, it was easier to just leave it in 4th which worked just fine for most of the roads. I did have to downshift into 3rd occasionally on some steeper grades. I didn't go faster than 100 km/h (60mph), although the truck had the power to do so. I did go up a 7% grade for 0.6mi, with an initial speed of 88 kph (55mph) in 3rd gear, and by the end of the grade the speed was still above 80kph (50 mph). I thought for sure I'd be down to 2nd gear with the 4 ways on, but the truck hauled it up without a sweat.

Overall, having the MT made for a good experience towing. The 2LO mod was a huge bonus backing the trailer into the campsite - there probably would've been burning clutch otherwise. My only complaint would be starting out on an incline at a stop sign. The truck struggled taking off. I could get it driving in first gear, but as it pulled away from the stopsign, there just wasn't any power below 1500RPM. The truck kind of chugged away at a brisk walking pace until it was on the level ground and could pick up speed. I couldn't use 2LO because there was no where to pull over and put it into 2Hi.

Fuel economy was about 18.8 l/100 km (12.5 US MPG) around town, and 22.2 l/100km (10.5 US MPG) on the freeway for an average of 21 l/100km (11.2 US mpg) for the entire trip (including some driving without the trailer). This is about half of the milage I normally get.

The rental came with the Blue Ox weight distribution and anti sway system, which worked really well. There was no sway, and bouncing from dips in the road were quickly dampened. No complaints there.

Here's a couple pics at the campsites:



I went to two different campsites to get a broader experience.



I installed the Tekonsha P3, which is a great brake controller. I didn't install it in the cubby left of the steering wheel, because I keep my left hand on the wheel when I'm driving a manual, so I installed it just above the phone charger (which I don't use anyway) and is in easy reach with my right hand. I did have to cut into the plastic trim, but I'm planning to keep the truck, so no one is going to care about that.

Disregard the USB plug, that's there from another "project"...



My only gripe with the large trailer, and the reason why I would seriously consider not buying such a large trailer, is that I found it fatiguing to drive. The truck handled it better than I did. I only drove about a 3 hour stretch at a time, and wouldn't want to go much further than that without a rest. I could feel every vehicle that passed tug a little at the trailer and this needed constant corrections to keep it centered in the lane. If I ever want to go for a long trip (ie, east coast, or the Rockies), then it's going to be a very long trip to get there. Or if I ever get bicycles, or a canoe, or travel with other people, then the truck is going to be working even harder, making the trip more tiring. I have to decide what I want in a travel trailer - if I just do local, and lightly packed trips, then I probably could get by with a trailer this size.

I hope that someone will find this helpful. Like I said, there's not much written up about towing with a MT, so I just wanted to share my experience.

I'm renting the Apex Nano 208BHS at the end of September. Will report back.

 

This is very helpful. I've got a 2020 limited 4WD and AT and am planning on buying a trailer. I'll likely get a 16 ft Bambi Airstream, that brand tows pretty smoothly.

thanks!

 

I own a Bambi & I think I love it even more than my truck. If you're not already aware, Airstream is a cult but I drink every drop of Kool-Aid I can get my hands on!! My goal is to someday own a 23-27' dual axle, probably flying cloud or international. Let me know if you have any questions.

OP, great write up!

 

That's awesome, great write up!

I have no desire to have a trailer that large since I don't want to be limited to where we can go and maneuvering a 20 foot trailer is enough of a stress-inducer in some of the smaller tent sites. But I appreciate that other people are willing to do it with these trucks since it proves they're absolutely capable of it.

It really is just a matter of if you're comfortable keeping the engine up in the higher RPM range while trusting that Toyota engineering intended for it to perform at those levels. Then also, like you said, maybe it becoming physically exhausting over a few hours. Of course the small gas tank is another issue but as long as you plan accordingly (I generally fill up at 1/4 tank because I'm paranoid about not getting to another gas station), it's generally not too much of a hassle. I can generally get from Seattle to any campsite on the west side of the of the state on a single tank of gas.

Other than that, as long as the brake controller is set properly and your trailer brakes are sufficient, stopping distance doesn't seem to be too much of an issue either, even in emergency situations.

We put a deposit down on an Escape 19 fiberglass trailer and hope to be selling our NoBo 16.5 while the market is still on fire. They're both 20 feet total length or less but the Escape will have dual axle and should be able to last a lifetime. I haven't towed dual axle yet, but I've read it makes the whole experience much more pleasurable so I'm excited to get it at the end of December.

What are your thoughts on the Dometic tow mirrors?

 

The RPMs weren't crazy high. In 4th at 60 mph, they were about 2800 RPM. The cabin noise was not a problem at those RPMs. A downshift into 3rd at 60 mph would bring the RPMs up to ~3700, but I never had to go long at those speeds.

The Dometic/Milenco mirrors are great. The clamp on tightly, and once adjusted, can be removed in a minute, and reinstalled in a minute without re-adjusting. They do vibrate a little bit from the wind, but they are still quite usable at any speed. I don't have a closeup picture of them, but you can see them installed in the first picture above. I ended up getting a couple little circular stick-on convex mirrors for the dometics so that I can see a wider view. I just got the little 2" mirrors, but wish I got the larger ones, because those are invaluable when backing up around curves, especially to the right.

 

whats wrong with the nobo? Was thinking of ordering a 19.8 2021
5

 

Nothing wrong with it. Just your typical mass produced trailer. Have only had a few minor issues that the dealership has been quick to fix. We just wanted to be economical on our first trailer purchase since we weren't sure how deep we would get into trailer camping. Now that we're pretty much obsessed with it, we want to go ahead and get a "lifetime" trailer that will last forever and be less likely to lose its value alongside the mass produced ones.

I would just say with any mass produced trailer purchase in general: your dealership is probably more important than the trailer brand your purchasing. Having a dealership that will advocate for you and work with you and be considerate of your timeline is just a much more important metric than the trailer brand. For example, our dealer always asks when our next camping trip is and does everything in their power to make sure we have our trailer back before then. It really makes all the difference.

But ultimately, our NoBo has been pretty stress free except for a few minor hiccups that most brands encounter.

 

Thank you, great write up. Curious to hear about the Apex Nano 208bhs, we are looking at renting one the end of October.

 

Thanks for the write up! We are looking at upgrading our trailer from one that is 3,800 lbs dry to one that is 4,400 lbs so this was helpful for me.

 

My experience seems to be exactly the same as yours, I have a 2019 Tacoma DC Sport with the MT and when trying to a tow a jayco 264bh, it struggles pretty seriously to start on a hill. Once up and moving, past say 10mph the truck tows very well for being close to max towing. I would further agree, that towing with that much weight is not fun, and while the truck is surprisingly stable while towing, it's probably not safe and would probably shorten the clutch lifespan to about 50k miles. The remedy for my towing situation was to buy a 2004 f350 diesel, which tows better to say the least. I tried to upgrade to a Tundra, but havent had the Tacoma long enough and wasnt worth it (long story).

 

Update:

Last weekend I rented the Apex Nano 208BHS, with the murphy bed option. The trailer actually felt bigger inside because the murphy bed became usable space during the day, unlike the front bedroom of the 245BHS. The Kitchen was a bit smaller, but still usable, and the slideout gave a lot of room inside.

Empty weight 4063 lbs. Loaded with probably 400-500 lbs, and 3 people in the truck. Overall, it towed much easier than the 245BHS. On level ground, with the cruise on, I didn't even feel it was there. Again, left the MT in 4th most of the time, and the Tacoma had enough giddy up to keep up with the traffic. The first day the winds were 30 gusting 50 mph, mostly head on, and the trailer started swaying, but was quickly brought back in line with the Blue Ox hitch. I also slowed down a bit when that happened, but it had stopped by time I could reach for the manual trailer brakes. Fuel economy that day was about 10 MPG (23.8 l/100km).

On the return trip with less wind, fuel economy was about 11 MPG (21 l/100km). This was driving at 55 mph (90 kph).
Fuel economy in town, without starting or stopping at 30mph (50kph) was around 17 MPG(13 l/100km).


Overall, towing a trailer this size was a noticeably much better experience than the 245BHS. Easier to start, easier to stop, easier to keep up with traffic, less sway from passing vehicles, ect.


And here's a tacoma picture from our recent trip, just because!


_________________________________________________________________________

Also, I know a guy who wants to rent me his Apex 288BHS. It's an 8' wide trailer, 31' 2" hitch to bumper, listed as 4880 lbs, but the sticker says that it's 5270 lbs. I decided to try towing it, before I commit to a camping trip. My truck did tow it, but it was noticeably heavier than the others; it struggled more starting and stopping, it felt a bit like driving a boat driving down the road. I wouldn't have wanted to take it very far, especially when it's loaded up for a week of camping. It's just more trailer than I need, but here's a picture anyways:
P.S. I don't think that the WDH was set up correctly. The back of the truck was down 2.5" and the front was up 1"

 

I wish... this little guy gets me 6 mpg on average in the midwest with strong winds and rolling hills. ~3400#. No real complaints, especially with a brake controller and WDH, but the efficiency kills me. Just bought an LRA tank to offset it and hopefully avoid the bigger truck mod.

 

Nice write up. I tow a 3500lb RPOD and also have at MT Tacoma; I think the MT makes it a lot better towing, but the 2LO mod would be helpful when reversing. I generally am fine reversing into a campsite as they are rarely up a grade for me, but where I store it is a hill I can't avoid. Since it's a gravel driveway I put in 4LO to save on burning the clutch.

 

Great write up! I wa a looking at this exact camper but after reading you review I think I’ll just keep what I have. I would have 4 people 2 large dogs and around 1000 pounds of cargo inside the camper also have a camper shell which quite frankly would put me way over the cargo capacity of the truck. It sounds like this may be alittle to much to tow with a taco. I have the red arc brake control and airbags. What is this 2lo mod you are taking about? My taco is also a 2021 Man. Sport.