Towing a light travel trailer, '17 TRD Sport

Do I need any sort of add-ons to tow a 4,000lb travel trailer with my double cab trd sport? Just thinking of towability, not bells and whistles. Trailer brakes? Tow package? Apologies for the newbie question.

 

Is the 4000lbs dry weight or loaded weight? Do you have a tow package? If you don’t then your max tow weight is around 3500lbs and no matter what you do to the truck won’t change the official manufacturers max tow rating.

 

In addition to the above, if your truck does have a tow package you will most definitely need a trailer break system.

An anti-sway hitch system is also recommended because it rides straight and doesn’t sway in high winds or curvy roads.

the one big bummer about the Sport is that it has a smaller rear differential than the TRD OR unless you bought a manual. If you are going to being towing often I suggest Amsoil 75w-110 gear oil for your rear diff. It will work best when towing or not and have more longevity than the standard oil.

Don’t chance safety over cost. Take it slow. Towing can get sketchy when you are at the borderline max for these trucks.

 

Thanks, it is in fact a manual, and I've got the rv dealership installing a brake controller as well as a weight distribution hitch. The trailer I'm looking at is 3,500lb dry weight. The GCWR on my truck says 11,300lbs and TWR is 6,400lbs. With those additions sounds like I should be good?

 

This is what I have added to my 2018 ORSB AT w/tow package to tow a loaded camper 3250# and occasionally at full capacity 3700# with up to 450 tongue weight:

CAT scale once in a while
RedArc brake controller
Hellwig Helper Springs
KDMax Pro towing tune
Pin tstat open when towing

 

Scale both the truck and the trailer. A CAT scale is good because you can weigh the three axles and know precisely what each component weighs, plus, determine your actual tongue weight. From there you can compute how much cargo capacity you truck really has (tongue weight and passengers are part of that). Don’t take anyone’s SWAG about trailer/tongue weights. Work it out for yourself.

 

so with a full tank of water at 20 gallons propane, chalking, leveling, hoses, and other necessities, add 600 lbs. you should be fine, but you may not like it. I added airbags, 4.88 gears, and tuning to my truck and it’s a comfortable ride except on long tall grades…this engine just doesn’t like grades when towing. I see 3rd a lot on grades and temps get high sometimes. I would pin the thermostat open if you have the option. It saves 10-15 degrees of heating up

 

reasonable conservatice expectations will serve U well

going on vacation with wife 2 kids + lab

U aint towing 4000lbs

drive speed limit ..................NOT above

be certain to have spare tyres available.................1 for taco / 2 for trailer

MPG will suffer more from inclines & air resistance

braking distances will increase dramatically even with electric brakes

 

Great advice^^^ as are other posts. What you need to do OP is tow the trailer around for a day or two on different roads, hills, grades, freeway etc. with your truck the way it is now. Then you can decide if you need any changes such as different leaf springs, air bags, wdh, different brake controller etc. etc.

 

The difference in differential size is 8” vs 8.75”. Just about every Toyota through the 1990s and mid 2000s had an 8” rear end and tow just fine. Overheating will be a function of driving habits, speed/load, and as you mentioned, gear oil weight. Just wanted to clear up a common misconception among the 3rd gen world.

 

if U were to total ALL the miles driven

vacation & weekends take into consideration of work.......mall..........hooters miles

driven wisely to the campground

more than likely NO issues encountered from towing

then again U can spend lots o $$$$$ chasing presupposed circumstances

solving problems Not encountered

 

With this trailer I was at about 3500 empty. Truck has factory tow package. I added Prodigy P2 brake controller, and Wheelers 1.5 AALs. Not shown because this was a very short across town trip is my Fastway E2 WDH. No problems towing without the WDH but it does bounce less with it installed. Especially on highway expansion joints. Btw, Toyota owners manual specifies need for an anti-sway device for any trailer over 2000 lbs. And a WDH for any trailer over 5000 lbs.

 

That is quite nice!

Ed

****

 

man. now I gotta google WDH vs sway
bars.

 

Sway bars will be all you really need unless you're towing pretty heavy for a Toyota. IMO around 4000 lbs is a sensible maximum for a Tacoma. I wouldn't want much more

 

I tow without a sway bar, really makes you slow down and take in the scenery. Also makes rage-full Californians pass you on mountain roads.

 

Red arc brake controller, extra transmission cooler, WDH, and air bags are what I run.

Also make sure to adjust your rear brake proportioning valve. I’ve toasted two sets of OEM front rotors already from using my truck as a truck.

 

Redarc brake controller, weight distribution hitch and will be adding sway bar to the mix. Does not sway but why not. Tows my trailer fine, but gets the same gas mileage towing as my Ram 2500 towing a fifth wheel. Trailer is about 3200 dry. The weight ticket is basically dry weight with a battery, propane, 80lbs of tools In bed and 10 gal of water.