Gen 3 Towing Thread

Great looking truck and boat! is it 4x4?

 

Just picked up the new camper trailer today, R-Pod 180, and thought I'd share a few picks.
Some spec's on it are:

Length - 20'
Unloaded weight 2662 lbs.
One slide out
Dry bath
Mods on it are adding 2nd. 20 lbs. LP tank

MY TOWING EQUIPMENT
2016 AC SR5 4x4 V6 Auto
P3 Tekonsha Brake Controller
Fastway E2 92-00-0600 600 tw./6,000 gtw. lbs. square bar weight distribution system w/ 2 point sway control.
SumoSprings - 1500 lbs. SuperSprings

On the short ride down the interstate and back roads handled just fine and plenty of power for me in ECT mode. Have to get use to manual shifting the automatic transmission, so used to a manual transmission shift back for high gears as opposite of the automatic in manual mode shifting forward to go into high gears. Also backing this short single axial trailer was an experience but with more practice the easier it will become.

See ya at the campground this summer!

 

Good looking setup !

 

Very nice. Did you add air bags in the back?

 

Thanks! To answer your question, no I installed 1500 lbs. rated SumoSprings.
https://www.supersprings.com/products/sumosprings

 

I read a good bit of this thread and wanted to add some some points to consider:

Power Mode / ETC and S Shifting
I believe there is a bit is a bit of confusion on when to use what for towing. I am guessing the confusion comes from this manual paragraph:

"Vehicles with an automatic transmission: To maintain engine braking
efficiency and charging system performance when using engine
braking, do not use the transmission in D. If in the S mode, the
transmission shift range position must be in 5 or lower." (Pg. 180)​

I underlined what I believe to be the important part. From a good few of the post on this thread it sounds like some of us are under the impression that this entry is recommending to tow in S mode, but if you look at it more carefully, it is prefacing with the underlined section. My interpretation is to use shift into S mode when engine breaking, don't try to engine break while in auto. Now to follow up with this: "Depress power mode button (vehicles with an automatic transmission)." in the Before towing section. (Pg. 182)

The take away: While towing you don't have to be in S mode but use it for engine breaking, and keep ETC / Power Mode on.

High RPM / Handling while Loaded or Towing
"I can feel the difference when I have passengers" and "The RPM really go up even though I am only pulling 3k lb."
This has been addressed on other treads on the forum, but I am not sure if people really connected it to this, but this is the first Tacoma, hell maybe even truck with an Atkinson cycle engine! It is like a diesel in reverse. Atkinson cycle engines deliver most of their power at the higher end of their RPM curve. These things are built to run at a higher RPM so that it can save fuel at lower RPM during normal usage.

 

I was just reading this thread and it inspired me to post a new one about Towing and Load Performance Misconceptions. I did not wan't to hijack this thread, but thought it was something important to discuss.

 

That thing looks perfectly setup, I have the same hitch but heavier camper and worry my hitch isn't setup right (Dealer didn't do it). Mine has some front end lift/rear squat whereas yours is damn near perfectly level. Would you mind providing me of a few photos of your hitch setup? I tried to zoom in on your photo but it gets grainy.

 

Cody, I will check if I have any closeups and post them for you. Otherwise I will be hitching up in a week and a half and will take some new shots and post. What is the tongue weight of your trailer?

 

Ok great, thanks. Per the manufacturer the "Dry Hitch Weight" is 539lbs, the Unloaded Vehicle Weight is 4,122.

 

I am looking at a trailer about the same size and weight. How well does the Truck pull the trailer on hills?

 

For medium hills/inclines on the highway with cruise set at 65mph it'll downshift to 3rd, and hang there until it gets over the hill and on smooth surface for a bit. Overall it does well. Taking it on a 2 hour one-way trip this weekend.

 

It is easy to check if your set up is correct or needs tuning. Just because you have some rear sag does not mean it is not set up right. There are too many people concerned that their truck/vehicle is sagging a bit in the rear and feel it isn't safe this way. Almost all WD hitch manufacturers agree now that a slight rear low stance is acceptable and preferred as long as the trailer is near level or slight nose down (never nose up) set up. The old set up rules use to be that you wanted the front and rear compression to be identical and therefore the vehicle near level, the new rule now is that you want to bring the front end back to near stock ride height number measured before you hitch up. The new set up almost always gives a bit of a rear sag look to it.

Look up installation/set-up instructions for your WD hitch and go through the steps yourself it isn't very difficult just need a level area, tape measure, masking/painters tape, and a pencil/pen and off you go. You state front is up but you might be surprised to find out that it is at stock ride height, the small rear sag might be tricking your eye to think that the front is high. If you want to have truly ultimate set up then you need to go to weigh scales and make sure that you are not unloading (taking weight off) the weight off your front axle which is dangerous when pulling a trailer, as well that you are not overloading your rear axle.

Also don't forget that airbags or helper springs, that some might suggest don't fix a problem of an unloaded front axle only mask the problem, they are OK to level out a vehicle but don't distribute any weight across all vehicle axles including the trailers like a WD system does.

 

I appreciate the informative and educational reply, really explains a lot. I took the truck and trailer to a hitch place a couple weeks back and they measure the trailer and my hitch to get that height setup correctly, but they did not adjust my weight distributing bars nor did they measure the front of the vehicle. I'll have to give that a shot but you're probably right, it may be just tricking my eyes since the rear is down.

 

Holy crap! Those are some pretty massive trailers. I don't do much towing besides some uhaul trailers and motorcycles but it's good to know the 3rd gen is capable of pulling something a little larger.

 

I'll be towing two horses also so thanks for posting. Brake controller and distribution bars?

 

Brake assist and helper springs.

 

Little and big. Helped my dad move his shop yesterday his trailer weighed a little more than mine.

 

21' camper (25' tongue to tail) 3,700lbs dry, probably ~4,500 wet with gear, 7.5' wide. Pulled awesome in ECT and 5th (S mode)

Have a P3 brake controller and a standard weight distribution hitch with a friction antisway. Truck is lifted 6" on 34s, but geared to 4.88.

Trans temps were maxing at 220 at the converter on grades, 210 at the pan, even with the OEM cooler. I will be adding an aux cooler soon for peice of mind.