Gen 3 Towing Thread

I towed my friends race car home today after he had an issue with his tow vehicle. Also had the race 911 engine in the bed. It was a rough weekend for him!

The truck towed great with about a 3500 lb trailer (with wireless trailer brakes) and 300 lb motor in the bed. Got about 10 mpg on mostly flat terrain.

 

This is what you call a dumbass. That's a 7k tractor and 3k pound trailer easily.

Moving it back would only make things worse because the load would whip the back end of the light Tacoma around.

 

14mpg @ 75mph.

 

First trip with weight distribution hitch. Turns out I was wrong about the placement of the fresh water take. It is before the trailer axles and therefore when full, put more weight on the hitch. My wife's pictures below were taken with that tank full, but draining. With the weight distribution hitch and brakes on the trailer I felt just fine in the Ozarks. Wouldn't worry about a several hundred mile trip apart from fuel mileage.


Ralph does not seem concerned.....

 

Are there any other mirror extensions you guys are using? Thank you!

 

I'm using these. Can probably be had much cheaper elsewhere. If I were towing every week or even every other week all year I'd seek a more permanent solution, but I've been impressed with these so far.

 

Not sure what gen Taco you have, but this is what I have on my 13...They function great...these are complete bolt on, remove the existing factory and bolt these on, installation is about 30 minutes, 15 min each side....

 

Nice! I wonder if these work on a 2016? I suspect you loose blind spot monitor, heat, and remote control? Can you confirm? Still they look very useful (and stylish!).

 

Well seeing my Taco is a 13 and it's a base SR5 I don't have all the fancy gadgets on my truck, like what you are describing. I do still maintain the remote control feature and if I remember there was an option for directional. But they sure do work great when i'm towing my 25' TT

 

Lol they are like mini ram mirrors. Having that stlye of mirror, do you find yourself keeping them flipped up in non towing situations?

 

no not at all...always down unless towing...But then again that's the only thing the truck is used for. I don't drive it during the week, only weekends during camping season...

 

Any rubbing or marks left by these?

 

Not a bit.

 

Seems like the gen 3's squat a lot when towing. Anyone using bags?

 

In my case (post #129), the squat is caused by excessive weight on the hitch. Water tank at the front of the trailer full with a trailer that is relatively front heavy to start with. Still pulled/drove fine, but once the water was out was much more level. Unfortunately no pics.

WD hitches also need to be properly adjusted. When mine was installed they first went too far w/regard to pulling weight off the truck making a connection difficult. They then went too far the other way. So I need to adjust the hitch 'one hole higher' to level it out even better than without water.

Unless you are in excess of the prescribed tongue weight (and therefore in excess of other safety concerns) I don't think I would consider bags. You never know though, perhaps someone could convince me of the benefit (assuming everything else was in order).

 

Exactly..Hope he's not near my family on the road..

 

Just towed this 180 miles with a mix of level and 6% grade hills. Trailer weight 4619 pounds with about 500 on the tongue. I had a wd hitch all ready to go but the trailer builder built the a frame in such a way that I will need to weld the wd brackets instead of bolting them on. It towed flawless. No sway, nothing. Ect button on 4th gear running 2500 rpm in the flats and Max 3500 to 4000 rpm in the hills. Average 10 mpg. Going tomorrow to have wd brackets welded to the frame and then I will be good to go. I was impressed by the way it towed. Forgot to add...16 foot by 8 foot by 8 foot.

 

Subscribed. I'm interested in towing a camper of around 4000 pounds.

 

Specs? Towing impressions?