Gen 3 Towing Thread

First time towing with my 2021. Loaded more than it would be normally but towed very well. In some ways I think it towed better than my 2009 did. I used ECT and S mode 5th gear. REDARC brake controller performed flawlessly as well, braking was very balanced.

Untitled by Victor M, on Flickr

was taking car down to shop for an engine swap. Fully running car, new motor on nose of trailer, bed had transmission plus addition items for the new engine and trans.

 

Just a short trip to dunk the boat in the lake. Kelowna BC

 

Do you live in the area? My wife and I are road-tripping through there in a couple weeks!

 

From Alberta, lots of family and friends here though so we normally end up a couple times a year.

Check out Grouse Mountain if you want a short 1 hour off-road to get to the peak. Just down west side road across the bridge.

 

Thanks, we'll check it out!

 

Hi All,
New here with a 2016 Limited V6 4x4 with tow and most of the options. I bought this truck new from the dealer so I’m the only owner. I’ve been reading the forums lately a lot and noticed there’s a ton of useless information and this forum has great members with expertise.

Here’s my 21 Forest river wildwood fsx platinum 167rbkx, dry weight of about 3,400 lbs and weighing in around 3600-3700 lbs loaded (haven’t hit scales with just the trailer), with a measured tongue of about 440 lbs. With all the items I plan to have in truck, payload is about 200-300 lb to spare. I had a dealer install a Fastway e2 6,000/600 trunnion WDH with friction sway, twice wrong! Both times the hitch wasn’t tightened down and the ball sat 3-4 inches too high. Had terrible towing with it, was getting pushed around and so much movement. I fixed it and tightened everything I could with an actual torque wrench and not an air gun. I have a P3 controller installed and tow mirrors but didn’t while I was adjusting the hitch at the storage.

I mention this because I see plenty of people trusting the dealers to install and most set ups are ran poorly or have issues. Dealers use an air gun and most mechanical parts require torquing to spec for a reason. Invest $100 in a torque wrench that goes up to 300 ft lbs and you’ll save yourself money and grief. I found my ball and bolts were barely at 100 ft lbs !! The ball alone is usually upwards of 400+ Ft lbs. plus you can adjust it without having to pay the dealer another $150-200 each time you need it. Most installs take a few hours to distribute the weight properly and measure if you do it alone. You also get to know the system better.

I wanted to ask, I’ve only towed a few times with this truck but at times I’ve noticed the front end seems to jerk a little from one direction to the other briefly. I get a little nervous and think it’s trailer sway. I’ve had someone record me before I fixed the hitch and I couldn’t notice any trailer sway, just the passing vehicles movement and it looks much less than when driving it. The repositioning of the hitch ball down helped quite a bit. The sway is certainly working compared to not having it when I brought it home from dealer without any hitch system. The picture of the truck and trailer appears it is slightly nose down. My measurements and a level identify the trailer is slightly down a hair - picture may not seem so because the ground wasn’t entirely level/flat. I think my measurement on the front well is exactly at half the original height from unloaded when WDH is set up for towing. No mods done to this truck, it’s stock.

I’ve tried running with near max tire pressure (44 psi) and lower higher 30’s, but didn’t notice much difference. I’ll probably stay near 40 psi but trailer is always max at 64-65. I keep my speeds around 60 since that feels comfy for me. I’d prefer below 55 honestly. Most terrain here is mainly flat with some low/small hills but it is open, so I know wind can cause it. I do get pushed by bigger vehicles from the wind bow wave. The tires are not original but are Goodyear sra P rated of the same OEM size. I do plan to weigh the truck and trailer using the three methods of uncoupled, couple but no WDH and WDH engaged, soon. The one scale I used I had no baseline but everything was well with the axle limits and I believe tire weights for truck and trailer.

Anyone have any idea? If possible please reply directly to my thread so I can attend to it!

I am planning to drive from Dallas Texas to Santa Fe New Mexico in a few weeks and want to try getting this ready. I uhualed from Washington DC to Dallas years ago, so I know the truck can do it, but this is taller/wider so there’s a curve.

Any help is appreciated! Hope the information I posted also helps others and makes you safer.

 

Sounds like you have everything dialled in… tongue weight, TT weight, WDH set up, truck tire pressures etc etc…

1. Are the truck tires original? If 6+years old maybe time for some new ones.
2. What are the measurements from ground to arch, front and back, before and after hooking up the TT?
3.Run the truck over scales with passengers and full tank of fuel, then run truck with the TT over and report back.
4. Is there any play (side to side) with the hitch in the receiver?
5. How many miles on the truck?
6. How old are the TT tires?

 

thanks for answering and trying to help, I really appreciate the support. I’ve learned to distrust dealers, mechanics, and anyone not doing the activity. I was thinking what I’ve done should be the correct/best practices. I actually updated my post to answer some of your questions (new truck tried - Goodyear sra wrangler same OEM size p rated I think, replaced about 500 miles ago). Truck has just over 70k so thinking about doing the trans inspection and flush, checking braking system, oil/filter. Trailer is a year old so it appears the tires are likely about a year. Comparing to the spare, they don’t appear to have been used much/driven a ton. I also know being single axle has some stability differences so I try to keep in mind too. FYI I e also made sure I have the correct 2 5/16” ball for it. I’ve found that out a hard way!

The trailer is small with max GVWR of 3,885 and smaller tongue, which I purposely bought so I can see if camping was for me. I tried to keep most of the numbers under 80% of max (doesn’t always work), and camper are about half max, but always within limits. Also nothing in any of the trailer tanks. I try to keep everything I don’t need in truck in trailer somewhere (almost nothing extra in rear of trailer except a few towels but bathroom is back there). Black and grey tank are in rear but fresh water is above axle so that wouldn’t do much. I’ll have to reconfirm weights vs tongue but I have a few hundred pounds worth of people/dogs so they can’t go in trailer lol.

When I had the dealer set up hitch driving an hour, it felt so much movement side to side and the jerking (basically white knuckle in my opinion). I do have some bounce which is expected (up and down motion) on bumps and they aren’t the best but I can deal with it by slowing down when I can. I don’t think I’ve noticed back and forth (front to back) that I can tell. It’s front end side to side quick jerks is best way to describe it.

On measurements I’ll have to get back but here is a few weights I used on my first trip a few weeks back before I adjusted the hitch. The front axle is around 2900 max, rear axle 3100 max, and trailer axle is 3500 max, if I remember correctly. I removed my cover to help reduce weight and provide more payload, but sticker shows I think 1,000 lbs available. All within specs I believe, if my numbers are on.

Hitch receiver doesn’t appear to have much movement but I’ll have to confirm again when I get to scales/trailer. By the way this is movement at highway speeds only, below 50/55 I don’t feel the same. I’m not sure I notice it at speeds of 60+ off the open road/highway. I’m in north Texas so the roads are more or less flat asphalt. Wind in the area is usually 10-15, but can gust more though on each of the trips it likely was around ~10. I also haven’t gone more than 60-70 miles for a destination so it’s limited observation. I do know after the fix it kind of felt more happening when the wind was blowing towards trailer/truck vs with the combo, if that makes sense, according to the weather reports.

with WDH engaged and loaded with gear/people/dogs and full tank gas (hitch ball was 2-3 inches causing nose to be too high before fixed and the front wheel measurements were lower than the original ie: 36” unhitched but with WDH it would measure 35 7/8” for example)




without WDH at all - just ball mount with me and full tank, no cover , no gear - I know I didn’t have it loaded but for reference



curb weight full gas tank and just driver (170lb)/no gear

 

Keep all cargo in the trailer. Only passengers and yourself in the truck. Everything you don’t need to use immediately goes in the trailer. Keep your trans in S4 if it starts hunting. I would keep at 55-60mog and just take my time, drive carefully and enjoy the ride.

 

Yes thank you for advice. I’ve read on the forum similar suggestions. I am already doing these items. I haven’t seen any about the front end jerking at all. That’s where the problem lies because my problem isn’t necessarily performance. I’m wondering if it’s normal or not (it’s not violent or ‘white knuckle), just a quick jerk to a side. I think mainly happens when wind is pushing towards the convoy. Any ideas?

 

Meant to get back to you but been traveling…

How are your shocks?

 

Since I had access to an alignment rack at my old job I did lots of alignments on my truck. I think part of the jerking you feel could be helped by adding additional caster. I have ran my truck up to about 4 degrees of caster and it seemed to help the twitchiness/jerkiness on the highway with and without the trailer. I too notice some movement with my truck and trailer, it seems like small gusts of wind or sometimes even just the air coming off other vehicles causes the truck and trailer to move on the road.

A friend of mine recently upgraded trailers from a single axle to a tandem axle trailer and he commented that it is much more stable when towing. Weight increased by less than 500 lbs and he ran it over the scales with both setups and has the truck carrying almost the exact same amount of weight. Could be many things but he believes the extra set of tires on the ground really helps.

 

no worries, hope to safe travels. Shocks are stock. Can’t think of any time I’ve done anything to them. Only had a few heavy loads for quick trips. There’s always the occasional speed bumps and sidewalk check, no one’s perfect you know.

 

70k miles might be time to replace. Do a visual for any leaks and do a bounce test, suspension should be firm with minimum rebound over bumps.

 

Thanks for the information. That’s an interesting point. What do you pull and what’s your truck? I think I may need to get an alignment done because I have felt lately after the new tires that I pull to the right.

 

thanks. Do you think soft suspension would cause the side to side in the front? I’m not that mechanically inclined but understand some

 

Personally I’d just replace the shocks with some Bilsteins then do the alignment. Worn shocks will cause a pull. I do all my own mechanical but not the alignments.

I have a stock 2020 OR LB and pull a twin axle Apex Nano 213RDS (4,700lb loaded). Have towed some 6k miles this year and have zero concerns with movement be it wind or semis coming past at 80mph.

Photo at 10,865ft. Wolf creek pass, CO.

 

Oh yes I remember your posts. I followed your thread on your impressions and things you’ve done. Very informative and inspiring. I also have most of the things we need in trailer or second car and it’s mainly me and couple dogs in the Tacoma. I’m not trying to throw more and more money into this setup yet unless needed since I just bought everything with the camper and the needs to even camp. I do need to drive it for a few hours and see if my changes helped which I think they did. I believe part of the issue is the wind and not being used to it. I’ve had a trailer sway before when I uhauled from Washington DC to move to Texas and that was pretty nerve racking. I was also above the uhaul speed limit so it was all on me, I’d like to avoid that again. I wish I had waited some before buying but the car market is acting funny so couldn’t find bigger truck for the time being. I also wanted a dual axle but they tend to cost/weigh more so I got this wildwood to see how the camping gig feels. was going to initially trade the Tacoma but I think I’ll keep her since she’s paid off and great around town.

did you have a write up or post on how you did the shock change? I haven’t done mechanical work in years - used to do my oil changes, brake changes (rotors, pads and calipers), etc. if it’s not an internal motor/pain stacking repair/upgrade I could tackle it. Gives me a reason to buy more tools like my 300lb torque wrench which is necessary with a hitch.

 

What are you guys doing with your mirrors? Ive got to find a way to extend my mirrors to see down the side. I may add a camera on the back of the camper later too.

 

Hey there Moscat, how do you like the trailer (we’re thinking of getting a smaller Apex Nano) and how does the Taco do pulling it? Do you have the truck fully loaded while pulling (family, cargo) and does that exceed the 5,600 lb. GVWR?