How do I increase towing performance?

Based on 450lb tongue weight you’re aiming for a TT loaded at 3500lb.

FYI My TT was advertised as dry weight 3,800lb in the brochure/website. This did not include the fridge, ac unit, batteries or propane. Delivered weight was 4,179lb.

There’s two of us and an 80lb dog, so with all of the stuff that comes with us the TT weighed 5,000lb, this is with empty tanks and even draining the water heater. That’s 800lb of stuff… clothes, TV’s, tools, 40lb of camera gear, 2 bikes/locks/helmets, fire pit, camp chairs/table, fishing gear, air fryer, bbq, rv stuff blocks/hoses/chocks.

Stuff adds up quick. But… you can travel light.

If you do get into a relationship and they are driving then you can offload some heavy stuff to their vehicle.

You should definitely take your truck with a full tank of fuel over some CAT scales to get a baseline, this will allow you to figure the rest out.

 

Will it do it? Probably. Will it be as comfortable to tow or as easy to add another person and all their stuff to it? Nope. As @mosccat points out, the advertised weight is always way lower that actual weight. I personally would go as light as I could and still feel comfortable.

 

shit.... alright well that sucks. I thought I found the perfect trailer. I'll see if I can find something better.

 

Whether he needs the weight distribution hitch or not is not the complete picture. He will need sway control, which is integral with most newer weight distribution hitch systems. I would never advise somebody to tow a travel trailer with a midsize truck, without some sort of sway control.

 

A lot of the time if you find a TT online there’s usually a photo of the weights capacity. What is on the side of the unit is gospel however does not always include the weight of both propane bottles or batteries, it may just include the weight of one battery. Propane bottles are usually added at the dealer. The yellow label will usually say “includes weight of propane”

 

I think I misunderstood the context of your original question. I suggested pinning the thermostat in the context of a towing thread and someone who wants to tow a lot. I only pin it open when I set it up to tow and remove the pin when not towing. To me, the benefits are that the trans temp is at normal operating range with it pinned open and under heavy load. Toyota made many design choices based on fuel economy and emissions that benefit these factors and not much else, oil viscosities, shift points, painfully low engine RPM, lifetime transmission fluid that's not, and doing away with an actual transmission cooler because 95% of Tacoma owners will never tow.

From pulling out of my driveway to full operating temp is less than 2 miles with a camper and almost full payload, Me, wife, 2 kids, gear, and camper. The other factor for me is the location, southeast. My running cold until operating temp is nothing compared to Wyoming in the winter. You would see far more days a year of running it cold and making it take extra time to get up to temp than I would during a year towing 30 days.

 

As mentioned, advertised trailer weights are optimistic to say the least. It’s like Ford advertising a F150 with a 3500lb payload but the fine print says that is only with a single cab, short bed, 2wd, heavy duty payload package, base model and they only built two of them last year.

Here’s the data plate for my trailer at the generic factory dry weight:




Here’s the actual data plate after the trailer is built and weighed:




You can see there is a 709lb difference from the generic trailer to mine after being built and weighed. Add the full water tank I normally travel with and the stuff I carry since it is my home and an advertised 5385lb trailer is now a 7000lb trailer.

 

Would definitely get your truck on a CAT scale before getting a trailer if GVWR/GCWR is of interest to you. It will open your eyes to the fact that you and that full tank of gas are part of the rated payload, and you don't have nearly as much room to work as your math first suggested.

 

Again, no wdh or sway control needed for my camper. Just the facts of what I needed for my situation after taking it to a professional hitch company.

 

Why do you keep posting this over and over?

 

If I remember correctly, the manual says anything over 2000 pounds requires sway control. What he wants to buy is definitely over 2000 pounds.

 

Yes, sway required over 2,000lb. And they also recommend any trailer over 3000lb to have double axle. I wonder if that’s for the extra braking power?

 

Nope

 

Certainly for the 3rd gen it is.

 

@SmoothTRD FYI the same goes for the 4Runner, 2,000lb sway control required.

 

Not on mine, just a unicorn I guess

 

Are you saying you simply haven't needed it based on your own driving with a load/trailer or that your manual does not include this statement?

 

Because some pro at a shop said so?

You say stuff but don’t actually back it up with proof. This doesn’t help anyone, even yourself.

 

Ok i guess you got me. The last 15 trips I've taken have been Ok though. Time to play the lottery!

It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind

 

I am saying I took my truck and trailer to a hitch shop, they looked it over, drove it and determined that they didn't need to install anything further.