Looking for guidance on GVWR, Payload and Towing

Missed this post somehow. I'm a new Escape 19 owner and just want to say, it's an awesome trailer. The Tacoma can handle it just fine with a WDH, especially with the assistance of the dual axle.

I'm decently paranoid about the lack of payload capacity. I'm not really worried about insurance issues like some people always bring up, just the fact that, as an engineer, I prefer to trust the data the engineers that design the things put forth, assuming there's a good reason for it.

All that to say, if it wasn't just me the wife and the dog, I'd be a bit hesitant loading up the Tacoma with everything. Once the tongue weight is on there, your payload capacity gets eaten up real fast.

Even now, just for the sake of leaving as much headroom as possible, I look at Tundras enviously as tow vehicles. Then I look at the price of them compared to my Tacoma and come back to reality knowing I'm probably fine for the life of the truck and trailer. Just always test the trailer brakes before getting on the road every time and drive a bit cautiously for the first few miles to make sure everything is good before sitting back and relaxing for the trip.

Of course one option is to just load up the trailer with all of your supplies and only use the truck for the non-inanimate objects. Of course having easy access to things in the bed and being able to keep the interior of the trailer clean with the dirty stuff in the truck bed is kind of hard to give up.

As far as speed and power go, the Tacoma is plenty sufficient for towing those trailers. An OVTune or one of the other custom tune options also helps out more than you would think (I was super skeptical of the OVTune hype until I got it done a few weeks before picking up the Escape but after having towed a similarly sized trailer previously...now I'm a believer).

Anyway, eye candy:

 

Your set-up looks great! I saw it in a another thread and was envious. I hope you guys really enjoy it!

All valid points as well. It's funny that the 3rd gen Tundras I've looked at in the configuration I would want (Crewmax with 4wd) seem to have payload stickers of around 1150lbs (only about 200lbs more than my Tacoma). Based on my numbers in the OP and wanting to run a topper, I would still be over payload on the Tundra by ~200lbs, but have much more margin on GCVWR. I'm more confident the Tundra could handle it, but thought it was interesting that it would still be technically "overloaded". If the 4th gen Tundra ever comes out I assume the payload will be increased by a fair bit.

I'm planning on moving most gear to the trailer to offload any truck I use. I still will probably have about 100lbs in the truck in addition to people in dog to cover a bike or 2 in the bed and a small cooler in the cab for road snacks for the kids.

We're going to be camping with friends next month that have an Escape 19' as well. It'll give us a good chance to really check out the size and layout and make sure it'll work for our family of 4. We've already toured another friend's Escape 21C, which was very nice but we are hoping to stay with the smaller trailer. The truck decision will most likely come down to the trailer we choose. If we go with the 19', we will try to make the Tacoma work (and swap it out if need be down the road). If we decide we really need the space of one of the 21' models, then we will plan on stepping up to a half ton.

 

That’s great that you’ll be spending some time around one beforehand!

You probably already know this but forgot to touch on the bicycle aspect: Escape has a 150 lb rated hitch on the back. I fully intend on eventually getting a 1-Up to throw back there for my bike so that also helps with getting weight off the truck as well, depending on how many and how much your bikes weigh.

My problem is I get super envious of the people cruising around the campgrounds on e-bikes and if we ever got those, we’d be overloading everything!

I also wouldn’t seriously consider a Tundra until the next gen is released for the same reasons you listed. But again, those things are going to be so much more expensive than our trucks it’ll probably completely suck the wind out of my excitement sails.

 

I just got my 1-Up rack (after a 2mo wait due to them being slammed with orders). It's really nice. I went with the Heavy Duty model which is rated to go on a trailer (2 bikes max). The stronger Super Duty model is also trailer rated (which may be better if ebikes are a possibility; the Heavy Duty can be upgraded to the Super Duty- it's just an aluminum bar added). Note the new Equip-D model is not rated for RV use. I found this comparison sheet useful when choosing: https://www.1up-usa.com/compare-racks/

We usually travel with 4-5 bikes so I'm planning on putting a couple on the back of the trailer. But I'll still need to put 2-3 in the bed or in the trailer.

I've been following all the 4th gen Tundra rumor threads on Tundras.com. I'm hesitant to make any big moves until it's released. I think the 3rd gen could still be a possibility, but I'd like to know more about the 4th gen since it looks like it'll be available with 4 full doors and a 6.5ft bed along with hopefully 1800+lb payload.

 

@brtnstrns
Any update on travels with the Escape? -
Do you use the ECT and SMode combo or just SMode.

Wife is interested in the Escape 19.

 

This guy has a smart wife^^^ nice pick.

 

I know this is a month old by now, but the OP simply needs a bigger truck. He could pull the trailer, but not with a family of 4 and all the other gear he wants to bring along. Yea, you could make it work, but the truck and all 4 passengers will be a lot happier with a 1/2 ton crew cab. BTDT.

I love my Tacoma, but didn't buy one until the kids moved out and it was just me and my wife. I drove a 1/2 ton crew cab when we were doing similar things with a family of 4. And now that I've got grandkids I'm back in a 1/2 ton crew cab. Kept the Tacoma as a 3rd vehicle.

 

Sure! It tows wonderfully. I seem to be getting about 2 mpg better than the NoBo 16.5 for a [so far] consistent 12 mpg (no mountain passes yet). I think aerodynamically, it's just much better than the NoBo was. I intentionally didn't opt for the 2 inch lift on the trailer to keep it as tucked behind the truck as possible. I can't see why the lift would be needed as it's got plenty of ground clearance unless you were taking it way off road, which is just not something I would do with a trailer like this anyway.

I use ECT + S4 for the most part with putting it in S5 for long flat stretches. Could probably keep it in S5 essentially all the time as it rarely goes into 5th unless it's truly just flat but I'm a bit paranoid about the overdrive and torque converter. Assuming it'd be fine though.

Wife and I are both extremely happy with the trailer. It truly is impossible to quantify how much higher the quality is. I've had a few scares with some items, but they've all been user error: thinking the fresh water tank was leaking but it was just the drain valve wasn't completely closed - I thought it was a quarter turn type valve but it was not; things like that. All the systems have been flawless.

This was our third trip and our first time having no hookups. A single solar panel on the roof and two 100 Ah lithium ion batteries and the levels essentially never dropped below 100% or 13.3V the entire weekend even using the heater, fridge on propane, and water pump being left on every once in a while. Absolutely stellar performance for the kind of camping we do and helps me maintain confidence in not worrying about having to sacrifice any luxury just because we don't have a hookup site, as well as giving us more options in a state in which camp sites book up six months out. Being 20 feet total also helps out in this regard.

All that to say, the value for what you get is just on a whole 'nother level. Our friends' Basecamp might be nicer looking, but functionally, ours wins out except for maybe interior space. But interior space = exterior size and we pretty much only use the trailer for sleeping, some cooking, rainy days, or hanging out a bit before going to sleep, so the interior size is perfect for our type of camping. I also believe our trailer will last twenty years longer than the Basecamp with significantly less maintenance. The Basecamp doesn't even come with a three way refrigerator!!! Only DC and AC. A trailer whose entire aesthetic is about getting off the grid makes it so you can't even use the refrigerator without shore power! And it costs like $10-20k more than ours with nearly every option. Crazy.

I really can't find anything I dislike about the trailer.

A little insight on what I think are absolutely worth spending the money on up front so you don't have to screw with it down the road.
- two lithium ion batteries - I never want to worry about running out of juice. We ran out of battery power in the NoBo over Thanksgiving a few years ago when it got down to 28 degrees at night and it sucked
- single 100 Watt solar panel - keeps the trailer charged in the driveway at all times and seems to do a damn fine job of keeping it charged while camping. Assuming it has limits, but as weekenders, I doubt we'll find them
- u-shaped dinette - great for two people. If you have more than two people, I assume it's not ideal
- aluminum wheels - god they look so much nicer than the painted ones
- sliding windows - screen on only half of the window instead of the awning style that has a screen covering the entire window, somewhat obstructing your view. Assuming that's a strong opinion thing though
- manual awning - the thing is damn sturdy and well designed and much better for rainy areas versus the electric awning that will auto retract in wind and you can't lower one side to allow rain to run off
- two way water heater - no point in missing out on hot water just because you don't have hookups
- 6 cu-ft three way fridge - same as above
- single plug inverter - we don't have any additional appliances that we need to plug in when camping, so a single dual plug outlet is fine for keeping phones charged
- SeeLevelII tank monitor - so much better than the four-led style readouts with unreliable probes
- Lagun Table Mount - absolute must for u-shaped dinette. Maximizes leg room and can be completely removed to create a little lounge area if you don't want a table there as well as a ton of adjustability.
- Wireless rear camera - some people on the forums say they're a waste but I use ours the entire time while driving and reversing and it makes it so you don't need any additional mirror extensions or anything on the Tacoma. Tacoma mirrors easily clear the sides of the trailer, but the camera fills in the gaps very well
- LED awning lights - absolutely love these
- Exterior access hatches - small but super useful
- front storage box - no question a must-have
- at least one exterior shower for doing dishes
- raised dinette - I'm 6' 1" and I would have been upset if we didn't get the extra 3 inches of height in the dinette. Makes it much more normal height for seeing out all of the windows

I know a lot of people think people praise the things they buy because they want to feel like they made the right decision spending a lot of money, but I'm not that type of person. The Escape really is that nice of a trailer when compared to the competition and compared to the competition, the value is really unbeatable. I'll gladly shill for them for free as my wife and I are both super happy with the upgrade.

From this weekend:

 

@brtnstrns
Excellent commentary thanks. Bookmarked this page in case we make the leap.

I concur that the basecamp looks swell and would work for 1 person but that's about it and for 20k less I'd go with the bigger Escape. It would be nice to have a bit more room for me to setup a laptop and download images from my Nikon and do some on-the-road editing. Our kids are gone it's just the wife and myself and compared to what we are using now this would be luxury. And when the kids come to visit - presto... instant living quarters... like an addition to the house LOL.

Now if they would only figure out that I'm Warren Buffets long lost son or something I'd be set... still waiting on that check in the mail LOL...

 

Well to be fair, the Basecamp in the photo is the 20X so it's got a dinette as well as a bed. They just picked it up last week after owning the original one for a couple of years. The 20X is definitely good for two people and dogs, but again, I think the perceived quality is significantly higher than the actual quality. Beyond the refrigerator, you can't even mount an awning on the damn thing and the solar panels are essentially useless for anything but keeping the batteries topped off in storage (their sales person basically told them that verbatim; so weird). Plus dual axle > single axle in my opinion. There were a few other funky things about it that I can't quite remember right now, but beyond the look of it, I don't really care much for it.

 

Great summary! Thank you! I believe your goals with your setup are fairly well aligned with mine and I'll be following a lot of your guidance when we decide to order one. We are camping with our friends this weekend that have the Escape 19, so it'll give us a great opportunity to check one out in person. My guess is we will love it, but will probably want the little more space of the 21 for our family of 4 plus our Black Lab. And then we will be going half ton shopping (unfortunately).

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm starting to agree. We actually test drove a Ram 2500 diesel this weekend just to see what stepping up to a heavy duty truck would be like. The diesel was amazing and the interior space of the cab with a full size bed would fit our needs really well. The truck felt massive (because it is) but it drove nice. We were impressed. The 4th gen Tundra teaser pic that was just released this week looks pretty good, so I'm still wanting to hold off on making any final decisions until that truck is fully released.

 

Yeah I totally understand that. I still lust after Tundras, but 99% of the time don't need one. But like I said, if it wasn't just the wife and me and the dog, it would be a different story. I'm certain we're right at the edge with the Tacoma's payload, if not slightly over, once we're fully loaded for camping and hitched up. The Dobinsons 110 leaf springs and weight distribution hitch make it pretty drama free though.

Honestly, if I was made of money, I'd go for the Escape 5.0 and a full size pickup. The layout seems like it would be awesome as well as the interior height while keeping the overall length relatively short. The 21 or 21NE seems like it's well suited for a family of four though.