So, I bought my first travel trailer and...... questions...

Think I found mine in the kick panel. Nothing to it.

 

I for sure want used. I can't see myself spending like 10K on a "fancy tent" with wheels.

The one I am looking at is a 2011 Jayco its under 5K and has AC. The dealer said it has had one owner and is in "really good condition".

We shall see =)

 

I'm towing a GeoPro 16TH and we are pretty loaded with 4 dirt bikes + gear, I have a 3" lift on 33's with 4.88 gears and OVTune. I concur that the truck works hard when pulling hills but the truck more or less works as expected (sometimes we drop to 50 mph but only on the gnarliest climbs in our mountains. wifey says we dropped to 40-45 on the hardest climb we pull) I've watched my trans temps and pulled most of the steep summits around here and I am in no way surprised at how this truck tows.

As far as having 10 cars behind you that's not been my experience towing but Ive never been in a situation where I couldn't make the posted speed limit.

Towing with a smaller truck or a larger truck I always recommend a properly sized sway control hitch and a good brake controller which will add to your safety margin. Ive said this before and I'll say it again shoot for 80% or less of your MAX weight and you'll always have some margin of safety.

 

I am 100% definitely, without a doubt, positive the white connector there is your obd2 port.

The manual's accurate - the plug is there, but it's tucked down behind the kick panel. No big deal there to remove the panel and pull it up, then plug it in. If you were local I'd offer for you to stop by and I'd just do it for you - it takes a few minutes to install.

I have my P3 installed below the switchplate on the left side. I'm 5'10 and never have trouble bumping it.

 

Super simple to do.

 

Perfect, thanks. I’ll move the wife’s car out of garage first thing in the morning, pull the truck in and pop that panel off. After reading pamphlets with controller and harness, it appears to be a very simple install. Just won’t be able to set it up until I pick up the trailer. No biggie.
Per chance, can you post a pic of your install? Im same height as you. I’m inclined to use the bracket that has the snap in and out for unit so I can remove the unit for non trailering use.

 

These interest me. Please tell me more.

are they costly?
do they need to be professionally installed?
Dealer? Frame shop?

 

Well depends on the condition and all but for having AC which add cost and value that doesn't seem all that bad. Mine was about 3000 with out air when I got it 3 years ago in October. it's a 2009.

 

This. 100%

 

I just know of them. Sumo spring is one. They install between the axle and frame to aid your leaves in carrying the load. You manually inflate them according to the load.
Should be an easy DIY situation if you’re skilled at basic wrenching.
Cost wise unknown

 

2017 TRD OR here. The plug was behind the drivers kick panel. The panel comes off very easily, it's no big deal. You'll need to take it off anyways because there is one wire (white IIRC) in the harness that needs to be attached to a ground. There's a 10mm bolt there behind the kick panel that's a perfect fit.

Pulling the cubby out is straightforward, just start from the top and pull. It's held in by clips.

I ordered a custom face plate that hasn't arrived yet, but here's my "install" of my Tekonsha P3:



My rig:


You're going to have a great trip! Looking forward to seeing pix of your adventure.

 

I have the 6K Equalizer and just weighed the hitch + load bars (81.8 lbs) that doesn't include the brackets on the tongue of the trailer. It would seem that the same weight is just spread over the "other" axles so I would assume its subtracted from GVWR.

From the manufacturer:

Weight Distribution:

Weight distribution is the ability of a hitch to transfer some of the tongue weight of the trailer from the rear axle of the tow vehicle to the front axle of the tow vehicle, and backward to the trailer axles. Without weight distribution the tow vehicle “teeter-totters” on the rear axle of the tow vehicle, and unweights the front axle. Proper weight distribution transfers weight back to the front steering axle, forcing it back to the ground.

 

This^ and this^ and this^ Sound advice. In the interest of purposefully sounding like a broken record... S mode, 4th gear, ECT ON and keep it around 65. That's EXACTLY what we did (though I found that my truck settled in nicely between 65-70 in nice, flat, FL) and just stay in the right lane. Get an audio book, but it'll drive you nuts to not be able to drive around like you do in the city. It might not hurt to watch a few old episodes of Kung-Fu, and acquire patience grasshopper. LoL. You'll know that trailer's back there, but you'll be fine. IDEA: take the WDH to a supermarket & put it on one of those scales in the lobby - not sure if you have that in your area <<OR>> you could throw the hitch on, put the tension bars in the bed and go weigh your truck on a commercial scale with & without. Though distributed, the weight of the hitch is on the truck...tongue weight, literally. It's not all on the tongue as @synaps3 said, but this will err on the side of caution, and you'll know exactly how much the WDH weighs.

This is what we tow... Coachmen Apex Nano 194BHS. 22 ft from hitch to spare, Empty weight 3634lbs, GVWR 4800lbs, and tongue weight of 428lbs. The WDH will decrease the sway on your trailer and distribute the weight across all axles. We also have a boat with almost identical specs and don't use the WDH for that - it's a very noticeable difference to us. Here it is the day we picked it up:

 

Some pretty serious hills leaving Quebec into New Brunswick.

 

Got a link please? Post up after install please. I'd like to add a controller, but don't want it hanging out.

 

I'm in for some pictures.

 

Mrkabc, how far out does that protrude from the dash? Did you mount it or is it just jammed into the cubby space?

 

That seems odd. Normally a trailer of that weight would have tandem axles. Is there something I'm missing?

 

It comes with the snap-in bracket. The bracket's plastic though, so I'd just leave the controller in place. I'd be afraid of breaking the bracket if I accidentally hit it with something.

I don't have a cubby, my switches for my lighting, camper (not the trailer, the one in the back of the truck), OBA, and winch are all there instead.

Excuse the dirty floorboards, I haven't cleaned out the floormats from a hike last weekend. Red clay gets everywhere.




One more consideration with the positioning of this controller that hasn't been discussed yet... On the bottom of the controller is a little lever. It's sprung to stay to the right, but you can easily with your left hand actuate it to manually put on the brakes independently to the trailer. It's essentially a brake pedal to only put on the brakes for the trailer.

This feature is HUGE. Being able to actuate the trailer brakes without touching the truck brakes means if you're getting any sway or bounce or instability, you can gently engage the trailer brakes and it'll straighten itself right back out.

It's also useful for backing down extremely steep inclines with lowtraction. There have been a few times where I was off camber on dirt and needed the trailer to hold while the truck got power to all 4 wheels without rollback to straighten out. Without that feature, I would have jacknifed or had to winch forwards. Given my trailer's lifted on bigger tires and goes off pavement, that's probably not a situation most people will encounter, but still, it's good to know you have that capability if needed.

 

Is it though? The only thing my manual says regarding gear and towing is to use s5 to maintain engine braking and charging