To tow or not to tow...

I’ve done a bunch of math and scratching as we plan our purchase. Decided that ~4200 dry is about as high as I’m willing to go. Download one of the towing spreadsheets and look up all the weights. GVWR, CVWR, etc and put them in the spreadsheet. You’ll find you probably run out of cargo capacity before towing capacity. By the time I was done, I had 100lbs of cargo left and 1100 lbs of towing left.

 

Long bed probably tows a little better, but also probably has a little reduced capacity.

 

@Mac Attack: The weight distribution hitch I use is a Husky Center Line TS 32217

http://assets.rigidhitch.com/hitch_instructions/32215.pdf

 

Thanks for that

 

A wise man who (used to happily camp all over the west) told me that dividing the "rated" truck towing capacity by 2 and using that to match the new trailer dry weight - or choose a truck - was a safe start to make a choice. We made a bad choice on one pair of outfits and regreted the result.

 

Use caution when dealing with the RV salesman, in my experience as a first time camper, they are worse than car salesmen and will try to upsell you every step of the way. The first place we looked at tried talking us into a 28ft trailer with a dry weight of 6200 and gross of like 7500-8000 and said it would work if we traveled light lol.

In the end we got a Jayco 184bh that has a max weight of 4k. Which my truck, with the manual transmission, pulls very nicely. And gets 10-13mpg towing in New England. But something to consider is how much stuff you actually need for these trailers, its essentially a small house so by the time we had ours all set up with everything, and you put in the cooler, the grill, food, and clothes, i would be my trailer weighs closer to 4300-4500.

 

SG, totally agree about the salesmen. We went to several RV/Travel Trailer dealerships over a period of time and kept getting pushed into bigger trailers. We bought our 2017 Passport 175BH earlier this year for about 8K less than a new one and it has been fantastic. The taco pulls it easy.

 

I suggest that you read everything you can find on towing weights, payload and tongue weights then do the math for your situation. You’ll quickly realize that the above mentioned Palomino is too much of a trailer for your tow vehicle.

Leave yourself some wiggle room. Don't try to tow the max. You won’t be happy.

 

How do you like the 184, I'm currently looking at the 174?

 

For a first/starter TT, I would say it's great. It's only my wife, baby, amd a dog and we fit very comfortably. My only complaint would be there's not enough outside storage room but not the end of the world. If you do purchase either the 174/184, do yourself a favor and immediately buy a mattress pad, what comes on it from the factory is worse than sleeping on the floor.

We did go on a trip with six adults which resulted in us being very cramped but that was to be expected. We also looked at the 174 and found it to be a little too small for us, the 184 has a slide out for the dinette which really opens it up. After a summer of towing it all over CT, i'm glad i didn't go any bigger the truck pulls it perfectly, save for when you have to back it into a space and it requires 4lo to do it. That would be the only downside of this truck when towing is reverse, its too tall of a gear. I cant speak for anyone else, but i don't expect to go 45mph in reverse anytime soon lol

 

2lo mod... probably the best bang for the buck for you.

 

Just got a 195rb jayco and loved the way it towed. What were your transmission temps while towing? Also, why would you have to go into 4lo to back up? Did you take the sway bar off before you backed up?

 

I have the manual transmission so i haven't been monitoring the temp when towing. I dont think the issues with reverse have anything to do with a rear sway bar; reverse is a very high gear ratio so trying to push the trailer in reverse it struggles. But once in 4lo, no issues at all.

 

Missed the manual transmission part! Lol.

 

The m/t was probably 95% of the reason I bought the truck lol

 

2019 i4 prerunner ......... question is

what is the difference in mounting a standard OEM receiver hitch to the i4 prerunner ??????

the dealer was not encouraging

yet Trucking Thunder has hitch that will fit ..... install
on a i4 or V6

im aware of weight etc................1 bmw moto
no 5th wheel
nothing more than 1500lbs total

i like the sanitary OEM look & installation on the V6 prerunners & 4x4s

please enlighten / explain

thanks

 

19FLB Hideout 3800lbs dry. Tows great, WD hitch and friction sway bar help a lot.

 

Not to worry, you will likely end up in a ditch a few miles from picking up that trailer so both the truck and the trailer will be in the shop most of vacation.

 

If you're just going to the camp ground an hour away... that's fine.

 

Hey everyone I have a 2013 SR5 tacoma with a little 2.7L 4 cyl with a 3500lb tow cap. I am looking at a camper with a dry weight of 2990. I dont intend on pulling the camper with water weight or much cargo at all. Just the camper. Does anyone have or know someone who has 2.7L tacoma and how hard would it be for my truck to pull this camper