Towing a trailer/Airstream

Yeah for a Tacoma, it fairly light duty, seems happiest at half capacity.

I used to operate heavy equipment for a living and towed all sorts of machinery, like the tow vehicle to be overkill for safety reasons.

Sure you tow near or at capacity, stopping all that mass is quite another thing…

 

Thanks for the replies! We are planning now to rent out a trailer, similar to the one we want to purchase and give it a test run.

Guess I should start looking at the Tundra for future sake. Haha.

 

Yosemite is our place to go! We’d be there 2-3x year with the trailer.
What size tires are you running?

 

Nailed it on both points!
You always want to have the upper hand when towing.

 

My recommendations:

• At 5000 # you will need a brake controller - I am pleased with the Tow Pro Elite from Redarc and they make a harness that plugs directly into the TRD factory harness
• Some sort of scanner that monitors your TP1 and TP2 temperatures is critical (in my opinion) for towing so you can see - in real time - how your transmission temperatures are changing based on driving conditions. I have a scan gauge 2 and like it, but there are other options that members here have had good experiences with.
• You may want to consider leveling bags or helper springs to keep your Taco level - I installed a set of Hellwig 981s for a few hundred bucks (self install).
• Head to a local truck stop, fill up, and weigh your Taco in its current configuration so you have a good baseline of what your numbers are before you get a trailer... when you get the trailer head back and be sure to re-weigh in the same conditions (full tank of fuel) so you can compare. Performance numbers will be a moving target unless you have a solid basis of comparison.

Other than the above, If it were me, I would just wait to see how the trailer towed my first few trips.

I tow a Vorsheer XOC off-road trailer which is 15' but is damn heavy because it is built to handle the loads off-roading will place on it. It is a 3500 GVWR trailer and I have been pleased with my '21 Auto DCSB TRD Sport towing through the Colorado mountains. Where I am disappointed is on long flat grades (I-80 from Colorado to Omaha) the stock gearing and the 3.5 V6 just cannot handle 70 - 75 Mph in S5 on a flat grade with a headwind. I ended up just leaving it in S4 at 70 Mph which kept my trans temps below 200 F and my RPMs at ~ 2800 - 3000 which put me at 10 - 12 MPG. That is on stock wheels and tires but I do have weight in the decked drawers and a leitner rack with gear pods.

A 4.88 or 5.29 re-gear is in my future as well as a transmission cooler w/ fans. I think the re-gear will fix a lot of my towing issues and will let me leverage the overdrive gears on the freeway more. Especially since I want to go with 285s which will only magnify the issue.

Some notes:

• I run a max coupler, fully articulating hitch since it is an off-road trailer and have had zero issues through the mountains, on the freeway at 70+ Mph, and in the city. My trailer is about 10' tall with the roof top tent. You may consider a Hensley Arrow weight distribution hitch (or similar) if your trailer is taller and gets pushed around.
• Check out Tales of Wanderlust on YouTube. That girl towed a base camp behind a 4 Runner for years and just recently upgraded to a Tundra for the additional cargo capacity. She successfully towed an Airstream for 4 years without issue.
• Make sure you take all advice here (including mine) with a grain of salt.... ask everyone chiming in to post pics of what they tow and where... when I was researching I found a lot of advice from people who were just parroting what they heard from others and had never towed with their Taco. There is plenty of wisdom here on TW but there are also a lot of armchair experts so discernment is key. Not disparaging others, just trust but verify is all I am saying.

<Pic 1 - this past weekend after fueling up at a QT truck stop>


< Pic 2 - this was a few weeks ago but the truck is configured the same in the pic above. I'm running dry since temps are still below freezing so this is without the 31 gallons of water my trailer can handle. I fit both axles of the Taco on the first scale so keep in mind about 400 lbs of my Axle 1 weight is tongue weight from the trailer. Next time I go I need to be sure to get each axle on its own scale so I can get front, rear, and trailer weights separated.>

 

i loved our popup trailer.. wife wanted her own real bathroom so we ended up going full travel trailer.. just got rid of that at the end of last year because she wanted a class c. so we now have a class c...lol

 

Been there, done that. Sold my Jayco 154BH Baja and bought an RV. Didn't want to beat up my Tacoma.

 

LOL, that is exactly what happened to my brother. He started off with a used pop-up and kept upgrading until he was towing a monster trailer with his Tundra. I skipped all that madness and just bought me a mountain cabin.

 

Same here, I like my 2016 Tacoma too much and plan to keep it as long as possible. Just didn't want to beat it up towing a trailer. Took 3 trailer trips, sold it and bought a Minnie Winnie 22r class C.

 

Travelling with "tree people". Then a visit to the Giant Sequoia's is in order.

 

lmao

@Lando883, here's my thoughts as someone that tows a 5,000 GVWR trailer similar in size and shape of an Airstream:



First off, weight is obviously a huge factor and the near-complete elimination of payload capacity is a very real concern for these trucks. However, lots of people on here tow larger profile trailers that are 9-1/2ft tall or more and over 7 feet wide. The aerodynamics of a trailer are a huge factor a lot of people don't take into account.

I originally towed a NoBo 16.5 and although it was only 7 feet wide, it was 9'-7" tall. I would average 9-10 mpg towing.

I now tow the above Escape 19. About the width of the Tacoma (don't even need mirror extensions) and just about 9 feet tall, including the air conditioner. I average right at about 12 mpg towing this. I don't drive like a grandma while towing either: I pretty much stick solidly to 65mph but will rarely go up to 70mph if I need to pass someone. Yeah the engine is reving at 4500-5000 RPM for that time, but that's where the power lives, so I don't sweat it too much.

Both the Escape and the NoBo were about the same size. Obviously the dual axle helps in a lot of ways. But the improved aerodynamics of the Escape make towing so much less stressful. Between the aero and the dual axle, it's much more stable when being passed or passing big rigs.

Weight distribution is a must, in my opinion, if you're towing something this size.

Sounds like you already have upgraded leafsprings. That made a substantial difference I noticed when I started running the Dobinson 110R leafs as well.

As for payload of the truck being wiped out. I try to put as much in the trailer over the axles as I can. That way, I'm not consuming truck payload weight since it can tow better than it can haul. But with the upgraded leafsprings, I also don't really sweat throwing the dirty, muddy, wet lightweight stuff into the bed of the truck when it's needed.

Towing without the tanks loaded is a pretty standard approach. I do that as well unless I'm concerned about not being able to find water near the campground or it's winter and they've got the public water at rest stops or campgrounds shut off. Depending on the location of the water tank in your trailer, you can also technically use it as ballast against the tongue weight.

My biggest concern in your situation would be hauling three people. We're two people and a 50 lb dog. I'd probably not fret too much over hauling three full size adults with my setup every once in a while, but it would definitely be in the back of my head and I would definitely do everything my power to have the bed empty for that situation.

285 sized tires may make it suck a lot worse as well, so I can't speak to that as I'm staying with 265/70R17's for the sole purpose of not making the truck have to work any harder than it needs to.

Airstreams seem to have very little room for payload capacity as well (4000 dry to 5000 GVWR is pretty damn small since batteries, water, and propane aren't part of that 4000).

If you're willing to spend Airstream money and have some patience, I'd check out Escape and other fiberglass trailer options. They're typically higher quality than all the major brands and they'll likely outlive the soon approaching nuclear holocaust and maintain their values as well as Tacomas.


Here is the NoBo 16.5 for comparison, like a giant wall going into the wind (like most mass-produced trailers):

 

If people are happy towing half the recommended amount more power to ya, but Toyota is building in a safety factor already when they give you their towing and payload numbers. If you get a brake controller and tow with half a brain you're fine. Granted, most people I see towing travel trailers and 5th wheels seem to be 1/4 brain status.

 

Wouldn't want to tow that weight with this truck. Dry is 4k then add the people, supplies and water etc etc and its a heavy bitch esp for this little truck

 

I pull 4.5k with air bag system and electric brakes no problem. No rise in tranny temps in summer , no sag, and about 12-13 mpg.

 

Stop off at 3 Rivers so your dog can play in the water that feeds into Lake Kaweah. Very close to the south entry to Sequoia. There might be a restriction to entering too far into the park with a trailer? I think there is a campground close to the south entrance?

 

255/85/16 in the pic and now running 315/75/16.

 

I’ve towed my boat at 4K lbs and it will do it, but it’s FAR from comfortable to ride along