Towing an RV... it is possible believe it or not!

After months of research and everyone having an opinion on what my truck could or couldn't do, my wife and I decided to take the plunge and order a new travel trailer. Due to Covid-19 reeking havoc on the RV industry, we placed an order for our new Winnebago back in August but didn't take delivery until last month (Dec 2020). Two camping trips does not make me an expert by any means, but I wanted to share my experience after 350ish miles of towing under my belt...

THE TRUCK:

• 2018 Tacoma TRD Off-Road 4x4 (Cement/V6/Automatic)

TOWING ADD-ONS:

• Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake & Wiring Harness (90195 & 3031-P)
• SumoSprings Rear Axel 1,000lb. Helper Springs (SSR-612-47)
• Blue Ox TrackPro® WDH w/Sway Control (BXW0650)

THE CAMPER:

• 2021 Winnebago Micro Minnie 1808FBS
• Exterior Length: 20' / Exterior Width: 7' / Exterior Height 10' 9" (w/AC & Roof Vents)
• Dry Weight: 3,760 lbs.
• Hitch Weight: 390 lbs.
• Dual Axel (Winnebago is one of the few manufacturers to offer dual axels in smaller length trailers)

Reading the "Trailer Towing" section of the owner's manual (pages 175-191 in 2018 Manual) and using my model code on the inside of the driver's door on page 180, I confirmed my truck's TWR is 6,400 lbs., GCWR is 11,270 lbs., and Hitch Weight is 640 lbs. Now this is where it gets tricky because RV Dealers, YouTube, and TW will tell you all sorts of things based on these numbers... and just because the truck can pull X, does not mean you should pull X!

With our setup, the dry weight is 59% of the max Trailer Weight Rating (TWR) and our hitch weight is 61% of the max hitch weight. Even adding 1,000 lbs. of gear, water, & food, we're still under 75% of max and I decided that was a comfortable level for me.

Because the trailer is only 7' wide, I didn't buy any extended tow mirrors and I feel as though I can see just fine but they couldn't hurt. Traveling to the campsites, when the camper was its heaviest with a fridge full of food, our gear, & firewood, I would average around 10MPG. Coming home, when it was a only carrying our standard gear & dirty clothes, I would average about 14MPG. No one ever said towing was going to be practical or efficient, but I can live with those numbers personally.

I will continue to update this thread as we get more experiences under our belts and welcome any comments, questions, or concerns from the community!

LINKS:

• 2018 Tacoma Manual - https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM04017U/pdf/OM04017U.pdf
• Trailer Brake - https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/90195.html
• Trailer Brake Harness - https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Tekonsha/3031-P.html
• SumoSprings - https://www.supersprings.com/shop/ssr-612-47/
• Blue OX WDH - https://www.blueox.com/products/trackpro/bxw0650-trackpro-standard-shank-7-hole/

 

Congratulations, looks like you put a lot of thought and research into this and it turned out really well. Good size trailer for towing with a Tacoma.

Just curious if you are a weight nazi (like me) and have taken your rig over a CAT scale. (more than once?)

 

Thanks a lot, we love it so far! And we haven’t driven past a Love’s on a trip quite yet but it’s happening first time I see one haha. I want to know my genuine setup and cargo weigh versus what Winnebago tells me. Trust but verify!

 

The RV industry & dealers don’t exactly help the general public but I agree 100%. I’m definitely still a towing noob but if this thread can help someone else than I’m glad I shared what I’ve learned so far...

 

Nice setup. I too am a bit OCD about my weights and did a lot of calculating. I weighed everything I added to the trailer except our food and clothing that we took with us on our first long trip, which was a dry camp, so I know we had more than usual.
I purchased this from ebay to get a general estimation of of tongue weight. My NoBo fully loaded was at 550#. My dry weight is 4300 and dry tongue weight is about 490#
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Trailer-To...-Noseweight-Gauge-RV-Camper-Boat/192874481388

You can read my review and write up here
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-tow-experience-with-a-nobo-19-6.690623/

 

Very cool set up.

 

Just ordered the hitch weight device! I’ve never heard of one of those so thank you for the info.

 

I couldn't agree more your statement about RV dealers. We're looking for a travel trailer and went to see some and they wanted to sell me one that I didn't want. That was after I let them know where I wanted to be when it came to the dry weight of the trailer. We ended up leaving and I said to my wife, I can't believe they were trying to sell us something we weren't comfortable buying.

 

Great post. I'm towing a Rockwood MiniLite with my 2006 SR5 double cab Tacoma. Loaded the trailer is 5000 pounds. The truck seems to pull it fine and I've been as far as Virginia to Florida. My biggest complaint is the rear of the truck bottoming out hard and bumps and driveways. I'm considering Sumosprings. Could you elaborate on the effect they had on the towing experience? Did you install yourself or have it done? How's the ride with and without the trailer? Would you do it again?

Regards,
Mark

 

Ive never experienced bottoming out personally, but either way I would highly recommend SumoSprings or a similar product because they’ll only improve your situation. I installed myself in about an hour and it’s a pretty simple job as long as you own some Jack stands, a torque wrench, and some sockets. After you drive 250 miles or so the install guide recommends to re-torque the u-bolts and that’s it... pretty strait forward.

Looks like a 2006 has a slightly different model number than my 2018, and 4x2 vs 4x4 are different part numbers, but install guide & process looks exactly the same. As far as ride without towing I can’t really tell any difference but when under load it def helps the backend not squat like you see on so many trucks when towing. I’ve attached a picture of the OEM bump next to the sumo from when I did the install and you can see it’s not even close. I highly recommend!

 

@KissmyTaco - thanks again for the hitch scale recommendation but unfortunately it’s about a foot too small! We ordered the “Explorer Package” on our Winnie which includes off-road tires and a 3” lift for when we boondock and the scale is no where close to my receiver.

Just an FYI to anyone else... it would be great for a boat trailer or something lower to the ground but it’s a no go for us...

 

A small tip. Don't carry firewood or water.

Firewood can usually be purchased near the campsites (not the rough camps) for about $5-10 for a bundle. A bundle will make 1 or 2 fires, being conservative.
Water is typically available as a hook up or as a fill station.
Dump the potable, grey and black tanks when you exit the campground.
Trim as much weight as possible.

Suggest you add a water filter system to avoid bad things like giardia(sp). Its a micro-organism that can make you extremely sick.

Spent many days pulling a folding camper. We camped 1 weekend every month. Longest trip was a 10 day trip to Disney World Fort Wilderness.

 

Stack some $1 12"X12" concrete pavers from home depot or wood under the scale to raise it up to level you need it to be.

 

Have you checked your Interstate gas mileage

 

Great info!!! Thanks!

 

nice setup with the dual axle! Almost bought the Minnie, but couldn’t pass up the price with dual 6-volt inline and dual sway bar setup on my Jaco SLX Baja.

I’m tuned 4.88’s, helps a ton. 12-14mpg is the norm

 

You need to adjust your WDH after you buy it and get it loaded for camping. You can raise the truck back up to level with it. When you buy it they adjust it for the truck to sit level with the trailer empty.


For some reason peeps on here keep mentioning carrying water. Haven’t figured out why you’d want extra weight to tow water around when most are going to established campgrounds with hookups. My camper is similar in weight to yours but a 8’ wide and catches a lot more wind resistance. I’ve towed a micro mini before and they are nicely built trailers. We rented one of them before we bought our bigger one.

 

SpeySquatch, 4.88 referring Gearing?