We just bought a new camper and my truck will be pulling it, questions and tips

120+105+80(ish)+110+120+35+41+95+20(ish)+75(ish)+10+15(ish)...

800-900 pounds plus passengers and luggage. Ok, I was wrong, it's plausible it's running heavy.

Sounds like you're going to be overweight before even hitching up a trailer. That's out of my wheel house of experiences. Other than double down on the advice of take it slow, and be careful on the hills,

 

Neighbor across the street from us had a stockish DCSB OR, came home one day with a 19’ TT. It was comical watching him just come down the street. Don’t think he ever towed before…think he used it maybe 2-3 times. Then one day came home with a Tundra…

 

As we have discussed all along the lack of payload is the Tacoma downfall.
As suspected, with your build & gear you are already overweight and you haven't added any people, camping gear or the trailer tongue weight yet. There just isn't enough truck to work with.

Probably should reevaluate this trip so it doesn't become a misadventure.

 

Would a Tundra tow it better? YES, better brakes, Trans and more towing capacity. But what most people fail to understand is the payload is not that much more, maybe 3 to 5 hundred lbs more. In this case the Tundra would also be over GVWR with all that armor and recovery gear.

I am not saying that it's ok to tow with the Tacoma with this much weight, that's something Beth and her husband will have to decide. We just can't assume that because it's a 1/2 ton that it would be weight legal in this case.

I have an 18' trailer and it tows just fine at Toyota's stated capacities.

 

I believe something folks underestimate is how much leverage a trailer has on a light weight tow vehicle. Especially a high profile travel trailer as opposed to a utility trailer of equal weight, the wind is not your friend when towing a travel trailer.

I have a drive on trailer with a GVW of 8000 pounds. I have towed it with 2 old Fords, a F-150 with a curb weight of about 4400 pounds and an F-250 with a curb of 6600. Yes, the 250 has larger brakes, stiffer tires and heavier suspension (and a 460 V8 ) which all make it a superior tow rig.

Weighing in at 2200 pounds more however makes the 250 feel much more planted on the road, the trailer has much less influence on the truck in any situation.

Extra: A properly set up weight distribution hitch makes a big difference in the towing experience as well.

 

My post wasn’t about a modded truck…more about how people go through the camper evolution…
he went out and bought a 24’ TT, since sold the Tundra, and is now in a 3500 Diesel Ram. Have seen most of my buddies go through it.

Did a lot of heavy equipment towing in my younger years, a Tacoma wouldn’t be my first choice as tow rig for 18-19’ trailer. I like a bit of overkill for safety and my stress level. It does really well at about half capacity, for power, fuel economy and safety. Start going beyond that things only get worse.

Lots of these threads come up all the time, and are pretty much all the same, plenty of number crunching, and a bunch of bickering back and forth on which way is right.

 

I think I would be concerned about brakes as much as anything. Stock brakes with drum on the rear, really aren't that good.

 

The trailer has electric brakes on all 4 wheels.
The Tacoma overall doesn't have a high capacity braking system to begin with, that said the rear drum brakes are not an issue.

 

Pulling a 16' Airstream with my '15 Tacoma and thankfully Iowa is quite flat. Often some crazy wind, though. I use a Curt Bluetooth brake controller, just keep it at 60-65mph and I'm fine. Tongue weight is right around 350-400# and it's just my wife and I. Agreed that you can max out payload quite quickly in these Tacos!

 

Stupid question, but does upgrading suspension increase towing capacity? Obviously it can help payload, but I wasn't sure if towing capacity simply comes from engine power and braking ability.

 

Not stupid at all, we all start learning at the beginning.

Upgrading the suspension may help you carry a heavier load without sagging and also assist in vehicle handling. The GVW of the truck is determined by the manufacturer. Even though a modified vehicle may handle added weight better, from a legal standpoint over GVW is over GVW, no exceptions.

 

Gotcha, that makes sense. I wonder if the strength of the frame itself is a factor.

 

There is a lot to towing capacity, people often think of power, cooling, strength of frame, etc.
What is most often overlooked is the mechanical advantage of the trailer against the truck - leverage.

A pallet jack makes a good example if you are familiar with one. A 200 pound man can tow a 2000 pound pallet easily on a smooth concrete floor even though the pallet is 10X heavier than the man.

Now try to stop or turn the same pallet suddenly -- it doesn't matter how "strong" the man is, the weight of the pallet now easily overpowers him. Try the same pallet on a slight incline either up or down, the weight wins every time.

Substitute trailer for pallet and truck for man -- this is the light truck towing capacity problem.

 

TIL. Always something to learn, thank you!

 

Technically you could beef up the frame, the suspension, drive train, etc, but then you have to go through a bunch of government testing to get the GVWR change, majority of civilians can’t afford it. Some government contractors do this. The Navistar SOTV-B comes to mind, which basically is a whole new chassis that has a payload of 4000lbs! and only the body panels look like a Toyota.

http://www.miltechmag.com/2015/05/sofic-2015-vehicle-to-blend-in-and-be.html

Ironically you can lower the GVWR on paper for commercial trucks, we did that for one of dump trucks so the drivers didn’t need a CDL, the catch is you can’t haul anything over the now lower weight.


https://www.worktruckonline.com/145897/re-rating-gvwr-why-and-how-its-done

 

When I bought my F-250 it had been registered at a lower weight by the previous owner to save on the cost. I had to fill out forms and send pictures of the vehicle certification plate to DMV to get it raised -- so I could then buy the more expensive registration.

 

IIRC some states you have to register some 1 Tons as a commercial vehicle, unsure of what the weight cutoff is offhand.

 

Going to get trailer brakes.

 

Ok got it home. Weighed both again at the CAT scale. It’s not pretty. But the trailer is really cool!!

 

Better get a bigger truck while you're at it.