Towing a 30ft Travel Trailer - Tongue weight, Payload issues, Aerodynamics of a Brick.

The weight will affect you less than the air drag. I have a 12 foot tandem axle utility trailer that I use to haul around my RZR. It's not huge (see spec sheet below) at 1265 lbs, but I get the same mileage hauling the trailer empty or with the extra 1200-1400 lbs of side by side on it. The rear ramp is a wind sail and the drag is what kills my MPGS, not the weight on the trailer. If you size up the sail you will 100% feel it at the pump if nothing else.

 

I’ve done similar in the past, no one’s perfect. Glad you made it safely! Now don’t do it again(from a random stranger on the internet).

 

^^This

I have been keeping tabs lately between the Tundra and the diesel. Until I add a lot of weight in semi hill to hills country, the weight seems to make marginal difference. Tow a 7x7x14 TA trailer at 75 mph will get 11.5 mpg all day long through Montana and North Dakota. The damn thing is 8’ 9” tall ground to top and weighs in at 1450 lbs empty, add 1200 lbs of toys, and at 2650 lbs pulls at 11.5 mpg (no wind). Now switch over to my boat on the same I interstate, same speed at 4000 lbs, that will pull at 13.5 to 14 mpg.
[EDIT] That mileage was with a diesel. The Tundra would have been 8-8.5 mpg. [EDIT]

The air drag is what will cost you the most at the pump until you get really heavy.

 

You may very well be right. However I 100% thought I was fine at the time. The dealership agreed that I was ok.
I believe I had too much weight distribution adjusted in. I only had 1” of rear axle deflection with the trailer hooked up and everything on board. The wdh was doing its job….. right?
8 hours in on day one I broke a wdh bar. Odd…. I did what I had to to get back on the road, I bought a new wdh hitch. I set it up that evening an again dialed it in so that I only had 1” of axle deflection. We were off.
Two weeks later I pulled into the Tetons. I noticed that the rear of the truck was closer to 3” of deflection. Hmmm. Must be the new bars took a set? Didn’t seem right but I was able to readjust the wdh hitch so all was well again.
When I arrived home my truck was again about 3” off normal. So I examined the bars and the wdh hitch for deflection. All looked great. The rear of the truck sat the same empty.
On a hunch I threw a 36” piece of 2” tubing in the back of the truck and headed to the Toyota dealership. I noticed that when I inserted the tube in my hitch and measured the height at the end it was several inches higher than the same bar inserted into a new truck. The hitch was in fact bent up.
I also noticed that my bumper was contacting the box. Another sign of a deflected hitch.
Toyota engineering visited the dealership and confirmed my hitch was bent. They authorized replacement.
I have a suspicion that I had too much torque on the hitch combined with a lot of suspension travel over some of the whoops in some of the two lane roads out west.

 

On the last trip we went on I was playing a game and trying to predict the amount or size of the “dip” and how much it would rock the truck based on when I could see the amount of tire skid marks in the road dips/heaves. The more tire marks in the dip the bigger the hit

 

I’ve never heard of anyone breaking a bar, not that it matters as I’m no expert. Damn! Glad they made you whole anyway.
The way I learned it was by how much the front deflects. If I remember correctly it was about a quarter to half inch deflection, upward from unloaded. The rear will squat how it will squat. It’s about balancing the load across axles.
I mean, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos some years ago so I’m practically an expert now that I think of it.

 

Ball to Bumper. It's a 29' and change length box.

 

With judicious loading and balancing, it's doable. We have a 2019 Tundra Off-Road 4x4 and we pull a Winnebago 2401RG (Dry Weight 5,220 lbs./GVWR 7,000 lbs./Hitch Weight 650 lbs.). You do have to be VERY careful on the payload as it is easy to blow past the pitifully low one the Tundra has. Recently took a trip to the Hill Country in Texas (Blanco to be exact). Other than an issue with the IBC overheating the trailer brake hubs if the gain was turned up over 3.5 we didn't really have a major problem, even with the 30-40 mile an hour winds going down and coming back (other than the normal you get even with a 3/4-1 ton truck). There is NO way I'd go any bigger than this as it's really easy to blow past payload.
Averaged about 8mpg going down (dragging brakes culprit) and about 9.7 coming back (IBC adjusted so minimal drag/heat on brake hubs).

 

21bhe imagine xls , 4890 unloaded and 6395 gvwr.
25 feet overall length and I am close to 5600 loaded .
Trailer is 8 feet wide , I Surely don’t want to go any bigger , tundra is confident towing it and love how it handles .

 

Who set up your WDH? Seeing a set up like that on the highway is no fun when we are towing. We can't point and say, "What idiot set that one up?".

Regardless, it looks to be about as close as you can get.

 

Towing a 29' Forest River cruise lite. 5900 Dry, figure 6900 loaded. Through NY, VT, NH and Maine some hills and mountains. Stay at or below 65 mph. Rig handles well. I do have the TRD rear sway bar and upgraded the tires to Yokohama Geolander G015 AT in the XL load range, gives 300 lb more per tire. Run 50 PSI in rear 40 in front. Also have ScanGauge 2 to monitor trans temp on my 2021 Platinum. Have towed multiple travel trailers and had a cattle farm with Gooseneck Stock trailer and 25 ft dove tail flatbed for hay. Had Ram Diesels in 2500 and 3500 variants. Net Net - I would not go larger in terms of Travel trailer than what I am towing now, just personally speaking. If we want a larger rig than a 2500/3500 would be in my future. My loaded weight is close to the max with my wife and 2 60 lb dogs plus the bed loaded and trailer loaded. Good luck on your decision.

 

I should address that the total length - ball to bumper - is 30ft but the body itself is more of 26ft if you think about it.

Both Winnebago and Coachmen measure from ball to bumper, the Apex Ultra-light 256BHS probably has 25'6" of body length and same with the Winnebago Minnie 2301BHS is more of 26' body. is that better for the Tundra? the dry weight of both are under 6,000lbs but frontal area was my biggest concern, my current trailer is both slimmer and shorter in height, even though is a 22ft total length the body is 19'.

 

Thank you for the post! That's almost exactly the rig I'm looking at but yours is 28ft total length, maybe 25ft body length. The 2301BHS is 30' total, 26-27' body.

Funny thing is that both coachmen and winnebago advertise those lines as "half-ton" towables even up to 34ft in total length. Just because they are under 10k lbs doesn't mean they are half-ton towable. Just wanted members input and hands-on experiences. One thing is what the brochure says another thing is dealing with it in real life conditions

 

We rented a 28 footer and pulled it with our 2WD Sequoia. Fully loaded down with a family of 5 and a 75lb dog for a weekend trip to a state park. Used a WDH and tow haul the entire time. Actually had to keep my foot off the gas or I'd catch myself speeding. Average mpg was 7-8 (28 gallon tank). Zero issues.

 

Yea I think the one foot less in overall height makes the Apex a better TT choice to the Minnie - that said, I’m really leaning toward a <27ft overall length trailer as I have towed before but this will be my first time towing regularly and long hauls as retirement is looming…. again Good Luck

 

Please explain what you see that I don’t?

 

I think his point was that it was set up so perfectly that we can't point and laugh at a poor WDH installation job. He can confirm.

 

And that's the reason I said it's about the MAX I would comfortably pull with the Tundra. It's pushing the ability of it as it is. Anything bigger (weight specifically) I would be SERIOUSLY looking at a 3/4 ton at least, and if I was going to go to that extreme, probably a 1 ton SRW. If I had this trailer when we purchased the Tundra, I would not have purchased the Tundra and went ahead and gotten a 3/4-1 ton truck.... but our original trailer was a Micro Drop 1790 and we were pulling it with a 4-Runner, which we exceeded hitch limits with so got a Tundra instead, wanting to stay in the Toyota line... then we had this happen. Same tree that took out this trailer also took out the Tundra.... and we were going to replace with a similar size trailer so we got another Tundra.... then the wife found the 2401RG and fell in love with it.




We love the floor plan of the 2401RG, it's ideal for 2 people and a couple of fur babies. And it's REALLY nice having two entrance doors and the ability to close off the sleeping area with a door from the living area. You can also access the dinette without putting out the slide, as well as the bathroom so if you are going down the road, you can stop for a quick "rest stop" (which we have done many times) and use the facilities.

 

It looks to me to be one of the few that are properly set up. Both truck and trailer appear to be level.

 

Nailed it.

 

Well dudes and dudettes, based on the feedback here, and also my *super objective* gut feeling, we went with the 26ft total lenght Winnebago Micro Minnie 2306bhs.

We took the time to visit dealers and see the Apex Ultra-lite 276bhs (a 30ft long but low 10.5ft tall) and the bigger and taller Winnebago Minnie 2301bh (30ft long and 11.5ft tall). Bottomline, super dissapointed with the Coachmen unit, laminates were already coming off, everything felt flimsy and even though layout was amazing for a 30ft, we are used to a different quality level and we know things will break so seeing that low quality from the new lot was a debbie downer. The bigger Winnebago was just too tall too big it felt. So we went smaller, narrower, lower and still get a couch plus dinette, bunks and a full bathroom.

It tows amazingly, I think even better than my old 22’. Its a big longer so it feels less nervous? And set the WDH properly so now everything sitts super leveled and its hard to explain but I feel like both truck axles are planted to the ground. Before I felt more weight on my back axle. So all and all great sweet spot the 26’.

 

Nice! congrats! and happy camping!

 

Congrats

 

Awesome...great choice, good luck, and enjoy!

SPP

 

Very nice !

 

I'm really happy with my Coachmen Freedom Express. I think the Apex is the bottom line so they must really cheap out on it. I think those ones don't even get a propane tank cover.

 

Yes, very different product, Freedom Express has much better materials and quality than the Apex line. Their 238bhs is very similar to the Micro Minnie 2306bhs we just bought, but the Coachmen was a foot wider and half a foot taller, about 800lbs heavier. It does have double bunks and outside kitchen. Great option too at 26' overall. I think going to 30ft is just too much for my comfort zone with the Tundra if you pack with a family of 4 plus gear. Doable but maybe not for me... yet lol.

 

Ours is a 2018 25SE so slightly different model than what they sell now. 25 ft inside, 28 ft total. But yes, wide and tall for sure.

I do like the Winnebago Micro Minnie but got really lucky finding the used Freedom Express that was exactly what we were looking for.