Longest trip towing a trailer

I have a 2020 Tundra SR5 Crewmax. Just wondering how long of a trip you've gone with your Tundra and towing a trailer. How did the Tundra handle it and how heavy is the trailer. Got a long trip coming in the near future from the northwest to the south (approx 2700mi). Thanks for any input...ride safe out there.

 

Welcome to the forum. Great towing discussions can be found here https://www.tundras.com/forums/towing-hauling.53/

 

I did 2200 miles (to TN and back) last year pulling about 7800#. I have the truck outfitted appropriately and no issues at all other than the expected poor fuel mileage. Going to do a 1600 mile round trip this summer with the same trailer, fully expect the same outcome.
As 1up said, lots of info and tips here on this site. Good luck!

 

I did a 1500mile RT w/ my camper which is about 4500#.

 

I had a 3700 mile summer trip with my son towing a trailer. Don't think it would officially count in this thread as the trailer was tiny. Had one hell of a time on that trip...wish I could do that with him every year.

 

Thanks for all your input and sharing your real-life experiences. Enjoyed reading through them all and felt all the excitement. Feeling more comfortable and definitely more confident moving forward with my upcoming trip. I've been mapping it out and course when it's time, I leave it to the navigation system to get us there. We're very excited and can't wait...thank you...thank you...thank you.

 

I towed my TT from Portland OR to Austin TX last summer. Trailer is a 21’ long box and measures just about 25’ with the tongue and spare. Total weight was probably about 5,500lbs based on what we had with us. Had my wife and two middle school daughters with me. Tundra did great. I didn’t set and land speed records on the grades but no issues the entire trip.

 

2200 miles from Phoenix to Charleston pulling an 24’ enclosed trailer. Used an Equalizer WD hitch and weighed the rig using CAT scale. Trailer and contents weighed right at 7,500 lbs. Any more than that would overload the drive axle and for a trip like that I wasn’t going over.
Steer axle was under max rating, but I couldn’t get any more axle weight transfer out of the Equalizer.
My conclusion from that was that the truck was loaded to its stated maximum using a rear hitch. To get more capacity one would need a 5th wheel style hitch to put the tongue weight in front of the drive axle.
Nice thing about the Equalizer was the sway control that helped a lot when passing or being passed by semi’s.

 

My longest trip so far has been 5,250 miles. Trailer GVWR is 7,000 but our weight was about 5,600. I have a WD hitch and it tows great!

 

Did a trip last year moving someone last year with uhaul trailer (https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/6x12-Cargo-Trailer-Rental/RV/) and with load probably 3-3.5K# total. Bed was loaded under tonneau cover and additional load in double cab from DFW to NJ (approx 1600 miles). Kept mostly to speed limit and drove pretty close to normal.

 

Over the past 3 years I’ve towed a 5500 pound travel trailer approximately 15k miles. We use an E2 WDH. Pulled All over the mountain west: CO, AZ, UT, etc. also towed from CO to NC and back a few summers ago. All 6 seats filled in the truck on all trips. Fuel economy is abysmal but that’s the name of the game when towing. Truck is great and we’ve made so many memories. Your truck will be fine. Just don’t drive like an idiot. It’s a 1/2 ton, light duty, grocery getter. Get out there!

 

About 3k lbs in a 6x12 enclosed trailer, just did a ~1400 mile trip a few weeks ago. Basically forgot the trailer was even there, except when very windy, or going up hilly inclines and discovering the cruise control kills itself if you slow by more than 5-6mph, hah. Once I figured that out, rest of the trip was a breeze.

 

1,000 miles away. I plan for around 500 miles a day on 1,000 mile trips. I might go 600 miles the first day, and 400 the second. But there is no rush.

 

Thanks again everyone. All great information. To piggyback my post, does anyone actually switch gear (manually downshift) to S3/4 during downhills to prevent wear on brakes or does it really matter or recommended to do it. Thanks again for your inputs. Stay safe...

 

I pulled a 5Klb boat from Houston to FLA. Kept it in 5th as 6th just shifted to 5th all the time. Sometime would go to 4th. The key is keeping rpms about 2400. Trust me it's no diesel. It will get the job done but I always knew the boat was back there. Searay 205

 

I would tow in 5th on flat highways. All other times I would stay in 4th. Tow/haul mode makes a difference with acceleration and deceleration when towing.

 

Yes. Not just for that reason, and it really does matter. The Manual says: 1. Always Toe/Haul Mode. 2. Do not exceed 65mph. 3. Do not use cruise control
To maintain engine braking efficiency and charging system performance
when using engine braking, do not use the transmission in
D.
Transmission shift range position must be in 4 in the S mode.
Also:
Selecting shift ranges using S mode restricts the upper limit of the possible gear ranges, controls engine braking forces, and prevents unnecessary upshifting.

The initial shift range in S mode is set automatically to 5 or 4 (6-speed
models) or 4 (5-speed models) according to vehicle speed. However,
the initial shift range may be set to 3 or 2 (6-speed models) or 3 (5-
speed models) if the AI-SHIFT has operated while the shift lever was in the D position.
Shift ranges and their functions
● Automatically selecting gears between 1 and 6 (6-speed models)
or 1 and 5 (5-speed models) according to vehicle speed and driving
conditions.
● You can choose from 6 levels (6-speed models) or 5 levels (5-
speed models) of accelerating force and engine braking force.
● A lower shift range will provide greater accelerating force and
engine braking force than a higher shift range, and the engine
revolutions will also increase.
AI-SHIFT automatically selects the suitable gear according to the driver performance
and driving conditions.
AI-SHIFT automatically operates when the shift lever is in the D position.
(Shifting the shift lever to the S position cancels the function.)

 

Thanks all for the inputs and thorough explanations. I kind of understand how the different shift modes works, just never played around with it yet since this will be my first time towing and a heavy (approx 4500lbs) load on a long 2700mi trip. We won't be in a hurry, so fingers crossed, and hope all goes well. Thanks again.

 

Last July 2022 we completed a 6200 mile trip with our 2019 Tundra. We started in San Antonio Texas, travelled to Oakland County Michigan, then to Sumas Washington. We then picked up our new molded fiberglass travel trailer and hauled it the last portion of the trip which was 2300 miles back to San Antonio. The truck did fantastic. We only had three days to cover the last 2300 miles and we did push the truck fairly hard through several mountain ranges. The trailer is a little better than 5,000 pounds and 21.5 feet long with dual axles and electric brakes. We also utilized a sway control hitch with weight distribution. The truck had ZERO issues and performed admirably for the abuse being given to it. We are taking it on about a 3500 mile trip with the trailer this summer.....at a much slower pace. I never want to travel with a trailer that far and that fast ever again.

And No... i do not want to talk about fuel mileage per gallon pulling a trailer up a mountain at 80 mph.

 

Not very long trips for me, only a couple hundred miles, but my Tundras towed great.

 

Anxiety starts to build as I slowly start to pack my 6x12 enclosed trailer for the upcoming 2700mi trip. My 2020 Crewmax SR5 has a pretty low mileage and pretty much a stock setup. I'm sure we'll be less than the maximum tow load capacity with trailer gvwr of approx 5220lbs and with just 3 of us in the truck and some misc light cargo. My question is, is it necessary to upgrade the rear shocks or even need a sway bar or weight distribution system? Thanks again for all your input and suggestions...

 

When I moved from Savannah GA to Anchorage I towed a 7800 pound trailer in my stock 2017. Edit: I did use a WD hitch and was under tongue weight for my payload. That’s the downside of tundra’s relatively low payload.

I did all fluid changes before I left (everything from diffs to coolant) just to be safe. I know it was probably overkill.

I did the same thing when I moved from Anchorage to Texas.


Truck pulled it like a champ.

 

I wouldn’t mess with the shocks or airbags. Look at a good weight distribution/anti sway hitch. I have a fastway E2, but there are a lot of good options. If it’s setup correctly, it’ll be all you need, makes an huge difference especially in windy areas out west.

 

That's a pretty heavy load for such a small trailer. I would want a WDH for that long of a trip at that weight. A 6x12 shouldn't catch that much wind but it could porpoise a lot depending on how you load it. That could become really annoying fast. The WDH will also allow you to adjust the proper amount of weight to the steer axle.

 

The gvwr of 5220 lbs is for both trailer and cargo but it's also on the heavy end. I may consider WDH with sway control to be safe. Thanks again for all your inputs and advise...

 

I towed my boat from Lake of the Ozarks Missouri to Atlanta last fall... approx 900 miles.
Boat, trailer, fuel, etc... was probably near 8000lbs... and I had stock gearing with 35" tires.

The truck handled it like a champ and really didn't struggle at all.

I've been saying since I bought my truck new in 2020, that these things are way overbuilt and more similar to a 3/4 ton truck with exception to the rear springs.
In my case I added a set of Firestone airbags to the rear and it easily handles whatever tongue weight I hang off the back. I very highly recommend them.

As far as my claim that they are way overbuilt... just do some googling. It will support my claims.

I had a brand new Chevy Silverado extended cab dually in 1997 with a 454.
The Tundra has more horsepower, bigger disc brakes (on all 4), better gearing (4.30 vs 4.10) and two extra gears in the transmission. (6spd vs 4spd)

With the added Firestone airbags in the rear, my '20 Tundra is way more truck than my '97 dually ever was.

 

The Manual Says:
● If the gross trailer weight is over the unbraked TWR, trailer service
brakes are required.
● If the gross trailer weight is over 2000 lb. (907 kg), a sway control
device with sufficient capacity is required.
● If the gross trailer weight is over 5000 lb. (2268 kg), a weight distributing
hitch with sufficient capacity is required.

 

Op,

One other thing. Most of the professional fishermen on BASS/Major league fishing tours tow their fully loaded bass boats plus all their gear for 30k miles a year. (Toyota is a huge sponsor of bass fishing and have a contingency program called Toyota bonus bucks). Tundras are a very popular truck because of that.

The way I look at it is if a guy loads down a truck like most of those guys do and tow as much as they do they would be squawking about stuff breaking. Some of those guys have trucks with 200+k miles with everything from stock to fully wild lifted ones.

Here’s a link to an older article

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/1508-hauling-boats-for-the-bassmaster-elite-series/

 

2,000 mile round trip to the left coast of Wash., and 2,400 round trip to the Grand Canyon. Pulling a 24' 5th wheel, 5,700 lbs. I tow in 5th for the most while using 4th in any higher elevation areas.