First tow with new truck/trailer

I must say I was quite happy with the tundra! No lack of power it handled well. I previously install airlift 5000 ultimate. I had only 25psi in them and also used a blue ox wdh. It was quite windy on the highway and I could feel trailer getting jerk from time to time, trailer is only 6100lbs and 31’ tip to tip sold as a 26” inside. I pretty much double my fuel consumption going from 13L/100km without trailer to 25,5L/100km towing trailer but it is what it is didn’t get a tundra to save fuel. Overall the ride was still very smooth

 

Might change thread title to first tow. So you installed the airlift before you towed with the truck? Mind sharing why?

 

My friend has the same truck and same trailer weight and it was squatted right down even with wdh so I installed airbags before picking up new travel travel

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

It's my understanding that one should use either air bags or WDH, not both as if the WDH is adjusted correctly then the air bags are not necessary, maybe even counter productive to the use of the WDH. Just my 2 cents.

 

WDH helps immensely with sway, air bags do not help with sway, only load support.

 

They were great no complains just a good as real tow mirrors on my previous superduty.

 

You can really crank on weight distribution hitch to balance the vehicle. If balanced correctly, the rear squat should be gone.
What drive mode did you use to tow? I noticed Tow+ gets a bit worse fuel economy than tow/haul.

 

How did the add on mirror extensions work?
I had zap and snap on my F150 but not available for the Tundra yet.

 

driving home from dealership I didn't even thought of putting truck in tow+, rookie mistake ahahah. today went I drove back trailer to storage I did put truck in tow+ and right off the bat I noticed it was revving higher than normal. not sure what are the perks of tow+ mode

 

I use both. The WDH helps redistribute the weight and combat sway. The bags help increase the spring rate for less porpoising. Depend on the WD hitch used, spring bars also increase the spring rate, but act through the leverage of the tongue weight and trailer behind the rear axle; bags act directly on the axle so I find it to be a better way to control and tune the ride. Also, I have my bags plumbed separately so they do help combat sway to some extent.

@Welderdude80 - glad to hear you are enjoying your new truck! I’ve also been told by several folks that pull with their new tundra that the rear seems to squat a bit more than expected, but doesn’t give them issue. They still recommend bags. So, IMO, good call. I like the setup.

 

Thanks . We traded on a 2018 rockwood fifth for a 2023 wildwood both made by Forrest river and were so disappointed into their quality and craftsmanship seems like it all went for shit in 5 years.

 

You are not alone in your quest for quality! The trailer industry seems to be hurting for quality. The demand has driven the quality into the ground. Most of the trailer lines are owned by Thor. They are concerned about profits and know that if you don’t buy an Airstream for example, you will buy a Forest River or one of their other lines. They are going to get your money either way so they don’t need to try hard to put a out a quality product since you are going to buy something from them.

 

. So sad the way things are going and you’re 100% right about Thor https://rvtroop.com/rv-brands-to-avoid-and-why

 

I towed our toy hauler from Indiana to Oregon last summer and I noticed going over the Rockies and other ranges out west, when you I put it in tow/haul+ it didn't shift as much which is what I was after as some of the passes the truck would shift a bit more than I wanted. I put it in tow/haul+ going up steeper passes and otherwise I just used tow/haul mode.

I also put Airlift 5000 airbags on mine as I haul various items that may not be over the cargo rating but still makes it sag as well when I put a couple of dirt bikes in the back (500 lbs) then hook up our trailer. I have learned what air pressures to run to get the truck back to sitting level before I hook up the trailer and the WD hitch. Makes it drive much better in my opinion.

 

If you aren't towing, tow/haul doubles as "turbo".

Also re WDH, cranking up too high can cause traction issues, and hence vehicle control issues, because your rear wheels aren't planted as firmly on the road as they should be.

 

I did my first tow of the season with my 2022 DC Limited after years of towing with my 2011 DC SR5 5.7. My trailer weights about 5500 lbs loaded. Using the same dual cam WDH I had with the old truck, using the same number of links in the snap up chain, the truck squatted much more than the 2011 and I had to take up another link to improve the trim of the truck. Power delivery/RPMs were much better with the 2022 but the truck did not feel as planted as the old one. Feels like I should go another link to get more weight on the front wheels but I cannot go any more links without binding with the dual cams. Guess I will either have to live with it or get airbags.

 

Towing squat is a trade off to a more compliant suspension. We get a nicer ride but the coils are not going to be as rigid as the previous generation leaf springs when towing.

Air bags are probably going to be the only way to get the truck close to level but they do come with some trade offs.

When cranking up your WDH, you don't want to go too far to unload the rear axle. Setting up the WDH will require some work and if you have airbags, it will complicate the situation. Even running Timbren's in my truck made it hard to dial in the load distribution.

In my case my trailer has a 500 lbs tongue weight and causes a noticeable amount of squat. I have decided to put a 1" Westcott lift in the rear and just run the WDH. This should give me a better road feel and move about 1/4 to 1/3 of the load to the front axle. I think this setup will be closer to level as well. I have already taken the Timbrens out as they were making the unloaded ride too bumpy.

When the trailer was connected, the suspension squatted and the Timbrens held up the truck. So adding WD to the load didn't change the squat as I would have needed to crank up the tension past the weight of the trailer tongue to make a difference putting all the load on the trailer axle and front axle.

A little squat without compromising the ride control is what I am shooting for. That's why Toyota gave us headlights that we can tilt down.

My thoughts would be to run airbags and just sway control on the hitch, or run WD with sway control on just the coils.

Here is my previous setup with my Ridgeline. We had about 300 lbs of stuff in and on the bed and the trailer and hitch on the back for ~600 lbs more. This Honda is basically a car with a bed but it did very well supporting this load with the WDH dialled in. So the Tundra should be able to perform the same or better.

 

Anyone with the previous gen tundra that is now towing with the new gen, any differences that you noticed?

 

Between 2012 and 2022, increased stability, better power management and performance, and better fuel economy.

 

My 2022 towed better than my 2011. I didn't notice sag as I have the advance pack so as soon as it sagged a bit the bags kicked in and leveled me out . Drive and power wise 2022>2011

 

Did you fill her up with diesel? Why is the pump handle green?

 

same here, much more stable and power is significantly better, I used to get up shifts on smaller hills and higher rpm, this thing just pulls , pretty remarkable

I got 15-17 towing and loaded and I would get that empty in my last tundra 2016, I just had one that was always a pig, that said I didn’t care much

but I just did 600 miles in day towing and loaded and wow is this thing an improvement

I also have the advanced package and it stays perfectly level loaded and towing , good job Toyota