Found my personal comfort level!

Ok. This is towing related, so hoping it can help others make their own choices based on my experience today.

We left North Cascades National Park this morning, headed to Mt. Rainier. We’re staying on the south side near Packwood, so decided to roll SE out of Seattle and make our way through the back highways instead of the boring interstate. Unless you’re commuting, interstates are stupid…

So. All is great, we’re averaging our all-time trailering high MPG at 8.6 over the first 120 miles, which was cool. We typically roll just a shade under 8 when towing. I’ve been making minor tweaks to my transmission tuning with the ol’ HP Tuner throughout this trip, and think I’ve got the thing dialed as good as can be! A mileage gain is always worth it, right???

After we leave Bonney Lake, it gets fun. Seems like we climbed almost nonstop for about 30 miles, and I was certain we would level out soon. The route we (poorly) chose takes us south, right through the east side of Mt. Rainier National Park.

Then the climb really starts! Luckily the road is shit so we are only shooting for about 35-40 (35 zone) and holding that just fine in 3rd gear.

Our tank average has now dropped to 7.4 mpg…

Quite some time after we got into snow drifts on the sides of the road, she finally levels out and I see that the descent is just as ridiculously steep as that climb.

Shit… Glad I have low gears. Glad I have a 2018 with trans cooler. Glad @reywcms talked me into dumping $5K on Alcon brakes. Glad I have an HP Tuner to get that TCM dialed in!

Not gonna lie. I had concerns. I went down a lot of that hill in 2nd gear in the 3,500-4,000 rpm range to keep the speed in check. I did have to use some braking on occasion, but very little with my gear selection. I’d bump into 3rd when it wasn’t too steep, but it wouldn’t last too long…. When I did use the brakes, any excess speed was immediately snuffed out.

There was no traffic behind us, so never pressure to speed up. I did finally pull off after several miles of driving down that cliff to allow my asshole to release the beautiful black perforated pleather of my Platinum interior, and popped the hood to sniff around. Warm? Yeah. Excitingly hot? Not at all. Nothing percolating, nothing steaming, nothing angry. I peeked underneath to see if the tranny was on fire. Nope. Not even all that hot to the touch. I would not want to lay my sack on it, but you could touch it for sure.

We all know our Tundras punch well above their weight class. We also know they have limits. I’m happy to report that I was concerned for my truck long before my truck was concerned for my truck.


Quick bio for those that don’t know my setup:

2018 Platinum CM
133,000 miles
5.29’s
34” LRE Coopers
HP Tuner
Deaver U748 springs
ADS 2.5” coilovers and rear shocks
MCM UCAs
Hydro bumps in rear
Duro bumps in front

With canopy, fridge, Bedslide, etc is 7,300# with me and full tank.


Trailer is a 2021 Grand Design Imagine 2500RL. loaded weight is 6,500-7,000#.
I put on Goodyear Endurance LRE 225/75-15 tires
Tire Minder TPMS
WDH is set so well that the truck sits perfectly level when hitched.

Am I overweight? Probably.
Am I over GVW? I’d imagine.
Was I scared? No, but had concerns.
Did the truck struggle at all? NOT ONE FUCKING BIT!!! Power up the hills was no issue. Transmission control down the hills was fantastic. Braking, when needed, was spot fucking on. I did do some hard braking to be sure, and I don’t think you can make these Alcons fade. I’ve never seen brakes this good. Give them your money.

Im now parked at camp with a whiskey and a beer, and my trusty Tundra is just sitting here ready for round two….

Truck Norris never missed a beat. Quick mileage recap? We averaged 8.2 when it was all over. 220 miles. Dash said 8.2, and hand calculated after the fill up said 8.195. That’s close enough for the girls I go out with, but please don’t tell my wife.

 

Absolutely wicked! I’m due for brakes so you know what I’m doing lol.

 

You already know… That’s not fair! Lol.

But as impressed as I was with the Alcons, I just couldn’t believe how well the rest of the truck handled the load. This was no easy shit, Bro. We’re both from the same general area and know hills. This was like 7% for 10 miles kinda hills. Honestly, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t any descent warning sign at the top of the hill.

 

This post couldn’t be of better timing

Wife just took my truck out to Palm Desert this past week with the kids. Going down the 74 into the valley is not the easiest drive; especially when it’s a heavy thing you rarely drive. Steep and winding. When she got back she didn’t seem too thrilled about the stopping power of the factory brakes and said she only felt comfortable pulling off going uphill. (I actually had a pucker moment a few years ago where I thought I was going to run out of space on a turnoff )

Going to print it out and leave it on her pillow - highlight the word Alcon. Cross out the price tag.

 

Also did you do front kit only? Says under 4800kg should do front kit only? I don’t think I’m there yet but probably only a few cheeseburgers away

 

Should probably add that I’m 49 years old, and have towed trailers my entire adult life, as well as a decent portion of my adolescence. When I say I had concerns it is because I was dropping off the edge with a 1/2 ton Tundra, well beyond what I’d asked of it in the past.

It’s not embarrassing because I fully understand and appreciate the gravity of the situation, but my wife and 13-year old daughter were both completely unconcerned because there was never any “Oh, Shit!!!” moments. I hit it with caution and had a result that exceeded my expectation.

My expectation was a safe descent with high engine/trans temps and beat brakes. None of that happened.

 

Fuck that. Full kit, Bro!!!

(6) 2” piston front and (4) 2” piston rear calipers. The kit is legit.
I have a friend that owns a brake/alignment shop and he was very impressed with the completeness of the kit. He provided wrenches, brake fluid, assembly lube, and cut-off wheels for the backing plates. All swapped out in a few hours.

Bed them in correctly and then flog them like a whore!!!

 

Should also note that I definitely considered fronts only. Very good chance that would be adequate, but I’m a huge proponent of “Full send”. My thought was that the fronts will be so overkill compared to the OEM rears…. Shouldn’t you really do all of it?

I’m so used to them now, they just feel normal. Fortunately, normal is probably on track with a 7,300# Porsche…

 

For y’all that tow absolutely do the full kit. As Chad mentioned it’s unreal the capability. We’ve had them on pops rig and they don’t even show any signs of wear.

You’d go through a few sets of stock pads and rotors before needing to change anything on the Alcon kit.

 

Amazing rigs these things are. You need a whipple. It helps a ton in the midrange lol all for towing!

 

Are these indicated for just regular usage/occasional towing?

 

Once I put these new 35’s on in a few more months, a S/C can be the only logical next step. “It’s for safety, Dear.”

Sadly, she’s 100% got that angle figured out. Took her way less that the 25 years we’ve been married…

 

Not totally sure what you’re asking, so assuming it’s wondering if the Alcons are intended for regular use or more for towing…

A portion of their market is for upfitting brakes on armored vehicles to control the substantial weight increase. The cool part is they fit a larger rotor into a “longer” caliper that uses waaaayyyy bigger pads. Since the functional diameter of the assembly isn’t ridiculously huge, you can still fit a lot of 17” wheels. Some big kits require 18” or even 20” wheels. Replacing all rubber lines with braided stainless is a real plus, as you lose all the flex.

In the end, they’re still just brakes. Super high quality, silly impressive brakes. The only downside is the cost, but that’s a very short term problem with a long term solution.

 

The GVWR of a 2018 Platinum CM is 7200#. You stated your TRUCK weighs 7300# before you ever hooked it up to your camper .
Then you hooked up to 7000# camper with a 700-850# tongue weight. So likely around 8000# or more of Vehicle weight.
You were right to be concerned. A windy steep mountain pass with the family on board is not where I'd wanna feel that setup out, glad it worked out ok.
These trucks are stout and highly capable, but be safe out there people!

 

That's essentially what I was asking - I'm moving to VA and I don't tow a *ton* so I was basically wondering if they're only intended for heavy duty, or if it's still a worthwhile upgrade for your regular guy just driving around. Thanks!

 

That's a healthy trailer for the mountains. I pulled a Rockwood 2507S full of water (almost identical specs) around the Midwest flats and always felt it was just a little bit bigger than what I would consider to be comfortable if it was windy or the roads were rough.

Those ADS shocks and deaver springs are killer too. I had ADS 2.5s and OME Dakars on a past Tacoma and it was stupid how egregiously overloaded I could get that truck and it would still control the weight.

 

You can never have enough brakes even in regular usage. We’ve owned high end vehicles with massive brakes and it’s single the most important mod on any vehicle.

 

Hey Chad! Have any feedback on your suspension setup while towing and in general? I did a quick search to see if you had a build thread for additional info and didn't see anything so figured I could ask here.

I have a 2017 Platinum and I just finished my first 2500mi road trip in it towing a 4000lb travel trailer. While I was impressed with the ol' Tundy in general, the brakes and suspension left quite a bit to be desired. I spoke with Rey's dad when I bought his GFC about the Alcon brakes and he nothing but praise for them. As for suspension I'm leaning towards a similar setup to yours from MCM (U748s, MCM UCAs with Delta Joints, and ADS 2.5s front and rear with adjusters) but was looking for some real-world feedback and it looks like we have similar use cases. Thanks!

 

I’ve been beyond happy with the suspension, and have had it for about 40K miles now. Getting rid of the crappy OEM rear springs was the biggest improvement.

I’m not much of a build thread fella, but this appears to be a very complete and well tuned setup.

 

Don’t be sorry! I admit that I’m likely over weight. Without derailing my own thread too far, I think it’s also a fair point that some common sense should be applied when loading and hauling. I’ve done a ton of upgrades that dramatically improve capability related to load handling. My loads, both in the truck and on the ball, are low center of gravity.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying what I’ve done is right. I am 100% saying that I believe my truck is more capable with this load-out than a completely stock F-150 that has a higher listed rating. I knew I’d get a raft of shit for being overloaded when I posted this. ‘Tis the way of our forum, right?

You shoulda seen the DCLB that was camped near us at North Cascades. That dude had a camper that was huge. I thought about snapping a photo to share, but didn’t have my phone with me.

 

Certainly not my first time with this trailer in the hills or corners. We took it though WA, ID, MT, WY, and back through OR last summer. Close to 3,000 miles without a single hiccup. This was just the longest single steep grade I’ve navigated.

 

I’m curious what my actual weights are now! I’ll see if I can find a scale on our route and post up my real numbers!

 

The truck is capable of doing far beyond paper numbers. Just don't do it often.

I remember hauling a 24' trailer with my 4.7 2008 TRD up a mountain between New Mexico and Arizona. 35mph the whole way. But we made it.

Then when I got to the top and saw the longggggg way down, and I'd swear I could see all of AZ in front of me.

I kept it in the same low gear and crept down the mountain at the same speed I crept up.

I don't want to know what the weights were. But they were over paper...

 

Rad, thanks for the feedback!

 

Just as a heads up. ADS makes some of the best shocks out there. It was actually started by a few people that were at King and wanted to make a better product. We will be moving to ADS next month on the old mans rig but you can't go wrong with the big names. It's about dialing it all in to work together.

 

I read the ADS are great for fast transition off-roading, whoops etc. I also read they click during operation? what's that all about?

 

All bypass shocks make clicking noises. They have valves inside the bypass tubes to control oil flow. I would say all these shocks do well in not only fast off-roading but also in slow crawling and normal driving usage. You get what you pay for that's for sure.

 

Good info, thanks! I'm sure I'd be happy with King, Fox or Bilstein as well, but I'm liking the sound of the kit MCM has put together and the fact that ADS makes a Deaver spec rear shock to work with the U748s.

 

Great kit for sure!

 

Agreed…

I did not opt for clickers when I put my kit together. Talking with Tyler at ADS, he was confident the fronts would be awesome without added adjustment, but I may have benefitted from clickers in the rear.

At the time, I still used airbags so bypasses would have been a bit of a waste. Since ditching the bags, I sure wish I would have bought bypasses. I don’t have a ton of travel, so it would be nice to have that damping progression before contacting the hydro bumps.

It’s still really great, but the bypasses would have been nice when it was only an extra grand… Now I’m a little more committed to what I have. Maybe when it’s rebuild time I’ll redo the fronts and swap to bypasses out back. And LT…. Lol.