Towing 101

Can y'all recommend a good website for towing information? I've got a little experience, 3K miles cross country with a U-haul, but I'm looking to learn more.

Thanks

 

Not sure of any one good web site, but the info is out there along with a zillion opinions... What will the weight be for what you are towing? You have a brake controller wired in?

 

I'm not sure of the weight, neighborhood of 7k lbs as a guess. 18' dbl axle trailer and a 1963 Suburban 4x4 weighing 4,500lbs. Yes on the brake controller. Airbags on the rear for leveling and probably a equal-i-zer hitch, I'm checking on that now. Truck has the tow pkg.

 

What exactly do you want to learn? You are headed in the right direction with what you have and how you are going about equipping your truck. Like Trucky said, there are as many opinions for something as against depending on which place you read it. Brake controller, equalizer hitch, proper tire inflation, make sure brakes are working properly, slow down and you gotta make wider turns.

If you went 3k miles across country with a u-haul towing a trailer behind it, you'll love towing with a truck where you can actually see the trailer you are pulling.

 

Actually I used my 95 Tacoma to pull the U-haul trailer. This time I went looking for a Tundra setup for towing.

 

So what do y'all think of the equal-i-zer hitch? Good idea or not?

 

You've got sway control built into the tundras programming, but having this thing would really give you a lot of control from what it looks like. And of course the trucks sway control really isn't better than a mechanical sway control. If I was towing towards the top end of the weight limit, 7000lbs +, all the time, I might invest in one. But 400 bucks for a few heavy tows, I'd probably just hang onto my money. But... If you have the dough and want to get it, I don't think you could go wrong with it.

 

I have never used one before nor have I used air bags. Then again up till now all my towing has been done with 3/4 ton trucks. I plan to tow my set-up at least once before I decide if I need any of that stuff. I will be towing between 7k and 9k lbs but only 5 or 6 times a year. First trip will be in less than 2 months. Biggest problem I have right now is trying to find a spot to install the brake controller in a 2014 without having to cut the dash. Might have to go the velcro route as my wife will have a fit if I have to drill into anything that she can see.

 

That good huh? Hmmm, you should be a spokesperson for them! Im pretty convinced I need one now even though I don't tow that much weight all that often. Yeah I don't think I gave the impression they were the same thing, but the trailer sway programming in the truck does work fairly well. Would you notice the difference with a 2-3k load? Or I should say, do you think its worth having one if thats the normal weight you tow?

How much weight were you towing in the picture above? That little bitty trailer with your truck and atv piled on it makes me think of "fat man in a little coat".

 

Gotta remember my Tundra is a 2010 so no E sway control.

 

I have the Equal-I-zer WD hitch rated at 10k and absolutely love it! I even pulled a 27' TT with a v8 4Runner . No issues with control but I also have the P3 brake controller which is proportional and makes a difference as well. I would never take a factory built it brake. It takes awhile to set a WD hitch up correctly but when done so the tow vehicle should be weighted down equally. On my tundra I also installed a rear sway bar to make the rear feel more stable along with upgrading the suspension to OME 612's

 

Good info in here! Thanks gents!

 

Trailer Boats has a magazine that includes a towing guide every year, so it's nice to refresh your logic, even if you have to weed through the subliminal message of a Ford review... I went online and they have a number of articles which may include the towing guide, but I don't have time to look now.
http://www.boatingmag.com/how-to/trailering
http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-towing-guides/

 

Just my 2 cents worth, but a normal WD Hitch does not provide sway control unless you get the added goodies, be it the simply friction pad arm type or some of the newer stuff. WD Hitches are pretty much required for travel trailers as you have very little control over tongue weight and they are normally tongue heavy. I towed my FJ 40 on a 16ft. Carson Flatbed about 10k miles with a ball hitch and the added friction sway control, about 6k behind a first gen tundra. Never any issues. The trick was we snuck in to the local CHP scale (they never use it but it is always on). Played with the placement of the 40 until we got the tongue weight we wanted and then simply parked it in the same place every time. Also tow a 19ft. Travel Trailer quite a bit....for that you need the WD hitch as you can't get the tongue weight down enough without it. Scariest thing I ever towed was the 16ft (I think...biggest U-Haul) enclosed U-Haul trailer. Plain old bumper pull hitch and it would waggle and damn near make you change lanes at 50mph...and it was empty! Almost 0 tongue weight on those things empty....loaded the crap out of the front end for the trip back and it was OK. So WD hitch or not, the biggest influence on how a normal trailer tows is tongue weight. More is usually better, but to much will lift the front of the truck and make it scary also that is where you need the WD hitch.

 

I put my brake control next to the emergency brake just under the light under the dash. I can still get at the brake if needed, but you would think Toyota would have designed a spot, since we buy the Beast for towing !

 

Check out this thread for your P3 controller mounting: 2015-tundra-brake-controller-harness

For a great all in one load equalizer/anti-sway/anti-bounce, check out Andersen hitches https://www.andersenhitches.com/Catalog/andersen-nosway-weight-distribution-hitch.aspx

I pulled a 6000 pound camper with a 6 cylinder Tacoma around Ohio last year (bought a 2015 Tundra now so I can tow outside of the flat Ohio area), and it did not sway/bounce or make any noise. Easy to connect/disconnect after your initial installation.

 

We just got back from a week at Grand Canyon National Park. I invite you all to visit it and indeed the area. Southwestern Utah/northern Arizona is calling your Tundra by name.
The 1794 did beautifully.
Over the last few years as I researched, anticipated the third generation, and studied the Tundra and compared it to the other guys, I came across this document, a standard I'll share with you all here. It's likely not new to all of you but hopefully good reading to some of you who follow. After all, it's in the fine print in your Tundra brochure: The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J2807 basically says to manufactures: "show us!. Put your money where your mouth is". They use Davis Grade as a standard. Davis Grade is a tough climb that starts east from Laughlin, Nevada/Bullhead city, Arizona and it really is where the rubber meets the road. Some big boys are still non-compliant. Your Tundra was the first to comply a few years back.
We make the drive east on I-40 from southern, California to Grand Canyon National Park, and beyond, often. Well, now with my new Tundra, I wanted to see this "standard", and I did! It's only a little bit out of my way. Although I was some 1,500-2,000 lbs. under rated capacity and other listed criteria were absent, my 1794 had no problem maintaining 60-65 mph up this grade, 97 degrees outside at 10 o'clock in the morning. I assure you your well-maintained Tundra would have nothing but fun going up Davis Grade.