2 weeks, 2100 miles towing my Airstream - what I learned

Just got back from a two week camping trip with my wife, son, and dog. I was towing our 22 foot 2003 Airstream International and bought the Tundra last year with this trip in mind. We've towed the same trailer for the last six years with a 2012 supercharged Tacoma. The Tundra kicks ass.

Route was Boulder to Glendo State Park in Wyoming. Glendo to Grand Teton National Park. Tetons to Madison Campground in Yellowstone. Yellowstone to a ranch in Pine, Idaho with a stop at Craters of the Moon. The ranch to Deer Creek State Park in Utah. Deer Creek to Stagecoach State Park in Steamboat with a stop at Dinosaur National Park. Then home. Two weeks, 2100 miles.

What I learned:

1. The IBC did not disconnect or misbehave. I had the dealership do the TSB before I hooked up my trailer this year, so I don't know if it fixed an issue or not. But I was sweating it. Convincing your wife to buy this truck to tow your trailer to Yellowstone with an IBC that disconnects and no P3 plug and play harness kept me up at night. Thanks to Toyota for the TSB. Set the IBC to 5.5 and it worked without issue.

2. Windoors. My Tacoma's Leer 100XR did not have windoors. This time, based on the advice here, I got them on the Tundra's Leer 100XR. Camping with them is great. Cooler on one side, firewood on the other. We spent a lot of time in bear country and the campsite had to be clean. It was nice not to unload and reload and have three access points.

3. Big gas tank is great. The other family we traveled with has a 2018 Ram towing a 22 foot Micro Minnie. I have no clue how big the Ram's tank was, but we needed gas at the same time the entire trip. If we were towing with the Tacoma, we would have had to stop for gas all the time.

4. Factory exhaust for towing is loud enough. My next mods were Victory sliders and a Dirty Deeds exhaust, but I personally wouldn't want it any louder than it is now for towing.

5. Beast mode is awesome and makes all the difference. I towed without it and that was really a lot less fun and more like the Tacoma.

6. My cloth seats were pretty uncomfortable until this trip. I either got used to them or they broke in. Either way, there were 7 hour driving days and no back issues. My wife, kid, and dog found the seats really comfortable.

 

Sounds like a great trip. What was your mpg?

 

No clue. Terrible probably.

 

No doubt

 

No Airstream towing experience, but the Dirty Deeds exhaust should come with a resonator that should get rid of any interior drone that might develop.

Anyway, no pics of your Airstream and scenic National Parks?

 

My wife says she's creating an album on Snapfish, so I had no photo taking responsibility. Many photos were taken, especially at Yellowstone.

I did take a photo of my truck and Airstream at Glendo State Park in Wyoming, but it has my license plate on it. For you mountain bikers, that's a nice spot. It has a pump track.

 

Well you wouldn’t want the licence plate monsters to come get you

On real, sounds like a great trip. Glad the Tundra is good at doing what it’s meant to do! I love towing with mine too

 

Here's my truck after I got the Leer shell.

 

Eleven Mile State Park early June.

 

i love my leather seats but they can get sticky after sitting on them for a while haha

 

Nice. Rad setup

 

If someone can sufficiently damage my cloth seats, I'm going to get Katzkin leather seats. I'm stuck for now and it's the lighter grey color, which is also unfortunate. I prefer leather.

 

my buddy has the grey cloth in his tundra and took his truck to mexico and when he came back he would slap them and poof, dust clouds haha i couldn't go back to cloth seats

 

platinums come with seat coolers...just sayin’...

 

definitely gonna get all the gizmos when i decide to trade in my limited

 

Another thing I learned is bring Neopectin if you have a dog and go on this kind of trip. Lewis is big and has a stomach of steel, but swimming in the lakes and reservoirs and he got the shits. Our vet of 20 years gave us a bottle knowing we were going to Yellowstone and would have to leave him in the trailer at times. It's for diarrhea and vomiting.

Lewis is four and has never pooped in the trailer. He did in Utah, felt bad about it, and then got three days of Neopectin and all was well. Having a poopy dog doesn't work well in the truck during the long legs between stops. Finding a vet on the road is a pain.

I got a refill last night just to leave in the trailer. Your dog would prefer not to shit in the trailer. That's what Lewis said.

 

OOOOO thanks for sharing that photo. I actually created my account to reply. We just upgraded from a Tacoma to a Tundra on monday. I sent that park info to my wife and she loved it. Pretty sure I'm making that trip next June.

 

Rocky Ridge campground. Stay away from the electric sites if you want space. Dump station on the way out. Big trout in the reservoir.

I towed my trailer to Eleven Mile a few times with the Tacoma. First time last month with the Tundra and it was a world of difference.

 

I've towed travel trailers in the range of 3500lbs to 8000lbs. My fuel economy has been relatively static at about 8mpg.

 

Eh, more like seat vents. There is much to be desired over the "cooling" with them. At least that is compared to the Explorer we rented in NM.

 

Good looking pup too. Poor ole guy and that face.

 

I don't want seat warming or cooling.

On the way home from Steamboat, I also learned the Tundra talks to you and does navigation that shows up on the dash. It only took 5000 miles to figure that out.

 

Am I missing something or am I not getting the pun? What is this beast mode??

Man this sounds like so much fun I can not wait to do things like this. Very few families do these things anymore. Your kid is going to appreciate this so much in the future.

 

Thanks. It was a ton of fun.

Push the tow/haul button.

 

they should change it to haul ass button

 

I'm sure your dog will have no problem tearing those cloth seats up so I see Leather in your future. You might want to set back more money because nothing lasts w/ a dog on them.