TRD Pro towing travel trailer

@Tdalk458 that setup you pictured is almost identical to my setup even similar axle weights when loaded. I put sumos on when i tow and it keeps the back end of the truck perfect. You’ll love some support back there. I find with a trailer that weight the wdh will make it handle poorly with extra tension. Helper springs were far better for this application

 

That Hideout travel trailer is a single axle and not very big. Not that much in the bed. Your 2 axle weights add up to 7,800 pounds or 600 pounds over payload. I am amazed that setup weighs that much.

You have 5 240 lb. Adults in the. An with you?

 

I have +3 CB shackles in the rear with an E2 WDH. Towed my TT twice with that setup and I had pretty bad sway. Have since installed the rear TRD sway bar and literally all the sway is gone... it's on rails now and I highly recommend it. 30ft TT, 5800lb dry w/ 600lb hitch weight

Edit: WDH is adjusted for dry.. pic is full of water and generator in the bed

 

Also my experience between single axle trailer vs a heavier trailer, the single axle pulls better lighter. I would much rather overload my bed than put more weight in a single axle trailer. They get a little bouncy feeling

 

I definitely do not condone overloading but everything felt perfectly fine and safe. When my dad was driving on the freeway, a car about 150’ or so in front of him slammed on their brakes so he had to do the same. It was definitely a pucker moment but the truck stopped with plenty of room to spare.

I just remembered I had my entire tool bag in the bed, which probably weighs 40 lbs. Our generator is a beast, Honda EU3000. It weighs almost 140 lbs so we could probably get a smaller one. We needed it for construction but don’t do that any longer.

With the other unneeded items, I could probably get the weight down another 200-300 lbs at least.

Thanks all for the feedback!

 

If you’re towing that much weight in the mountains and in D, I would definitely invest in an external transmission cooler. In D, you’re using both overdrive gears, and your torque converter spends a LOT less time in lockup than it would if you towed in S4 as the manual says to do. It’s a stout transmission, granted, but your temp warning light won’t come on until 302ºF. It then shuts off at 275ºF. The target max operating temp is 250ºF. Lots of 2019-2021 owners choose not to install a cooler, and that’s fine. But you’re one of the few I think who actually needs it to preserve the longevity of your transmission.

I installed a Genuine Cooling Systems kit myself watching this YouTube video. It keeps my temps in check in all the situations I put my truck in.

 

Thank you sir, I appreciate the feedback!

I do remember a lot of people on here saying to tow in S4. I did read the towing section in the manual but it was a while ago so I didn’t remember it said that. I thought the purpose of tow/haul mode is to prevent the trans from going into overdrive?

I’ve been a little confused on the S mode. As I understand, it stands for sequential shifting. I’ve seen mixed explanations on exactly how it works. One explanation said that in S4, it will auto shift up and down but 4th gear is the max it will go up to. Another said you need to manually shift up and down. This confusion was the main reason I just used D as I didn’t really want to be shifting up and down manually. Of course, if that is the proper way to tow, I will gladly do so.

Another question that just dawned on me; is it ok to use cruise control when towing? I used it a few times on flat stretches where there wasn’t much shifting going on but wasn’t sure about hills.

Again, thank you all for your help! I am not very “mechanically inclined” and just know the basics about engines, transmissions, etc. I am used to just basically hooking a trailer up and going and haven’t towed for a while. Now that I have my nice new truck, I definitely want to do it correctly.

 

Ive found that flat sections of highway 5th gear is fine. Once i hit any sort of grade or a more inconsistent elevation i go down to 4th and leave it

 

No problem! S4 limits the transmission from going into 5th and 6th, the overdrive gears. It will still shift through 1-4 automatically.

Tow/Haul won't do that; it just changes throttle mapping and holds gears longer, which acts as engine braking when coasting downhill.

If I were towing on an extremely flat road for a long time, I’d probably be in D as well. But any hills at all, and your TC won’t stay in lockup. An unlocked TC is where all the heat comes from. Constantly shifting in and out of OD gears, pulling uphill in an OD gear (5th and 6th) will keep you out of lockup, which again is not good.