Does anybody exceed payload when towing?

put them on and don’t even think about it.

 

Never checked.

Realistically, every time though.

 

I don’t tow any loads that put me over GVWR, but here is a pic of my truck as we’re getting ready to go dispersed camping. The only thing yet to be loaded is two 5-gal water jugs, a few backpacks, and some fishing rods.

When we are loaded up like this with everyone in the truck and a full tank of gas, I’m 200 lb over GVWR. I’ve made my peace with it. The truck handles great. We went all over Colorado including up Imogene Pass loaded up like this. Toyota is a cautious and conservative company, and the downside of that in my opinion is that they underrate their trucks.

They meager payload number on the door jamb is my biggest and just about only complaint with my truck.

 

Had to beef up the trailer after that load,

 

Over payload yes all the time and the truck doesn’t seem to mind. Towing I keep under 10k usually around 7k

 

Yeah no sliders but big LT tires, retractable cover, RCI engine skid, Desert Eagle cat theft deterrent plate, TRD fox kit (much bigger shocks than the Bilsteins that came on it), console safe, husky mats, dual battery setup. The Dometic is the heavy part of our camping gear. It all adds up. My wife and I are pretty fit, and we’ve got three young boys and a dog. If I had to estimate our combined weight, it would be 550-570lb. That’s 40% of my door jamb number right there.

I bought this truck because we outgrew our 4Runner. Went backwards in payload by about 300 lb. It’s stupid. The truck drives and stops great.

 

I don't understand this. How does a 4runner have more payload than a tundra? Everything on the tundra: axles, brakes, frame is heavier duty.

I wish we knew the weak link in the chain. Leaf springs?

 

It’s a heavy ass truck that eats up most of its own GVWR.

 

Leaf springs have a lot to do with it

 

IMO and personal experience if you stay under axle ratings, are NOT towing max (10k) loads and exceed payload the truck will not self destruct.

 

Do you have a source on this? I remember some videos of Tundras being used and abused on a ranch from back in the early 2nd gen days.

 

I used to stress about this endlessly. Now? I just accept that when towing I'm a good 200-300 lbs over payload when I begin the trip. As we move along, using up gas and supplies, it gets better and I'm usually right at payload on my way home. Sometimes I do travel back home without emptying my gray and black tanks, which are aft of the trailer axle. Keeping that weight back there does reduce tongue weight a bit, but isn't heavy enough to induce sway. I just empty them when I get home.

Not "by the book" I know, but there is certainly a safety factor in the payload number. The way I justify it to myself is in the general feeling that, if I were to add another 200 lb person to the cab of the truck, would the truck all of a sudden become unsafe or likely to fail? Nah, don't think so. It handles the load beautifully, including in emergency braking and turning situations that I have found myself in before.

It is sad, though, that my Highlander Hybrid has more payload than my Tundra, though obviously a much lower tow rating (3500 lbs).

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UcIAseIogBU

 

That's it! Short clip. Worth a watch. Toyota took it apart and found no major issues after that kind of use for 100k miles. The ranchers were impressed.

"You can take a half ton Tundra and put a 24-ft gooseneck hooked up with cattle in it and pull it like a 3/4 ton Chevrolet or Ford."

"Yeah, I overloaded it, but it was a test truck, right?"​

Maybe all the "Tundra is really a 3/4 ton" talk originated from Toyota's own YouTube channel. It held up to 3/4 ton usage for 100k with no major issues. Lots of actual 3/4 tons don't even do that.

 

I used to have a 98 ford ranger in high school. It had a 2.5 4 banger 5 speed. I dont know what the loads a i pulled with it weighed , but i used to haul a 2 axle flatbed trailer loaded with stone on a ranch. That trailer alone probably weighed more than the towing capacity . With all the stone on it maybe double or triple the towing max. We also would load the tiny flareside bed over the rails with stone. Aside from probably abusing the hell out of the clutch, it always made it. I think the things we talk about with the tundra dont really matter.

 

How many drivers here are over their recommend payload numbers when they pack their 'large' families up for a trip? With morbid obesity worse than its ever been, if you have a couple mods (skid plates, bumper, etc), and a 5k trailer, your family BMI better be under 22 if you plan on hitting your mark.

I list all the weights of my mods on my build thread, and it adds up quickly.

 

I can’t tell you what my payload sticker even says, much less care.. I just load shit up and go.

 

You do you, but attitudes like that got people killed in my 2 decades in the military... and not even while deployed, I 'watched' 3 dudes die in training accidents because of dudes mailing shit in. I know you have good reason to be confident in your rig, but 'misplaced' confidence (skirting the regs) can be a causal factor in disaster.

Everyone wants to be James Dean until those last fleeting moments. Watching/listening to a dying 20 something helps that fact sink in.

 

I was just thinking of this…

 

That video is cool, but beating a farm truck is different than towing and being overloaded on the freeway, in traffic. The liability alone....

Back to the video, that is 100,000 hard miles. Load or no load, that is awesome.

 

I’ve made it 52 years.. I think I’ll be fine

 

Loaded up at 10,220lb, empty at 7380lb. That's driving around over GVWR sticker by 3000 pounds.
It's a 2008, lifted a foot on 37s and still holding up. If it's seen that kind of use for almost 15 years and still going that's awesome.

 

Just took my truck and trailer (18' single axel TT) to the CAT scales today.

2018 crewmax 4x4 1794

max tow 8800
truck GVW is 7200
max payload 1530 (per the brochure, but not 100% accurate since I've added accessories/gear to the truck)
trailer GVRW 4700

at the scale -
the combined gvw 10720
trailer weight was 3540 without water, food, or clothes.

If my math is right, then my setup leaves just 20lbs of cargo capacity on the truck. I'll weigh just the truck next time I go by. I also have a WDH but wasn't using that at the scales

 

A 4x4 1794 is probably 1150lbs or less payload. The advertisements use the double cab base model non-4x4.

 

What does the sticker inside your driver's door say?

 

i will check the sticker. I was getting the 1530 from toyota brochure which has the capacities listed on page 27 https://dealerinspire-brochure.s3.amazonaws.com/1534.pdf