Loaded up for camping. Now we’re overweight.

Well, I was curious how much we weighed, so I hopped onto a set of CAT scales. We are loaded up for camping. There are 5 of us and a dog (this alone is 550lbs). We have the following gear in/on our truck:

• 285/75 Duratracs (24lbs over stock weight each)
• Truck Covers USA Roll Cover
• RCI steel skid
• Desert Eagle cat skid
• Dometic CFX3 55 w/ slide
• home brew dual battery setup
• tent and sleeping gear
• camp stove
• food for 5 plus our dog.
• full 5gal water jug (this alone is ~45lbs)

There are also some things to do for the kids during the drive, some recovery tools in the bed, etc…all of it adds up.

Our CAT scale certificate reads 7400lb (3780 steer, 3620 drive).

If I were to hook up a 5k-lb boat, add about 750lb to that.

This is a huge bummer because I think towing a boat while loaded like this would put us over our axle ratings (4000 steer, 4150 drive). I’m under GAWR now. I’m honestly impressed how well this big ol fat pig handles with all this weight. No squat, just level.

I’m putting this out there because someone may be shopping for a Tundra to load up their family for camping and pull their boat. They might not realize this could easily make them overweight.

It doesn’t bother me too much being a bit over payload, but I can’t pull a boat now without it putting me right at or over my rear axle rating.

I don’t like it, but I’ve got some thinking to do.

 

I was in your same situation with my 2021 Tundra…over payload and couldn’t tow what I needed to tow. So I just sold her to Carvana for $3k over what I paid and bought a 3/4 ton which has 2.5x the payload.

 

I’m hoping that is addressed with the new Gen

 

Can you:

• Have the wife and kids follow in a second rig?
• Possibly use the boat to haul stuff? You know, put the tent, sleeping stuff, and water jug in the boat to shift some weight?
• Use a trailer toad to take the tongue weight of the boat?
• Stomach the thought of buying a 3/4 or 1 ton? Personally I'd go 1 ton. They're not much more that a similarly equipped 3/4.

Those are the places my brain went for solutions.

 

Either aluminum body or bust at this point

pretty pathetic that the tundra weighs so much more than the advertised curb weight

 

Essentially if you have ANY armor you are instantly over payload, let alone if you tow and have armor. Payload ratings are a joke imo, like having 6 thick dudes in your truck will somehow make the handling and design instantly fail and put everyone on the road in jeopardy, give me a break; but it is what it is, some moron picked those ratings.

 

You should put the majority of your gear in the boat to fix your problem.

 

Yeah I thought about putting stuff in the boat. I could probably put 500lbs of stuff in the boat, but then I’d add 750+ when I hooked up to tow. 500 lbs of gear transferred to the boat would likely be an additional 50-75lb of tongue weight.

If we are 550 (kids and dog included), we’d have 720lbs of weight left to work with.

As much as it pains me to say it, I may start considering an HD truck. I rode in a buddy’s GMC 2500 HD gasser the other day. It was nice. A 2016 with 47k on it.

Yep, if you have a crew max with only 1300 pounds of payload, you could easily max that out with 35s, bumpers, armor, etc.

 

I wouldn't stress to much be over payload a bit. Now towing and being over payload is a little different IMO.

 

Put suitcases in the boat.

Only bring necessary items

Buy everything else when you arrive at the final destination

find another needy family to donate all your extra stuff you bought to before you come back home

 

I'll just take the dog, and tell my wife drove with them kids...lol

 

Which one did you get and how do you like it?

 

We do go quite often. And yeah we pack very light. We use the same sleeping pads and sleeping bags that we backpack with. We even use the same 1-lb Helinox backpacking chairs. We take all this same gear when we do dispersed camping out of the truck in remote areas. High clearance and 4wd are needed, so I can’t really go back to stock. I think the majority of the weight is eaten up by the roll cover, tires, skid, fridge/slide, 2nd battery, and tools. And 550lb worth of family, which is only going to go up as our kids grow.

 

I feel your pain. I loved my '18 Tundra but mission requirements finally caught up to it and I ended up trading her in for a '21 GMC 3500 gasser. I needed 6 seats and more payload. My Jayco weighed in around 7k the way we had it loaded and with gear in the bed it put the Tundra right at 7200#'s with just me in it. Momma bear would have to follow behind in the van with the cubs and that got old pretty quick.

Now, if it fits it ships, lol.


Numbers that I can work with.

 

I thought diesel is better for towing...

 

I’m going to have to stop at the next scales I see. I have nearly your exact same setup, @Terndrerrr ; however I have the American work cover so that’s a full size steel toolbox that’s loaded with enough tools to be a mobile mechanic (hydraulic jack, impact sockets/gun, recovery gear). I drive it daily and don’t really think about it. But I also drive pretty dang slow too. Thanks for the heads up

Can’t wait to see where I’m at once the sliders are on

 

Funny how this works. Diesel engines are heavier than the gas engine options. They actually reduce payload but we all know that the diesel option would handle the weight better. One of those things in life that makes no sense to me. But still, if you had that same truck with a diesel, the payload would probably be around 3800 ish which is still great.

 

Why did you weigh it? Sometimes ignorance is bliss! (And you can honestly testify that you do not know.)

 

Diesels are great for heavy towing, but they are terrible daily drivers. If you tow A LOT, then it's hard to beat a diesel, otherwise the up front cost and maintenance is just not worth it. Ask @ColoradoTJ. He made the move to a diesel because he needed it, but he will be the first to caution people who think they need a diesel just because they have a trailer.

 

All them 1 ton diesel trucks have like 1k lbs/ft of torque. But I think the cost to run is almost the same as a gasser, with all them smog devices.

 

I got a Ford F-250 XLT with 6.2L gas engine. I like it a lot. You can’t really compare it to the Tundra, but it’s built like a tank - I guess that explains the huge difference in payload and towing.

For such a big truck, it handles and drives remarkably well. It’s a stiffer ride but more planted than the Tundra.

The one trade off is certainly the Tundra reliability.

 

I think the F250 looks the best on paper. Particularly with the Tremor package, the 7.3L, and the factory locker. Drive it off the lot, and it’s ready for off-roading and towing while hauling a family of 5 with a large dog.

My grandpa would cry tears of joy if I bought a Ford, lol. That’s a lot of money to buy something I don’t trust, though. Keep us updated on yours!

 

Price the same stuff on an F350. Way more capability for just a few more dollars. If you're going HD go with one you won't run out of capacity on. Just my view on it.

 

And it handles just fine? Then it handles fine, no reason to worry.

We all know the choice is binary: Either deal with it or buy that F250.

Right? Truck doesn't look stressed, doesn't drive stressed, doesn't struggle. I'm pretty sure Toyota has plenty of margin in there, we just don't know how much.

Elsewhere in the world:

 

I am with you, I have loaded the 08 down with quads kids and an old heavy bumper pull and never checked
ratings except my gas mileage! I have pulled countless cars through countless states and it just keeps going.
Over load springs is all I have done. IMO you won't pull anything if your domestic is in the shop.

 

Hilarious

 

I wonder if anyone from Toyota every reads forums like this. There are a ton of threads on towing concerns and Tundras. You'd think someone over in Japan might put two and two together and say, "hey... maybe we need to address towing issues a little more to keep our customers happy".

Toyota 3/4 ton truck anyone?

 

Depending how much OP off roads, could he dump some of his mods? (Yes, I'm aware that's blasphemy on this site.)

Edit: I see that was addressed already.

How about a smaller, lighter boat? My dad's boat, motor and trailer weigh 1600 lbs fully loaded with gear.

 

Just have to decide which you love more. The boat, the truck, or the family.