Moving up to a Tundra from a Tacoma to tow my trailer

I now I have a custom camper trailer that weighs in at 5500lbs fully loaded with all of my stuff including food, water, propane etc. The tongue weight is just about 550lbs with the WDH installed.

While technically my Tacoma is rated to tow up to 6500lbs, the 30 mile drive I did with it recently wasn't comfortable and I will be towing this trailer all over the country full time for the next few years. So I'm now looking for a bigger truck that can comfortably pull a 5500lb V-nose cargo trailer full time.

I have my eye on a 2016 Tundra SR5 4x4 5.7l V8 double cab with tow package. The sticker shows USK56L-PSTSKA which appears to have a towing capacity of 9800-10000lbs depending on the fuel tank size.

My question to you all is will that Tundra be comfortable pulling my trailer full time or should I look for something other than a Tundra? Thanks for any input.

 

Just be prepared for terrible gas mileage. But it shouldn’t have a problem with that trailer if it’s really 5500 pounds all loaded up

 

I had the trailer weighed (while fully loaded) at some official scales and 5500lbs is what they told me.

Since the non-towing fuel economy of that Tundra is already a lousy 13/17mpg, what do you consider "terrible"? 5? 10? Thanks.

 

When I pull a 6500 trailer I get about mpg but that really depends. If I baby it at 45-50 it’s better but at 65 it’s worse.

 

Sorry, you missed the actual number in that reply. It must be really bad.

 

We just upgraded from a Tacoma to a Tundra for a 4500 pound trailer. The Taco pulled it but it got on my nerves with it needing to be at high RPM's to have a decent speed on hills or in wind.
With less than 1K miles on the truck we get 8-9 towing at around 75.

 

Can I assume the Tundra handles the weight a lot better than the Tacoma? I was hoping to get about 10mpg at 65mph. Probably only going to happen going down hill.

 

I tow a 5600# camper with a WDH and about 7500# of trailer and tractor (once in a great while). Zero complaints, stable af. I was averaging about 11.5mpg with the camper.
I moved the camper a few miles when I had my Taco and I couldnt wait to be done with it, felt sketch as hell

 

Glad to hear the Tundra handled it well. Curious - you said "was averaging". No more camper, no more Tundra, or just different mpg now?

 

I havent towed it in months. You’d have to pry my Tundra out of my cold dead hands, not parting with her.

 

I feel that way about my Tacoma but unfortunately I have no choice now.

 

It's much 'gooder' with the Tundra.
Will be towing again next Monday, mostly down hill so it should get better.

 

Ha oops I meant to say I get about 9mpg. That’s real not what the computer says. The computer lies

 

You're not going to get much better MPGs in any gasser 1/2 ton truck, regardless of what the commercials say. At least you know a Tundra is much less likely to have you visiting the dealership while on the road.
Only way you'll see better fuel efficiency is a diesel or leave the trailer at home.

 

I tow a travel trailer that’s around 6k pounds loaded and I get around 9-10 mpg at 65 mph.

Get a good weight distribution hitch- I’ve had an Equal-i-zer and recently switched to an Andersen. Both have worked very well but I prefer the Anderson for its lighter weight and no grease to deal with. I also have the TRD anti-sway bar in rear. The setup has been rock solid. It’s even better after I upgraded to the Falcon Tow/Haul shocks last fall. No sway, no bounce and tows great.

The Falcon suspension is not required for the Tundra to tow well but I highly recommend the TRD anti-sway bar. You will not be disappointed upgrading to the Tundra for your towing needs.

 

I made a similar switch. My TT is about 4200lbs loaded, perhaps a tad more.

My 2020 Tacoma could pull it, but it didn't like it. Maintaining 60 mph on the freeway meant frequently running in 3rd gear to maintain pace. It's just not a relaxed way to travel. I got about 11 mpg when towing it with my Tacoma.

With the Tundra, it handles it with ease. I don't get tired when driving all day with the trailer. I just feel like I can keep going and going. I generally drive 60-65 mph with it. My best tow was about 10.5 mpg and my worst was 8.5 mpg. Tailwind. Headwind.

So while I absolutely loved my Tacoma (it was my second one), I went up to the Tundra and I don't see myself going back.

 

I tow a 4,500 lb camper and I get 10-12 mpg towing. I tow at about 65 mph in S5 with tow haul engaged. I only get about 13 mpg normally.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback. A few hours ago I ended up trading in my Tacoma for a 2019 Tundra SR5 Crew Max 4WD with SR5 Upgrade, TRD Off-road, and Convenience packages, deck rail system, and Entune Premium audio. Now I need towing mirrors and a topper for the Tundra. I'll be towing my trailer with the Tundra in a couple of days up into the mountains of Colorado.

 

Put it this way. You're going to pay a little over or a little under $35 per 100 miles at todays prices if you tow with a Tundra.

 

Ouch. Now why did you have to bring up such a painful fact such as that?

 

I towed my trailer (now at 5600lb fully loaded) with the Tundra on Friday. Went over two mountain passes in Colorado (Kenosha and Poncha). It handled very well. As much as I loved my Tacoma I feel a lot better about towing with the Tundra. My trailer is a 7x14 V-nose. It's pretty tall since I have torsion axles and they are turned down a full 45º. Despite the height (worsened with the solar panels on the roof) I noticed no issues at all when big RVs or 18-wheelers passed in the opposite direction. I guess that's one big advantage of my trailer over someone with a 24' or even longer travel trailer. Mine is less of a wind vane.

 

We are towing noobs. We bought a 21 ft travel trailer to tow behind our Tacoma. After our first trip Mrs said, “I think we need a bigger truck”. I’m not going to argue with Mrs so the search was on.

We found our 2019 Tundra. We added tow mirrors, running boards, and a hard tonneau cover(Mrs has a Really good job). Then we ran up to Oregon for a week. The trip up and back went without any issues, towing was a pleasure. I’ll have to check gas mileage on our next trip, I was too busy getting over the passes with ease to care about gas mileage

 

Excellent! Similar story here in that we bought our trailer and chose the specific one as it was well within the limits of the Tacoma. As soon as I picked up the trailer with the Tacoma I realized that it was just too much for the truck - at least too much to be comfortable on long trips. My wife was completely on board with the move up to the Tundra. We took a 900 mile round trip this summer from our home north of Seattle down to the Roseburg, OR area, then up around PDX, before returning home. It was amazingly comfortable. I could have just kept driving and driving. We arrived at our destination (two adults, two kids, and a large dog) fresh and ready for the camping adventure!