Towing First Travel Trailer

Recently got my first truck, SR5 CrewMax 4x4 Sonic Red. Love it so far. Got it for a bunch of reasons but my two kids are small and we are going to finally move from Tent camping to a camper. I've been looking at the Jayco Jay Flight SLX 8 264BH. From what I gather, I should be more than fine with the Tundra but I want to make sure I'm not white knuckling.

Quick specs...
29ft long
Hitch Weight: 475
Dry Weight: 4690
Gross Weight: 6000

I understand I'll need a WDH. Will I need airbags installed also? Should I go with a smaller trailer?

Thanks for the advice

 

Welcome to the group, and congrats on the truck! For towing info I would highly suggest you start here. -> https://www.tundras.com/threads/tow-ratings-guide-how-to-be-safe.39211/#post-2596490

 

I think you are just fine with that trailer.

However, that tongue weight is not realistic. Once you add batteries and propane to the tongue and load the trailer up, I would expect no less than 750 lbs, probably more.

So buy the correct WDH. Dont buy one for 5-600 lb tongue, I would get one for 1000 lbs.

If you have the correct weight wdh and its set up properly, you do not need air bags. Only use air bags if you intend to also load up the bed. Use the air bags to get the truck with the full bed back up to normal height and then hook up the trailer with the wdh.

The trucks suspension will compress a bit even with the wdh. This is normal and how its supposed to work. Trying to use the airbags to remove this compression is 100% the wrong approach.

 

Great thank you. Most if not all places we go have water hookups so the tanks will mostly never get used so that will save on weight. Thanks for WDH advice, do you recommend a certain one?

 

I've been really impressed with my blue ox sway pro.

 

"Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom." Take water. You'll need a few gallons.

 

I picked up an Equal-i-zer off Craigslist for 1/2 the price of new. Its been good, no complaints, although its the only wdh ive owned.

 

I’ve been very happy with my Andersen WDH. It uses chains instead of torsion bars and is very simple to setup and adjust. It also makes for a much better ride, IMO - the best WD hitch I’ve used. I use it on a rig weighing closer to 6k dry and I have zero complaints. No sway and very little if any porpoising. With the torsion bar setups, when you get them tight enough to eliminate sway and restore some weight to the front of the truck, it feels a little like you have no suspension travel left in the rear unless you have a really heavy trailer with a lot of tongue weight. But then you porpoise over large dips and bumps. But that’s just my experience.


https://andersenhitches.com/product/weight-distribution-hitch/

 

In term of towing capacity, you will be fine!

The tongue weight will vary quite a bit depending on how your tanks are loaded. I have a 48 gallon fresh water tank in the front and 80 gallons for the waste water tanks in the rear of the trailer. I sometimes carry a full tank of fresh water when I expect to be late to get to the campsite and I can feel a significant difference in how the truck pulls with the FW tank full vs empty. I have the Equalizer E2 and I attribute the difference to big changes in the tongue weight with and without the fresh tank full (about 450 lbs). The Weigh Safe True Tow WDH is similar to the E2, however has a additional WD adjustment based on the actual loaded tongue weight.

You can look up videos on Youtube. Also, go with the trunnion style WDH over the round bar or chain style ones. If you are investing in a WDH, I would suggest you go with the WeighSafe over the Equalizer. Price wise, they are similar.

 

I found a trailer I'm going to purchase. Its about 2 hours away. Planning to grab it in couple days. I havent purchased a WDH yet as I was still researching. My question is, should I run to Harbor Freight or Camping World quick and buy one there or will it be fine just towing home and then getting one after? The camper and truck will all be unloaded. Specs say its 4600 dry and 510 tongue weight unloaded.

 

You CAN tow that trailer home with no WDH, it’s just not recommended to do so. The tongue weight will add rear axle weight, but it will subtract front axle weight making the steering feel different. You also won’t have sway control. If you’re a pro tower and take it easy on the speed, you could probably make the trip safely. If you pick up a hitch, you will have to install it on the trailer and set it up there which could take several hours.

 

I've towed my 4200 lb dry, 5500 lb GVWR trailer behind my F150 a bunch of times without a WDH and it pulled well. You may just get a bit of sag.

 

So no ideal solution either way. I can take back roads all the way to keep the speed low.

 

If you get the HF one, keep the receipt. That way if you don't like how your truck handles or the PITA setup, you can take it back.
I run a bar/chain setup on my car trailer and an Anderson No-Sway on my camper. I like the Anderson more, it rides better and the anti-sway is built into the ball.
Only reason I haven't put a No-Sway on the car trailer is because I am buying a new one next yr and giving this one to my father to haul firewood with.

Edit: remember, the bar/chain setup is just WD, the anti-sway is a separate component that needs to have a bracket bolted to the tongue.

 

I would tow it home with the WD, but that’s me. It’s under 5k so according the manual you would be fine.

 

I've never set one up before. I'm worried it's going to take me forever to get it hooked up. It would be much less stressful in my own driveway lol

 

Some are bolt on, some actually self tap into the frame of the trailer. Have to get all the distances right when mounting the saddles for the distribution bars. Then you have to get the hitch height adjusted in the truck, the hitch tilt on some models, and then the bars setup, number of links used etc. if you’ve done it before and had all the right tools, could set one up in an hour. If not, some trial and error would be involved in the final adjustments.

 

By the WDH before you get the trailer or buy it from the RV dealer when you pick up the trailer. They can do any drilling (if) required on the A frame and get it installed for you and have the hitch adjusted for your truck as part of the purchase. A good service tech will also go over the whole hook up and unhooked procedures with you so you know what you're doing before you drive away.

 

It's a private sale

 

Does the PO have. WDH already installed on the camper that they will sell to you? I sold my WDH with my last trailer.

 

I pulled my 4,100# camper 110 miles home with no WDH. Did fine. You're going to get the truck and trailer loaded for your trips before you set up the WDH anyway.

 

I have the 2022 crewmax SR5 TRD POR, Blue Ox WDH, 21.5 ‘ Lance trailer, tandem wheels, 5500 lbs loaded ,, tongue weight approx 700 lbs.
Also, I load up my bed pretty good, so payload is probably approx. 800-900 lbs.
I have adjusted my hitch and WDH several times so that now trailer is level, and the Tundra tows great, very enjoyable. I do have a little sag, approx. 1.5”. I am at the point now where I am pretty happy and I think that if I really wanted to get rid of the sag I would need to add air bags or timbrens.
I think that this is just the nature of how the Tundra is now built / designed with child springs???

 

Where is the height of the front with the trailer on vs the truck loaded and no trailer. About all you can expect is to prevent the trailer tongue weight from causing the trucks ront axle weight to be reduced. A properly set up WDH will also move some of the tongue weight back to the trailer axles. So, a WDH will reduced the truck rear end sag a small amount compared to the trailer connected without the WDH.

Things to check: Has the WDH been set up with the truck and trailer loaded for the trip? Are both truck axles under the gross axle ratings? Is the truck once connected to the trailer under GVWR? Is the trailer under GVWR and the trucks towing capacity? It the total weight of truck and trailer under the combined gross rating.

I would recommend getting some tongue weight off the truck and back to the trailer axles. If your trailer is 5,500 GVWR your axles should have 5,000 pounds and the tongue 500.

 

Thanks for Ur response. I like Ur suggestion of checking the height on the front to make sure that I am not taking weight off the front axle. I was concentrating on the height on the back.
Overall, I am pretty satisfied with my towing experience, and if the back sags a little bit, I think that I can live with that.

 

That's why trucks come a bit higher in the rear.

 

What model Blue Ox did you get and what tongue weight rating does it have? In my opinion if you are on the borderline of two sizes you should pick the heavier of the too. Travel trailers, like High School cheerleaders gain weight with age. The longer you use it the larger the pile of "must haves" becomes. I know that for a fact. My first trip out I took three fishing rods. This trip I lost count at 10.

 

The good thing about blue ox (sway pro) is that you can buy different sets of bars if you end up needing a higher tounge weight.