Towing with your TRD Pro? The good, the bad, the ugly (if there is any).

Good Evening All,

On the fence about biting the bullet and getting a TRD Pro or a Limited with the TRD Off road package.

Have a travel trailer that weighs in between 5 and 6000 pounds.

Have a weight distributing hitch (Equalizer).

Looking to get rid of my 2015 Silverado 1500 with 96K miles. Seemed to tow fine, especially after putting on airbags.

I did weigh the truck and travel trailer once at the scales and although not always traveling with all 3 dogs, and my wife and two young adult sons........I was a few hundred pounds over my GVWR for the Silverado.

Not normally towing with all of us together though and not really towing the camper often (5-6 times a year).

How many of y'all have towed with the TRD Pro?

Any problems? Did you have to put airbags on? Is the truck stable? Feel like you would be in control if you have to slam on the brakes?

Really......really like the way these TRD Pro's look but want to know about towing with it before deciding which way to go.

Thanks for any input you can provide!

JT

 

Only thing I’d have to say is you’ll probably be nose high without bags. These trucks sit extremely leveled

 

Weak spot is the leaf springs, they are soft and causes the truck to sag. I fixed the problem with a Alcan custom leaf pack and pair of CB +1 shackles. Fixed the problem. I have a thread TRD Pro Squatting I go into detail on what I did.

 

I have towed between 5-6000 pounds a few times with my trd pro and it sags a little, but a weight distribution hitch would help. If I was going to do it a lot I would get some lift shackles, air bags or maybe different leaf springs. As far as towing goes, there is still plenty of power when pulling that much weight.

Pics for reference

 

Just confirming what has been said. I keep a lot of gear in my truck and tow my boat and trailer now and then. I have custom Alcan springs and 2” CB shackles. No squat and the ride is silky smooth.
As far as pulling and braking you won’t have any problem.

 

Do you feel like the springs softened the ride? I regularly tow 6-7500 lbs and I think the OEM are shot.

 

The TRD PRO was not exactly designed for towing, more for off-road. Therefore it does have a relatively level stance. All I would suggest is some REAR assistance via shackles, helper springs, or airbags. Other than that, the PRO has ZERO issues towing pretty much anything. The TOW HAUL button will transform your daily driver into a friggin Monster. Just be aware of the fuel consumption. She is very thirsty when pulling a load.

 

Just remember air bags will put more total weight on your rear axle. But you have a weight distribution hitch so that will help. Check payload vs tongue weight of your trailer.

 

There's 6,000# (actually a little over 6k) *without the bars on my WDH.

 

Thank you all for the feedback so far.

Trust me.....I'd love to pull the trigger on that TRD Pro.....if for nothing more than looks.

But unless fixing to do some serious off roading it almost seems like one would be fine with any of the other trims with the TRD Off road set up.

For those that have towed with either the standard crew cab 4x4 without the TRD Off road set up compared to those with it.......any pros/cons?

Is one set up better than the other?

Seems like after looking at comparison between the TRD Pro and the others after what y'all have mentioned......that the suspension and such is softer for the heavy off road stuff one can do with the PRO if they so choose.

Is that regular TRD Offroad package set up to do the same.....albeit with the Bilstiens vs the Fox reservoirs etc...etc...?

Thanks again for the feedback!!

Stay safe out there!!

JT

 

I have the TRD OR package and it tows great. Check out the towing forum here....there is a thread called what do you tow that will show you a ton of examples of trucks and trailers. I think I would skip the PRO if you are towing a lot.

 

If you are buying the truck to mostly tow, get an sr5 or limited for less and save that money for gas. Pro doesn’t have anything Over the others that directly helps towing.

 

With the custom springs, the ride is almost as smooth as when new, and I have a slight (1 1/2”) rake. This is pretty amazing when you consider the I carry approximately 1,100 lbs static load.

 

I haven’t towed much with my Pro but a while back used to tow a 24ft Haulmark enclosed steel frame trailer with a 2010 rock warrior (it was fully insulated trailer & with the race car, spares etc. it was probably 8-9k lbs?). It did it with no problem lol.

 

I'm about to test the limits on mine. The hauls will be short, on relatively flat terrain, for about 5mi round trip but I'm interested in a spring upgrade. my heavy duty tandem axle trailer loaded with my tractor is gonna be around 10k lbs. A brake controller is on order, curious if anyone has really pushed the limit with their pro's. a heavy load of posts and concrete on my trailer (around 7k lbs total) drops the rear end pretty dramatically. Power and transmission wise it feels more than capable, just trying to avoid suspension damage.

 

I was having a hard time looking at how low the rear of my truck sagged while towing my boat. Then I broke down and purchased +1.5" shackles, and wow what a difference that made. Now my PRO sits with a nice rake while not towing, and while towing it's perfect. This truck runs down the road pulling this 20 FT Bay Boat like it's not even back there. Very pleased.

 

I tow my 20' River boat that weighs 6500 lbs with trailer, fully loaded with gear and 74 gals of fuel on board with no problem...in tow haul you barely notice it's back there unless you look at your fuel economy screen lol.
I have a 4" Readylift and +2" coachbuilder shackles also added on the rear to maintain stock +1" rake, I also added Firestone airbags and run 35 lbs in them when towing to keep it at my normal ride height.

 

Nice looking rig.

 

Yours looks very cool as well. I would like to Bass fish down there one day.

 

We Bass fish at Lake Eufaula quite often. That's where that photo was taken. That lake has some HUGE largemouth bass. But our favorite is Inshore Saltwater Fishing at Apalachicola Bay Florida. Great fishery for Redfish, Trout, Flounder, and Triple Tail. Have hooked a few very large Tarpon also, wow what a fight that was. Friggin 100 LB Tarpon on light tackle, oh yea .

 

Anyone had experience with this to help with the rear sag

https://activesuspension.com/products/kits/1999-2019-toyota-tundra/

 

I have read some posts on this in the towing section. I have heard good things but I would imagine this is going to stiffen up the ride. I think for a daily you'd be better off with either shackles or some better leaf springs. I know there are some shops that can re-arch your spring and add leafs as necessary to fit your application. I am hoping to use one of these options soon. My truck is starting to lean and my springs are just about flat with an empty bed...

 

Got a pic of the rake while not under load? Great looking rig!

 

I'm the kind of guy that rarely ever performs Mods on my truck, I like them bone stock for the most part. But my PRO sagged so much when towing the boat that something had to be done. Finally, after looking at so many other options out there, I went with + 1.5" shackles and man it was the perfect solution. When not towing, can't tell any difference in ride quality. But how sweet it is not to have the ass dragging when I hook up my boat or utility trailer.

Here are the before and after pics of the stance. Not a big deal, but makes a huge difference. Personally I much prefer the back end to be UP more than the front. It's a pickup truck, it needs that rake for towing and payload.


BEFORE SHACKLES:


AFTER SHACKLES:


BIGGER, HEAVIER BOAT, NO SAG:

 

Went from 2015 2wd TRD off road pkg to 21' TRD Pro and first towing was a few weeks ago. Was quite surprised to see how much the rear squatted compared to the 2015. Adjustable headlights worked well to keep my from blinding others and she towed like expected but might have to add some Coachbuilder +2 shackles to give her some room to squat. TRD Pro exhaust is definitely more "in your face" under constant load but didn't bother me at all. Unfortunately my tow truck sounds way better than my track car!