What do you TOW with your Tundra?

Yeah, not sure what brand my BIL's was. I know they make HD ones that can haul some heavy stuff. It may have been a dual 3500 lb axle at one point, but it was beat. Tires were bald, brakes didn't work, just generally beat on and never maintained. He swore up and down that it was a 10k trailer, but there's no way. If it was a 7k trailer, minus the weight of the trailer itself, it probably had a payload cap somewhere around 5k (when it was new). Yeah, it was a sketchy drive.
The new one I ended up buying had (2) 5k axels. Trailer weighed 2k, so a payload of 8k. Towing the tractor with the new trailer was right at the upper limit of what was reasonable for the Tundra (DCLB). I only used it for 2 yrs and then sold it to my neighbor, since I got into a cargo van for awhile that couldn't tow. Now I'm back into a Tundra and wish I had the trailer back.
Oh well, if I ever need any major work done on the tractor that I can't do, I'm sure the shop can pick it up for a fee,..or I can just borrow my old trailer from my neighbor.

 

My BIL has a 16' landscape trailer with double 5k axles. I dont need the extra 2' and the brakes on that trailer are surge brakes which only work if the truck pulling the trailer has enough grip to engage them. I had that trailer push me through an intersection once after a light sprinkle. Scared the crap out of me.

 

Can't even tell it's back there!

 

Towed this home this week. Towed easily. Much more stable than my old Silverado.

 

Not a tundra but same difference.

 

Nice squat

 

Yeah I have air lift bags, need to inflate a little more here. It is weird that the wheel gap is the same front to rear but it does look squat. I may need to add a 1in rear spacer here. It may be the swept back roof line.

 

That does seem like a lot of squat for a small boat

 

The wheel to fender gap is even front to back, so really zero squat. I have a 1.75 RC in the front and bags in the rear with 20 psi in them. Maybe I should install a one inch spacer in the rear but I will go back to having a rake. The roof line is not flat it looks swept back, I’ll measure how much today.

 

It also appears to be a ton of tongue weight, so it's not surprising. Single axle trailer and the axle is pretty far back.

 

It’s actually just 300 pounds.

 

That's wild, I would have guessed much higher.

 

I see what you mean now. At first look the lines of the trick look squatted. Probably tows fine though. Boat can't be that heavy. 3000 lbs?

 

Yeah around 3300 wet with trailer

 

This time I got the tow dolly instead of the car hauler. It was a lot easier on the tongue weight. The squat is mostly because the bed is loaded with al my daughter's stuff from her dorm room.

 

Hauled this beast from Lake of the Ozarks to Atlanta last Fall. Right around 8000lbs and it did just fine on stock gearing and 35" tires.

 

Towed a little actual weight for the first time with my 2022. I was really impressed with how the truck performed. Less impressed with the 2005 Prowler I borrowed from my Dad, but beggars can't be choosers.

120 miles one way across Southern Oregon and I was right around 9-10 mpg.

Andersen wdh hitch seemed to do well. I don't have experience with any other wdh to compare to though.

 

Just posted a video up of the 2020 towing our 27GT Airstream.

https://youtu.be/3Uu9aGXMQDo

 

Just picked up this 2023 Heartland North Trail 24BHS last week. Towing with my 2011 SR5 (pic isn’t great I know). Currently have WDH and Tekonsha P3 brake controller, but looking to add some other things to help/improve tow and lessen wear and tear. Transmission cooler is already on the list, as well as Bilsteins. Question I have for all of you is sumo springs or airbags? I am leaning towards airbags with daystar cradles. Thoughts?

 

Nice setup! You may also consider the Road Active Suspension kit. (RAS). I was considering the airbags and cradles as well but found the RAS to be a simpler solution. Your 2011 should have the factory transmission cooler, might be worth saving the $ there and investing in a BT dongle and app to monitor the temps (I covered this in the video above) as it may be just fine with the factory setup.

 

Thanks for the info. After looking at the RAS info, it does sound like it will be a better option than airbags. And I’ve read others on the forum who say the stock transmission cooler just doesn’t cut it, so it’s something I’m worried about.

 

I added a secondary trans cooler after the factory cooler. I can say that it provides a lot of cooling capacity. After a long, hard climb in 2-3rd (No TC lock) in 60F degrees ambient, it the return line is cold.
Ill find my links.

Edit:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/add...4-6l-tundra-for-under-400.77739/#post-2799217

 

Different approach: I went with sumo springs and did as a secondary cooler that I think I kept around $120. With a decent WDH hitch, I'm happy.

 

Sounds like a great solution! I can't speak for the factory setup, as mine is a 2020 where it was deleted so I added back the factory thermostat and lines and have an aftermarket cooler. I do wish there was a way to lock the TC in 3rd, there are times coming up over the mountain where its in 3rd for a good while pulling up steep grades. But the cooler does a great job and keeps the pan temps in check.

 

Please ignore the dirty truck and dirty trailer.
Finally brought Eileen home, for now anyway. The friend we have helping us get some work done hasn’t finished up yet but we wanted to try and go camping Father’s Day weekend anyway.
My level says it’s almost dead level. My measuring tape says the rear end dropped 1 1/2”.
Trailer is under 3000lbs.
Found I preferred ECO mode over Tow Haul or any other mode. Got 15.7L/100km towing it home via the back roads.
Standard mirrors are way better than the Tacoma. Will compare them to our aftermarket clip on tow mirrors next time.

 

That's cute!

 

Thats a super cool little trailer! Is that little silver ?wing? near the top in the back like a vent or just styling / aero?

 

Thanks Dan. Can’t wait for the new one but DW is currently too attached to this one to make plans to put it up for sale. Wish we had a larger driveway. LOL

 

Those are yaw dampers.

 

That’s the Shasta signature silver wing. People actually steal them. Owners of the original Shasta Airflytes are very lucky if they still have their wings.