Gen ONE (1) trucks…real ability to tow a travel trailer, weight concerns

I have an ’05 Access cab TRD 4x4 with a fiberglass ARE topper. Factory hitch, 7pin plug, and just installed a brake controller. I want to buy a travel trailer, a Northwoods Nash 22h, tandem axle, which has a dry weight of about 4400 lbs, max weight of 7k lbs. It will come with a weight distribution hitch, so this should help. Tundra says max tow capacity is 6900/7000 (one manual says 69, the other says 7k) so I am right there with the weight.

Realistically, am I going to be okay at this weight with this truck? Anyone with a similar rig, GEN ONE (1), 4.7, who tows a TT with similar weights?

I can’t see myself ever maxing out my load capacity while towing. If I keep the tanks empty, except propane and a few gallons of water for toilet flushes, the most I think I’d be hauling is some clothes, food and some fishing gear, in the trailer and a small amount of stuff in the truck. It would be me, wife and dog in the truck, so about 400 lbs, and then some amounts of clothes, food and gear.

I just don’t have any knowledge of doing this TT/trailer towing stuff, and trying to determine weights. I don’t want to look like one of these people dragging a TT/Trailer down the road with their ass end dragging and barely moving along, holding up lines of traffic. I’m being told, from RV folks, that I will be fine, but I want to hear it from Gen One Tundra folks, so I’ll have a better idea.

Thanks!

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-tundra-travel-trailer-combo.91400/#post-2405190

Seems similar to mine. Here’s some info on my setup. I would keep it empty and light if you are going into steep mountains.

 

Out of my wheelhouse but miss @onesojourner and his input on threads such as this….carry on !

 

A few years back when my 06 Dbl Cab 2wd was my daily driver (it's my college bound son's truck now) we would tow our travel trailer all around South/Central Texas during the summertime. We towed a Jayco Jay Flight 19bh for around 3 summers. It weighed around 4k lbs empty and we would definitely load it and the truck bed up for extended weekend trips. The truck pulled great until we'd reach the Texas Hill county. We were limited to around 50mph on the really steep passes. Other than those occasions we really enjoyed this truck/trailer combo. I installed a Prodigy brake controller and used a 10k lb Equ-a-lizer weight distribution hitch. I would turn off overdrive and never use cruise control. Maybe invest in Roadmaster Active Suspension to limit squat. I have it on my Gen 2.5 and highly recommend.

 

My '00 4.7 4X4 1st gen performed pretty well for 6 years towing my Lance... Only about 5,500 lbs. but huge frontal area. Wind resistance seems to have more of an impact than +/- a little weight.

Only having 3 usable gears (OD off) was more of a problem on grades than lack of power - 2nd topped out before it could pull 3rd and maintain speed. Just slow down and drive by the tach and not the speedo.





Yes, my world is much easier now with the '19 5.7 but my 1st gen served me well for a long time.

 

I am really curious how much more that extra gear does for towing.

 

Not much over ?45?.


extra first gear in case you still have traction control on.

 

No experience with the 1stGen, but if you can get water at the campsite and utilize dump station when you leave, you will cut a bunch of weight and sloshing around that isn’t that fun. Water is really heavy.

 

@OP

i think it depends on what your plans are and where you plan to tow this thing. I've probably towed heavier with my 1st gen than anyone else on the forums here, but running across the country at 7k will be exhausting mentally and physically. it won't be relaxing to drive 250 miles with 7k hitched behind you.

it aint gonna pull 7k up mountain passes without slowing down though. I pulled 5k with mine through the black hills and had my foot to the floor to maintain 45 multiple times.



My personal recommendation would be to buy a bigger truck or buy a smaller trailer. It has nothing to do with the technical capabilities of the truck and everything to do with being comfortable and relaxed on what should be a fun trip.

 

I had a '05 and pulled 6-8K lbs almost everyday.
Would also sometimes have 500-1000K in the bed.
Safety chains on trailer dragged. Would have to replace the chains every few years.
0 and I mean absolutely 0 problems with truck.
Never a warped rotor or anything and I gave her hell for 164,000 miles.
Truck was totaled in a tornado.
Best truck I ever owned.

 

so I’m guessing that with your Gen 1 you were pulling that Lance? What model? Looks like the 1895? Dry weight?
I think I’ll do okay, but I do want to be comfortable.
I can buy a newer truck, I just love my ‘05 as it’s such an awesome truck with loads of power and great stability, and it has 214,000 miles, and still going strong!

 

Yes, I pulled the Lance for 6 years with the Gen 1... it's a 1685. Dry weight 3800, 5500 GVWR, and most trips I'm pretty close to that. I tow with full fresh tank @ 45 gal.

Very well matched combo. The Gen 1's are a bit underbraked for towing IMHO, but generally not an issue if you start the downhill at lower speeds and just keep it there with engine braking.

 

I’m looking at about 4400 dry weight for a 22’, 4050 for a 17’.
Nash trailers are four season, built pretty stout with double pane windows, and a lot of insulation. shocks, tandem axles, solar. Heavier than most TTs by a few hundred lbs plus. One I’m looking at has an Onan 2.5 Gen set built in so that’s the reason for the 4400 dry weight. Even if it didn’t have a built in Gen, I’d be hauling my Honda 2000, so that’s 57 lbs. I’m sure the Onan is a lot more.

I plan to haul the TT cross country, from CA to FL, 2500 miles up some hellacious hills in some areas. Not sure how this will work. ‍♂️

 

do you have a buddy with a similar sized trailer that would let you do a test tow?

a lot of this is so subjective that I think that would really help you.

 

Good advice... Maybe rent one of similar size & weight for a weekend trip?

 

No, everyone I know is in debt making huge payments on new-er trucks, and can’t afford TTs.

 

rent. Hm? Never done this before, ever. I usually travel S on I5 to Bakersfield then cross over towards I40, head E on I40 to Amarillo and then head S towards Dallas, bypass Dallas on 82, drop down to I20 for about 20-30 miles and then come out on 98. 98 towards Mobile AL and then get on I10 East. Best route ever. But there’s some hellacious hills through CA into AZ, and then some bad ones coming in towards Flagstaff and some into NM, with crazy winds. I’ve seen a few RVs and semi trucks flipped over from the winds, several stuck on the side from over heating, and flats. Scary! But, I’ve seen some crazy rigs going down the road too, some I would have thought would never make it based on the small tow vehicles and massive TTs.

I pulled a small 5x10 cargo trailer once, with a small load, behind a sprinter van. That was pretty easy, though backing was a challenge with the single axle. Weight was not an issue.

as much as I can’t stand Camping World, they do have a lot of resources to explore, so I’m going to a few and check out all my options and try and gather more info. I’m actually at an RV camp ground asking around too. This is a real eye opener, talking to others first hand about their rigs, but most people have huge rigs and huge trucks. I’m hoping to find a few folks with smaller rigs and trucks, to try and get some first hand experiences face to face.

 

I'm following this thread with interest, after making a similar one a while ago, I just picked up a trailer with the intention of building a camper on it, and no real towing experience. I really wondering what this will be like. I'm aiming for less than 3K lbs, but its going to be a box so I'm worried about wind resistance being a big problem.

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/does-anyone-here-tow-post-up-your-pics.16399/page-7#post-2926462

 

This was our previous trailer. ~4k empty, ~5k loaded. Towed it around 16000 miles in 2021 and 2022.

Recently changed to the camper in the above picture which is ~4500 empty, ~5800 loaded. So far only done three trips with it. I'll let you know what I Think at the end of the season.

 

@shoe07 I know it's not end of the season but your thoughts so far? I have an 06 Double and the wife is contemplating getting a trailer about that size. Have the keep or new truck debate.

 

I've been pulling this one around since May. Back and forth from Southern to Northern Utah. Plenty of medium mountain pass pulls. The TT is 21ft and 4000 dry/5500 gross. I'm usually pretty dry when I'm hauling it so far. Have a nice WDH on it.

Suspension is less than year old after market with Dobinsons front and rear and a 3-leaf add-a-leaf in rear. I actually wish I kept the OEM overload leaf in now that I'm pulling the trailer, cause it does bring the rear down a bit, but I'm planning to add the Firestone (or similar) air bags on the leafs. Also have 285-70-17 A/T tires on the truck.

Pulls pretty well, but I wouldn't want to go much heavier, personally. This one seems just about right. Though I am going to step back down a size in tires to 275s.

 

How well do the brakes handle it?

 

What do you guys get for gas milage? Because I just went on my first trip with my camper.....and got 7.5 MPG.

 

Used to pull this with my First Gen. 28 footer single slide. 6400# without gear. Likely over 7k# with. Power was OK if it's not too hilly. Did not feel super stable. Too much camper for this truck. I would want to be in the 5000# loaded range to be comfortable with it all the time. We pulled this one an hour to the lake and back with only 2 or 3 hills that I had to pull in second gear.

 

Until I got the '19 I towed my trailer for 6 years with a '00 AC 4.7 4X4.

My Lance is nearly identical in size and weight to the one you asked @digitalferg about so I'll weigh in.

Lance 1685 is 5,500 lbs wet and loaded and most trips I'm pretty close to that as I tow with full fresh and we bring way too much crap.



Brakes did "okay" despite being what I'd consider undersized... I've had a couple of "Oh Shit" moments during that time and they did their job and slowed or stopped us (before the idiot who cut me off did)

The part where they're somewhat lacking is long steep twisty grades when they get hot. I start out painfully slow at the top and try to just keep it there with engine braking, using turnouts when I can to let traffic behind me pass, but I have had some fade and you can feel some pulsing/shudder as they get hot.

One in particular San Diego peeps will know is Montezuma Grade dropping into Borrego Springs... They call it "The Glass Elevator".

11 miles, 6% gradient, with an elevation drop of 3,200'

It isn't the steepest @ 6% average, the problem is that it has long straight-ish sections between twistys so it's hard not to let your speed creep up, especially if there's people behind you.

Here's a cool vid I just found that takes you on ride down... this dude is haulin' the mail!!

 

Original brakes were not great. The Tundra on its own stopped only ok, and sucked at stopping in any short, quick stop. I had some warp or something as well. Lots of vibration. But all of that was before the trailer. I could actually stop better with the trailer by using the trailer brakes more. LoL.

Now I've swapped out to GX460 brakes up front and SOS disc conversion in the rear. The Tundra now stops absolutely amazing on its own, and still stops great with the TT and trailer brakes properly adjusted.

 

Watched this video this morning.

https://youtu.be/s1R1Aon7Z-U