Towing Casita Trailer… need advice

Hello,
I’ll be towing a casita travel trailer 1500 miles for the first time and need advice on the tow setup. The fiberglass trailer weighs 2698lbs dry. I will tow it dry. Do I need a weight distribution hitch or anti sway bar for this setup or can I tow without it? I’m towing with a 2008 4x4 5.7 V8 Crewmax Tundra.

Any experience and recommendations are appreciated!

 

I think you will be just fine with nothing more than a drop hitch to make the Casita ride level and should not need anti-sway or WDH on your maiden voyage.

There is a lot of differing opinions among Casita Owners about needing WDH and sway control and I have yowed all over creation both ways and while I prefer the added stability of the WDh and Sway Control I am just fine without them too.

Get the Egg,Tow it is it comes and see how it feels first.

And congrats on the Egg and welcome to the Gang!

Just try not to be one of the guys here that does not even know the trailer is back there,no actual good can ever come of that.

 

I greatly appreciate your response! I think I’ll just hook up and go but maybe work on adding the WDH and/anti sway when I get back. Is there a setup/brand you recommend?

 

No WDH needed, your GTG. I tow 2900 pounds without one all over the place.

 

You're gonna be fine, but make sure you have good trailer tires, brakes, lights, and bearings. Include a spare for the trailer and lug wrench that fits it. Happy and safe travels!

 

I slipped, mirrors. Make sure you can see and don't forget it's back there when you go slow in town, overhead clearance is now going to be something to be aware of. EZ to forget and can be very costly.

 

Do you use any anti sway bar? Truck looks good with trailer in tow!

 

No I don't, but I have been thinking about installing one.

 

Like everyone already mentioned I dont think you will need a WD hitch either. Make sure when you load the trailer that the heavier items are towards the front of the trailer. You want to make sure to keep a healthy amount of tongue weight on the truck which will eliminate any swap issues. 10% to 15$ of the total trailer weight should be on the tongue.

 

By the way I’m on bilstein 6112 at 1.9 on the front and airlift airbags on the back. I don’t know if that matters but just thought I’d add suspension info.

I don’t plan to load anything in the trailer but if I do I’ll keep it towards front like you said.

 

Good tips from the posts so far. Be sure to check your tire pressure, get wheel bearings greased if you don’t know the history, check brakes. Do a test drive to check out the brake controller if you have electric brakes. Ditto on tongue weight being correct. Check lights every time you hook up.

 

I would say get a WDH, yea that trailer is child’s play for the tundra as far as tow and payload capacity, but you have to think about wind and when big trucks pass you that force is gonna introduce sway into your Sunday drive. I tow a pretty light travel trailer about 4K lbs and I still use a WDH.

 

Not going to be of any help here but wanted to mention I got to see a Casita up close. I stopped in the small town of Walsenburg, CO on the 5th. I was at the Carl's Jr with my grandson chowing down in the parking lot and an elderly couple pulled in with a Casita in tow. Talked with them awhile and they let me check out the Casita. Very nice and was surprised with it's layout. It's small but didn't looked cramped at all. The couple was retired and were traveling for the summer. They had nothing but praise for that camper. Just thought I'd mention this.

 

Keep in mind that the "Big" Casita is 17' from bumper to hitch which makes the Egg itself just 13' and it is really astounding that they are able to build them with so much inside and so many features in general I think.

But no matter how you load it it will be pretty easy towing for any full size truck too.

The 17' though are heavy for the size and are known to be tongue heavy especially for how small they are and so as others have mentioned you want to be really careful with tire selection and based on my experience with blowouts this is not that simple a task.
I am on Kumho tires now and am going to switch to Goodyears as they are new for them or Maxxis rubber as both seem to be a step up from the standards people find and though the Kumhos have been just OK I have had blowouts in big heat that I would rather not repeat if possible too.

I have had 3 17' Casitas so far and am with other Casita and Egg owners in general all the time and while we all seem to agree that WDH is hardly required for these I will say that there is only a dramatic improvement in ride quality when using a properly setup WDH system too!
No one who has tried both ways can really argue with this so far too.

So which Casita are you getting ecxactly?!?!?

 

Sorry for the newbie question if I decide to add one, would I need a WDH or anti sway bar. Why one vs the other?

the casita I’m looking at is a 2020 Heritage Deluxe with the bunk beds! I’m excited to go check it out and hopefully bring it home!

 

Many WDH have anti sway built in. Some of the cheaper ones don't and you use a separate anti sway device that attaches to the WDH. If you're going to buy one, just get a WDH with anti sway. WDH bars are rated for the load. You probably only need the lightest that they make, which is 600 lbs. 800 lbs would probably be okay as well. 1000 lb bars would be too much for your trailer.

 

We towed a Scamp camper with our 01 Prerunner 3.4 with just a single side A.S. bar. Didn't even know it was behind us. Personally I think you'd be fine without it but I'd put one on for peace of mind.

 

I was thinking maybe just a

$55 curt 17200 trailer anti-sway bar control kit , black

curt 17200 anti sway bar and nothing else.

 

WDH and Anti Sway devices are two different things and require each type of solution to control. Some WDH have Anti Sway built in too and some do not.

It is also tough these days to find an WDH system light enough for or tiny trailers honestly and too beefy a unit is not good either.

I think Draw Tite for one makes appropriately small enough systems though and they are a big name maker that you can trust in my experience.

 

Mine is a single bar also though when I have said that here before I was argued with about it?
I dont think you can get a single bar system anymore anyway but just a right sized tiny low weight system made for lighter loads like ours.

As far as not knowing it is behind you,I can not imagine how that is a positive thing?
I ALWAYS want to know it is there.

 

What I meant by that is, sure I knew I was pulling a camper, but it pulled so easy, didn't sway even when 18 wheelers passed us, so it was "as if" it wasn't behind us.

This is very close to the anti sway bar we had:

 

Looking up close I see it was a Reese unit. But they're all pretty much the same. You can "screw" these onto the camper rail, but I would suggest having the back plate welded to the camper rail for complete confidence.

 

If you want to spend money, I would scrap the airbags and install Dobinsons HD leaf springs and not worry about the hitch with your light load. Then you don't need to worry about airbag failure which is a big problem regardless of what hitch or sway bar you have. Just my two cents.

 

Don't over think it. I would use nothing. Pull it home and see how it performs. The trailer is pretty light and the Tundra is a heavy truck so I don't think sway won't be a problem. If you do notice a little sway add the anti sway friction bar. The ball mount on the trailer side simply bolts on after drilling four holes. The other ball mount attaches to a metal plate that has to be welded to your existing receiver. Cheap and easy job. A WD hitch is over kill and a waste of money for such a tongue light trailer.

 

Exactly what I suggested here too except for the fact based on my own experience that the truck handles and performs better with a WDH though it might not be required.

 

May be overthinking this but any issue towing with a leveled truck? I’m on 6112s at 1.9 up front and stock suspension with airlift airbags on the rear.

thanks for the advice so far!

 

No issues, like I said before, airbags can and do fail sometimes. That can be a bad accident while towing if you are already in a bit of a pickle when it occurs. Good luck!! Safe travels!!

 

By the grace of God, made it home safely 1600+ miles.

Thank you to all for your advice and input.

 

I think you may have been worried about it a little too much.

 

Pretty sure we all told you it would not be a deal at all.