Is a HTT right for us? And a few other ??'s

popupcamping wrote:
No one has mentioned this but have you thought how well OR poorly for that matter your 8 year old 225HP Taco is going to haul such a big HTT with a slide?

I have thought about this of course - but would be happy to have someone check my thinking. And come on… my Tacoma has 236HP (not 225). Those 11 HP could make all the difference!

A couple of points:
My Tacoma, while being a 2006, just hit 50K miles last weekend. Well maintained, no mechanical issues at all. TRD pkg w/AAL.

Tow rating is 6500#
Max tongue weight is 650#

* This TV would only be used for short local trips - and only for the next 6 months or so. We will be buying a larger TV before making any bigger trips. Also, I will be riding solo in the truck as DW&DD drive separately since my truck is an Access Cab and can't seat the whole family anyway. Besides. I like to get to camp early and do some setup prior to the arrival of the "Child Tornado"! We have borrowed a full size when we have needed to in the past.

We will split cargo between the two vehicles and will travel with minimal water in the HTT system since there won't be any stops for a local trip.

So here is a somewhat worse case scenario with my Taco pulling a Roo 233S with minimal water and 400# of cargo in the TV and HTT:

Tow Vehicle GVWR 5,500
Tow Vehicle GCVWR 11,850
Theoretical Tow Rating (GCVWR - Dry Weight) 7,800
Trailer GVWR 6,402

GVWR = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, GCVWR=Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating


CALCULATION OF TOW VEHICLE WEIGHTS


Tow Vehicle Dry Wt. 4,050
Gasoline - Gallons 18 6 lbs/gal 108
People 200
Cargo and Stuff 400
Weight of Hitch Receiver and Accessories 60

Actual Weight Tow Vehicle (GVW) 4,818

Percentage of Tow Vehicle GVWR 87.6%

Under (Over) Tow Vehicle GVWR (lbs.) 682



CALCULATION OF TRAILER WEIGHTS

Dry Weight Trailer 4,372
Options 400
Battery 45
Propane 2 20 lb Tanks 76
Water in Tank - Gals. 6 8.4lbs./gal 50
Stuff in Trailer (lbs) 400


Actual Weight Travel Trailer (TGVW) 5,293

Percentage of Trailer GVWR 82.7%

Under (Over) Trailer GVWR (lbs.) 1,109
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Please let me know if I've missed or overlooked anything.

Obviously, I'd be pushing closer to the limits than I'd like and pulling a barn door will challenge the Taco more than our big PUP. But I think its doable for the 4-5 local trips we're likely to make before getting a bigger TV.

But again. I'm trying to be pragmatic here and I'll be testing the viability of this plan by renting an equivalent weight TT locally (no HTTs for rent) and towing it to a local CG for a weekend trip.

That will give me some better perspective on towing a bigger rig and camping in a TT/HTT.

Thoughts?


Thanks!