Need Advice on TT size for 3-4 months
Good Morning to all you good people. My name is Bob and I am retired but wife is not yet. However, we have thought about purchasing a TT to go south or wherever in the winter months as it's colder tha...
Forum Discussion
I would say a good rule of thumb for a 1/2 ton is 5000lbs of weight towing. That should equate to 500-750 lbs of tongue weight.
You generally want to be 10-15% of the total weight on the tongue to give you a stable setup. Too much or too little can cause sway and other problems.
Generally too much tongue weight is not a problem for a pickup because they are designed to carry payloads - usually around 1500 lbs in the bed. Often the tongue weight limit value is set because of the actual limit on the hitch equipment itself - most 1/2 ton trucks will have a tag at the hitch with that limit - usually it's 1000 lbs.
Engine power is going to be your limiting factor with a 1/2 ton truck for a travel trailer. The truck is already a heavy vehicle, so depending on what V8 you have in it - and I think your Toyota is the smaller one - you'll be pretty marginal over 5000 lbs for a trailer. In the flats it might not be too bad, but hills and mountains it will really show. You never want to set up a rig at the absolute limits - you want to have some reserve to account for weather, wind, hills, etc.
All that said, there are lots of choices out there for you without having to get a bigger truck. You just have to look over them carefully.
You generally want to be 10-15% of the total weight on the tongue to give you a stable setup. Too much or too little can cause sway and other problems.
Generally too much tongue weight is not a problem for a pickup because they are designed to carry payloads - usually around 1500 lbs in the bed. Often the tongue weight limit value is set because of the actual limit on the hitch equipment itself - most 1/2 ton trucks will have a tag at the hitch with that limit - usually it's 1000 lbs.
Engine power is going to be your limiting factor with a 1/2 ton truck for a travel trailer. The truck is already a heavy vehicle, so depending on what V8 you have in it - and I think your Toyota is the smaller one - you'll be pretty marginal over 5000 lbs for a trailer. In the flats it might not be too bad, but hills and mountains it will really show. You never want to set up a rig at the absolute limits - you want to have some reserve to account for weather, wind, hills, etc.
All that said, there are lots of choices out there for you without having to get a bigger truck. You just have to look over them carefully.
