Hello! I would appreciate it if someone could advise me on our situation. I have been doing a lot of research but want to make sure that I am not mistaken. We thought that we would be able to pull a lightweight trailer with our Toyota Sequoia, but it looks like we were wrong.-We are a family of 2 adults and 4 teens/preteens and a Golden Retriever. All of us combined weigh about 1015 pounds.-We are hoping to buy a hybrid trailer with a dry weight of 3000 lbs. and a GVWR of 5900 lbs.-Our tow vehicle is a 2004 Toyota Sequoia 2WD with a towing capacity of 6500 pounds and a payload capacity of 1430 pounds.So, the payload of 1430 pounds minus our 1015 pounds of weight only leaves 415 pounds of capacity for the weight of the trailer tongue and hitch and any cargo in the car. If the tongue weight is 12% of the trailer's weight, then we could only pull a trailer with a loaded weight of 3458 pounds. A WDH would help the setup tow better but wouldn't fix the payload capacity problem and might just decrease the available payload even more because of its own weight? I don't think that there are any trailers that would sleep 6 people and weigh less than 3458 pounds, are there? I think that we are going to have to stick with tent camping! Or we would have to drive two vehicles... Are there any other options? Does anyone have any other insights? Am I missing anything? Thanks in advance for your help and knowledge!

Family of 6! wrote:Hello! I would appreciate it if someone could advise me on our situation. I have been doing a lot of research but want to make sure that I am not mistaken. We thought that we would be able to pull a lightweight trailer with our Toyota Sequoia, but it looks like we were wrong.-We are a family of 2 adults and 4 teens/preteens and a Golden Retriever. All of us combined weigh about 1015 pounds.-We are hoping to buy a hybrid trailer with a dry weight of 3000 lbs. and a GVWR of 5900 lbs.-Our tow vehicle is a 2004 Toyota Sequoia 2WD with a towing capacity of 6500 pounds and a payload capacity of 1430 pounds.So, the payload of 1430 pounds minus our 1015 pounds of weight only leaves 415 pounds of capacity for the weight of the trailer tongue and hitch and any cargo in the car. If the tongue weight is 12% of the trailer's weight, then we could only pull a trailer with a loaded weight of 3458 pounds. A WDH would help the setup tow better but wouldn't fix the payload capacity problem and might just decrease the available payload even more because of its own weight? I don't think that there are any trailers that would sleep 6 people and weigh less than 3458 pounds, are there? I think that we are going to have to stick with tent camping! Or we would have to drive two vehicles... Are there any other options? Does anyone have any other insights? Am I missing anything? Thanks in advance for your help and knowledge!Your assessment appears to be pretty spot on. A possible solution would be a pop up camper. Had 2 of them early on and they can be deceiving as to the number of people that can be accommodated. Easily had 6 in StarCraft popup that I had back in the day. Get one with a screen room attachment for some extra space outside.Another solution would be a different tow vehicle. Given your family size, a full sized 2500/3500 van may fit the bill for you and your family.

First off, Kudos to you for thinking ahead and looking at this. Most vehicles when showing towing and payload numbers account for the driver when listing the info. So that may help a little. But yes, your SUV is anemic for most serious towing. A small (less than 10%) overage on the payload may be acceptable, but that is a personal call. You can do a few things to help with payload, such as spring or shock mods, but, your insurer may frown on those.The best solution with your current family size is likely to be having a second vehicle and driver to carry the crew, while you carry the house.

Like mentioned above, consider a popup. We had a Flagstaff 228D, and it had a king, queen, futon (twin), and the dinette made a short full. It had the dinette in a slide so it was pretty roomy.

I would look into a popup trailer or maybe a hybrid. This Jayco has a dry weight of 2295 and a GVWR of 3375. That gives you 1080lbs of carrying capacity to play with before it hits the GVWR. Link to JaycoOf course this all falls apart if the kids won't share a bed. I solved this kind of problem for years by putting the oldest and youngest on the queen bed and the middle kids get the fold down beds.

Coleman LT SQ17 sleeps 7 with net weight of 3,137 lbs.It is towable by Toyota 4Runner 4.0liter 4WD rated with towing capability of 5,000lbs.

Sequoia Can't Really Tow Anything (Family of 6). Am I Right?

toedtoes
Explorer III
Jul 04, 2019
I would look at the popups. You should be able to find one to fit your specs. Since you are already tent camping, you can continue to use a lot of your current gear to extend the camping space beyond the trailer itself.
Family_of_6_
Explorer
Jul 04, 2019
Thank you all for the advice and ideas! I'm glad to know that I wasn't completely wrong in my calculations.

I've started looking at some pop-ups, but even they can be heavy!

We also realized that if we could find a trailer that sleeps 4, and if for some reason we weren't able to put up a small tent next to the trailer, we could put the seats down in the Sequoia and sleep a couple of people in there.

Lots to think about!
mtofell1
Explorer
Jul 04, 2019
Yeah, all these ads telling you your truck can pull 10,000# (lol... or even the space shuttle) are certainly misleading. Basically, you can tow a trailer and hang out alone or you can bring your family without a trailer.

I echo the post that congratulated you on doing your research ahead of time. These forums are FULL of people in your position who just bought an 8000# trailer and can't understand what is wrong.

I agree with the tent trailer idea. I really miss mine in a lot of ways. I could pull that thing anywhere (the current 35' 5th wheel is a bit of a hassle sometimes). I actually found the biggest leap in my camping enjoyment with the tent trailer. Just having all my camping gear in a trailer that I could hookup and leave with was a HUGE improvement over having to load up all the bins.
colliehauler
Explorer III
Jul 04, 2019
Would it be possible to take a second vehicle. With teenagers they won't be in the house that much longer. I would look at a floor plan that would work well for you and your wife and like others said a tent for their privacy and yours.
ksss
Explorer
Jul 04, 2019
I had a buddy that a new Sequoia and power wasn't as much an issue as the transmission never could find the right gear, horrible mileage probably related to shifting issues. They couldn't stand it, couldn't get it fixed and sold it. That was a couple years ago, they may have fixed that issue or maybe it just theirs but it clearly wasn't set up to tow anything.
BurbMan
Explorer II
Jul 05, 2019
Welcome Family of 6! Kudos to you for doing the math correctly! Most folks look at the 6500 lb tow rating, buy a trailer with a 6500 dry weight, and then stumble into this forum looking to improve their towing experience....I didn't even do the math when we bought our first TT, the dealer told us it would tow like a dream and we took him at his word....

You are 100% on what you can tow with a loaded vehicle. You might load the family in and head to a scale and get an actual weight...you can find drive-on scales at most recycling yards, moving companies, etc., and for $10 or so they'll let you drive on a give you a scale weight. Takes about 5 mins.

We were camping in the local state park last month and saw one of these "tent trailers". Unlike a pop-up, you don't get a sink, fridge, heater, etc, it's literally a tent that folds into a trailer. What you get for trading off the amenities is more tent with less weight. This seems like might be a good alternative to traditional tent camping.

Cascadia Tents

Option B that was mentioned is get a bigger pop up, tow it with the Sequoia, and take a second vehicle for additional occupants and supplies.
falconbrother
Explorer II
Jul 05, 2019
You would need to trade that Sequoia if you wanted an SUV to haul all of that. Apparently the Ford Expedition's and the Chevy Suburbans can be had with something in the 11,000 pound tow weight range. You would have to special order it though. We pull 5800 (dry), me, my wife and some pug dogs. The weight rating is 7200 pounds. We're at the max as far as I'm concerned. I tow with empty tanks so, I know we're not at or over but, I like to keep a little margin. I do like having all that air conditioned/heated space in the Suburban. We use to have a motorhome and on winter trips when the temps were freezing it was cold up at that big windshield. The dash heat and the furnace couldn't keep my toes warm.
Jebby14
Explorer
Jul 05, 2019
a popup will fix your problems. way more space than a hybrid too. they are a nice step up from tenting and if you are a tent camper the canvas shouldn't be a problem for you. other option is buying a real tow vehicle. All of the big players make a truck (not make the half ton mistake) that will seat 6 friendly people.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Jul 05, 2019
For a new TV I would suggest a Ram Mega Cab! Plenty of room for 6 if you get the bench seat in the front. Not to mention a lot of room in the back seat for a dog to lay on the floor.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Jul 05, 2019
You have to remember that a Sequoia has 3 rows of seating. Switching to a crew cab pickup means giving up a LOT of space, and spending all your travel time with one kid crammed in between you two up front, and three kids shoulder to shoulder in the rear. "Mooooooooom! He's touchingggggg meeeeeeeee!"

Maybe you have unusually well-behaved, patient kids. If so, count yourself lucky.