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?

40 Replies

Yosemite_Sam1
Explorer
Jul 04, 2019
noteven wrote:
Oh I don’t know... I was climbing the grade on CA395 north of Bishop hauling my 30ft 11,000lbs trailer plus a bike in the truck at 85% fuel rate when a Sequoia blew by me towing a about 26 or 28 ft travel trailer. The V8 was roaring nicely. My poor little Cummings almost choked on the cloud of gasohol exhaust ????. He was towin’ !

That's me on the steep uphill past Mono Lake. It's a 4runner towing 21 ft trailer, lol.

I did a double-floor on gas pedal maneuver on you to automatically downshift on uphill climb and overtaking.;):B
hookie
Explorer
Jul 04, 2019
Another option is buy a smaller trailer within your tow limits and have the kids switch off sleeping in a tent. Before you know it the older kids won’t be going with any longer. Or some/all of the kids could drive separately when they’re older and stay on their own site. At least you could still camp as a family.
blt2ski
Moderator
Jul 04, 2019
As a father of four myself, you will find you need a rig that is one or two sizes bigger than the ave couple needs to pull a given trailer. I used a one ton pickup capable of 6 people. Usually had close to a minimum of 2000, usually closer to 3000 lbs of payload added to the truck!, plus the weight on the axels of the trailer! We were closer to 1200 when I had 4 adult sized teens. Add in the two alaska malamutes and crates at 150-200 lbs per, a rack, canoe, bikes, generator in the bed etc.

I would not even attempt to tow a trailer other than a single wheel 3500 lb capacity trailer with that rig. It is a people hauler only! I would wager like my ex wifes Astro van with 1400 lbs of payload, it is over gvwr with the 6 of you in it! Reality, no tow capacity at all!

Marty
noteven
Explorer III
Jul 04, 2019
Oh I don’t know... I was climbing the grade on CA395 north of Bishop hauling my 30ft 11,000lbs trailer plus a bike in the truck at 85% fuel rate when a Sequoia blew by me towing a about 26 or 28 ft travel trailer. The V8 was roaring nicely. My poor little Cummings almost choked on the cloud of gasohol exhaust :). He was towin’ !
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Jul 04, 2019
Sequoia’s payload is it’s weak point. My 2015 Tahoe is 1595 for example and it’s just me and the DW.
Yosemite_Sam1
Explorer
Jul 04, 2019
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.
opnspaces
Navigator III
Jul 03, 2019
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 Jayco

Of 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.
wowens79
Explorer III
Jul 03, 2019
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.
wanderingaimles
Explorer
Jul 03, 2019
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.
Thom02099
Explorer II
Jul 03, 2019
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.

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

40 Replies

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