Towing Airstream with Tundra

My aunt and uncle pull a 28' Airstream with their Tundra Double Cab all over the place, including from Texas to Alaska and back with no problems. He did have 10 ply tires installed and add-a-leafs, but other than that it was stock. That was with a 2007 Tundra and they just traded for a 2013 Tundra last year. This time he's going with the same tires, but air bags instead of the add-a-leafs for a softer empty ride.

stargirl96 wrote:
We have a 2008 Toyota Tundra double cab V8 with 5.7L. It's rated to pull 10,100 lbs. I know you have to look beyond this tow rating when picking a trailer. We are looking at a 1995 28' Airstream. Dry weight is 8,500 lbs. & tongue weight 650 lbs. Will this work, and how do you figure what you can safely tow in a travel trailer? There will be only 2 medium-sized adult in truck, and we tend to pack light.

Forget about that 10K tow capacity. You will run out of payload (cargo carrying capacity), long before you get there.

Check the sticker on your drivers door post. Look for a payload number or cargo carrying capacity. Payload is max weight capacity for occupants, cargo, WD hitch, and tongue weight combined. Some Tundras have less than 1400 lbs of payload, some have close to 1700 lbs.

The trailer weights don't look right. At a minimum the tongue weight should be 10 percent of trailer weight. Average tongue weight is 12 - 13 percent.

Assuming the 8500 dry weight is correct, you're looking at about 9200 lbs, loaded for camping. The tongue weight will be about 1100 lbs, possibly higher, and there will be another 100 lbs of WD hitch.

If your Tundra is on the low end with payload, you will be at max weight, before you or a passenger get in the truck, and there's no room for cargo of any kind.

I think you misread the Airstream's specs. With an 8500 "dry" weight, the tongue weight will be, at a minimum, 850 lbs (10%). However, once loaded that 8500 lbs trailer will be at least 10,000 lbs with a tongue weight approaching 1200 lbs.

What's your Tundra's payload rating? Whatever it is, subtract from that rating all the weight you will put in/on the truck including you, passengers, equipment, tools, ect. What's left will be what tongue weight you can accommodate. Bet you're gonna be way over the payload rating...

I'd look for something a little lighter. The 5.7 will pull this weight, but the rest of the truck will be hard pressed.

Good luck.

Ron

While you can pull the 28 ft Airstream I would be more comfortable with a 25 ft Airstream. We have a newer Tundra with the 5.7 and tow a 23 ft Airstream. We at one time pulled a 25 ft Airstream with a Chevy Silverado 1500. We had some room to spare on our weights but would not have been as comfortable towing a larger trailer with that setup.