Towing with Toyota Tundra - any input or suggestions?

Check your as equipped payload on the tire and loading sticker on the driver's door. Subtract an estimated weight of your family plus another 200 pounds of gear you'll throw in the bed. That's what you'll have left for loaded TW. This assumes you have the 5.7L/4.30.

Just about every manufacturer makes a 26 foot long bunkhouse model. I would look at some of those. With 2 teenage boys though, you might find the RV bunks to be narrow and short... coffin like. The floorplan listed above has the other option, which includes 2 bunks that are more double size. That gives your boys a little more room to turn around without hitting a wall.

Depending upon your style of camping you might want to look at a slide in the living room to give you more room while everyone is inside.

I prefer Jayco's myself. I went to a lot of RV shows the past 3 years to prepare for my next camper and the overall quality and feel of the Jayco's felt great, as well as value for the money. The Whitehawk is their lightweight travel trailer model.

I like the 28DSBH model. That has the wide bunk beds and the dinette and couch on a slide. Dry tongue weight i3 635, loaded tongue is about 900.

The 25BHS is a little smaller. Still has wider bunk beds but only has a dinette, which is in the slide. Dry tongue of 590, loaded around 780 lbs.

If those numbers are still too high you should consider a hybrid. A Jayco X213 is an expandable with bunks in the back that are wider than normal bunks but not as wide as the models listed above. They have a full size king slide out bed and no bump outs, dry tongue weight of 390, loaded tongue around 660.

There are a LOT of options out there. It all depends on what price you want to pay, what options you want to have, what sacrifices you are willing to make and what available payload you have to carry. Spring is here, try to find an RV show and see what your options are!

My Springdale has worked great for us.

http://www.keystonerv.com/springdale/#/floorplans

Probably 32' or less assuming you have max towing and payload packages. Could be much less with other truck options.

dangol wrote:
Any specific recommendations for brands and models?
Dan

It's pretty much what fits in your ratings and has a floor plan that works best for you.

A friend of mine just bought a Cougar 230trs for his 10 year old 1/2 ton Tahoe. I think it's around 5K dry weight and is really a lot of trailer for that weight. The TRS is a toy hauler which I'd usually rule out since I just think of a garage full of ATVs and stinky gas cans when I think TH. But this has a nice slide out the back king bed and the "toy" room is really just a nice place to throw bikes and gear and doubles as a bunk room (probably not as big a deal for you with the truck bed).

In any case, I haven't looked at 1/2 ton towable RVs in years and was really impressed with what's out there. The manufacturers are really putting out a lot of cool floor plans these days.

After years of RVing and having to change many times due a lack of planning, the best advice I'd give you is to spend a lot of time..... A LOT of time on the manufacturer's websites looking at floor plans. Any lot in town just wants to sell something on their lot. It's pretty unlikely that even a big dealer will have the perfect RV for you.

Check out Jayco, Keystone and Forest River. All 3 have numerous sub- brands and it's really fun to look at what's out there.

Wow - thank you all for the responses so far.
Yep - I am aware of the limits with a 1/2 ton. Fortunately it is all setup for towing already I pull a horse trailer on occasion.

Any specific recommendations for brands and models?
Dan

Check out this calculator.

Plug in your payload and weight information. It will give you a ballpark figure for loaded trailer weight that will put you close to max weight. Then you decide on a cushion: IE How much, if any at all.

Keep the trailer GVWR within the tow rating and you should be fine. Forget the dry weight or expected towing weight when loaded, go by GVWR. Be sure you are looking at all options that might lower the truck tow rating. Don't expect to also load the bed with 500+ pounds of firewood motorcycles etc. Get a good anti sway hitch and go have some fun.

IMHO, bottom line is don't plan to tow more than 6500 lbs. considering you'll have four people in the truck and probably some stuff in the truck bed.

I totally agree with this. For 6 years, on some extended trips (5000+ miles, 5+ weeks), we towed a 34-foot, 7500-GVWR trailer with our Tundra. Length and weight were not an issue for our truck's engine and brakes, any more than any trailer would have been, but I knew that we were at the upper limit. Only 2 of us along, but we carry pretty much gear with us in the truck, and we were over our truck's GVWR (though not over the axle ratings) with the old TT. For various reasons, only one of which was related to towing, we downsized the trailer last year and as the driver I am much happier; our current TT is 8' shorter and 1000 lbs lighter (GVWR) than the previous, and it just seems to "fit" the truck better. We also added LT tires to the truck a couple years ago, and have been happy with those results too - much better than the street tires we got originally. And we also have an Equal-i-zer (brand name) hitch, which has been working very well.

Years ago, someone on this forum once described the Tundra as "more engine than truck," and I would tend to agree. The engine is a beast and can pull more than the much-vaunted 10,000-lb tow rating, but the weak point is the low GVWR of the truck itself.

As for campers, for your family a hybrid trailer might make sense, and you might give those a look. Jayco and Rockwood make them, among others, and are popular brands. If you want a fully-enclosed trailer, then I'd suggest a model that has a set of bunkbeds for the kids. Unless your kids are really small, sleeping on a dinette won't work very well - they're usually enough to hold two people under 4'6" comfortably. :)

P.S. Hi, aftermath. Nice to see you still on here, and still with your Tundra as well. :)

I tow my 7500 GVW trailer with my 08 Tundra with the 5.7. It pulls just fine and I have never felt a lack of power even in the steepest of mountain passes. This is a brute when it comes to actual pulling.

But....as some have mentioned it is a half ton and payload will be your limiting factor. Check the tongue weight, load your wife and boys and a few things in the bed and you should be good to go. Mine pulls nicely but I did get some LRD truck tires and that did seem to make a difference from the original tires. Also make sure you have a good weight distributing hitch with built in sway. I use and Equalizer brand and haven't had any trouble.