Is all up weight of 9500 lbs. too much for Tundra 5.7L?

[RVer_Andy]

Have a 2013 Tundra 5.7L w/ tow package and SR5 package. Looking at used Travel Trailer with dry weight of 8400lbs. (2006 Rorest River "Sandpiper" 34 ft.) Just totally guessing about an extra 900 lbs of carry-on maybe??

Anybody doing this kind of weight with this truck? What are your experiences? Had any problems due to too much weight? Tranny or other problems? What about mountains east and west? How does the truck handle with this kind of load? Any modifications ie upgrades etc.?

I would like to carry a Honda 2000 Watt genny in the bed of the truck along with portable BBQ grill, chairs, and miscellaneous tools.

Any experience with this particular travel trailer?

I've done the motor home thing for a short while but totally new to travel trailers.

Thank you.

[Gdetrailer]

Hybridhunter wrote:
He did mention he only gets that mileage drafting a semi, which still seems to be a stretch, but whatever.
Why do so many posters get so hyper at the idea of 10% tongue weight? Lots of folks saying "that's unsafe"? 10% is a nice balance of rear axle loading and stability in my experience, no lower though. I've been towing for 15 years, and from the reading I've done, 10-12% is perfect. (only if it tows well though).
As for having to crank up the friction to keep a lid on sway, that's just kooky talk.

And for the OP, there's a reason Toyota gives those ratings, and even if you think it's underated, that's just a guess. There are HD half tons that will handle that trailer no problem, but Toyota doesn't offer one. My experience with my last Toyota truck, was I killed 3 sets of rear gears running it hard at GVWR, so Toyota's are not inherently any tougher than American iron.

I would bet that if YOU changed from 10%-12% TW to 13%-15% you WILL find that the trailer BEHAVES even better than 10%. That IS a fact.

What you (and many others) fail to notice is that is a STATIC weight as in stationary. Once towing that weight IS shifting up and down as the vehicle and trailer are bouncing down the road. If you run 10% while stationary you end up with a TW GOING BELOW the 10% as you drive. That is one of the reasons as to why folks get their shorts in a knot about it.

To make things even more confusing is something called "center of gravity" this ALSO shifts front to back, to much shifting to the back and the whole rig gets unstable.

If you have ever played with fork lifts or tractors with front loaders you become keenly aware of center of gravity. #1 rule is to ALWAYS move with the LOAD as close to the floor as possible.

Why?

Well, as the load goes up in the air, so does the center of gravity. Once the center of gravity goes up, the whole rig gets unstable. Once unstable driving on uneven, unlevel ground the LOAD makes the whole unit tippy.

Keeping MORE than 10% TW helps to KEEP the center of gravity FORWARD of the axles basically keeping the unit as a whole much more stable.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Goducks he's not "crank the spring bars tighter" he is cranking the friction bars tighter. They are just long brake pads that you tighten with a handle to control sway. They work very well and that is all I have ever run, with a 34' 9800# trailer without any issues.

Not sure what Hybridhunter means by this statement "As for having to crank up the friction to keep a lid on sway, that's just kooky talk." well cranking or tightening the bars is exactly how you use a sway bar system.

Not sure why everyone thinks his set up so bad but the guys towing the same or heavier trailers with a F-150 supper-duper heavy duty extra payload want-to-be 250 pickup get told they are just fine. Whatever trips your trigger.

Don

[Hybridhunter]

He did mention he only gets that mileage drafting a semi, which still seems to be a stretch, but whatever.
Why do so many posters get so hyper at the idea of 10% tongue weight? Lots of folks saying "that's unsafe"? 10% is a nice balance of rear axle loading and stability in my experience, no lower though. I've been towing for 15 years, and from the reading I've done, 10-12% is perfect. (only if it tows well though).
As for having to crank up the friction to keep a lid on sway, that's just kooky talk.

And for the OP, there's a reason Toyota gives those ratings, and even if you think it's underated, that's just a guess. There are HD half tons that will handle that trailer no problem, but Toyota doesn't offer one. My experience with my last Toyota truck, was I killed 3 sets of rear gears running it hard at GVWR, so Toyota's are not inherently any tougher than American iron.

[goducks10]

fourwinns6 wrote:
I pull a 30' Blackstone 7500 lbs. dry with WD bars and two anti friction sway bars with a 2007 Tundra without a problem.My 3000 watt Honda generator (74 lbs) sits in the front of the trailer along with Camp Chef grill (45lbs) and anything else that will put weight forward as my biggest weight other than the TT is my 72 gallon water tank near the rear of TT (600 lbs)My total weight loaded 8600 lbs TW (870) lbs Handles and brakes just fine just need to crank the sway bars tight to keep from swaying.Range of fuel is a problem if you go long distances,I can get 200 miles without overdrive or long climbs.I always use the 4 speed and push forward on the shift lever for 5th when cruising 65 mph.Occasionally if tucked in behind a semi I flip it into 6th and my rpm's are under 2000 I can cruise for miles getting 12 to 13 mpg.Also only use unleaded plus 89 octane for better mileage and performance cost's an additional $2 a tank and worth it

BS, you don't get 12-13mpg's unless your towing with a strong tailwind.
So you say you are using two anti friction bars? Are they the kind that hook on to the little balls on your WD head? If so then why do you have to crank the spring bars tighter? It would seem that the two anti friction sway bars aren't doing their job. I think you're living in a fantasy world and don't really know what a controlled towing situation feels like.

[bimbert84]

fourwinns6 wrote:

I pull a 30' Blackstone 7500 lbs. dry with WD bars and two anti friction sway bars with a 2007 Tundra without a problem. My total weight loaded 8600 lbs TW (870) lbs Handles and brakes just fine just need to crank the sway bars tight to keep from swaying.

fourwinns6, although I agree with the others here, I'm going to try a different approach, one that speaks to sensibility instead of one that attacks what may just be ignorance. The towing setup you've described above is not safe. Your tongue weight is way too light, meaning you have too much weight distributed behind the trailer axles. This tends to induce sway, and you've even indicated that you need to crank your sway bars to prevent it. This is not normal.

The fact that you've never had a problem doesn't make it safe. All it may take is the right combination of slope, speed, wind, and road conditions for you to get into an uncontrollable oscillation, and that's very dangerous business. I hope that never happens, but in my opinion, and obviously the opinion of a few others here, you should definitely make some changes to your setup.

-- Rob

[LarryJM]

fourwinns6 wrote:
I pull a 30' Blackstone 7500 lbs. dry with WD bars and two anti friction sway bars with a 2007 Tundra without a problem.My 3000 watt Honda generator (74 lbs) sits in the front of the trailer along with Camp Chef grill (45lbs) and anything else that will put weight forward as my biggest weight other than the TT is my 72 gallon water tank near the rear of TT (600 lbs)My total weight loaded 8600 lbs TW (870) lbs Handles and brakes just fine just need to crank the sway bars tight to keep from swaying.Range of fuel is a problem if you go long distances,I can get 200 miles without overdrive or long climbs.I always use the 4 speed and push forward on the shift lever for 5th when cruising 65 mph.Occasionally if tucked in behind a semi I flip it into 6th and my rpm's are under 2000 I can cruise for miles getting 12 to 13 mpg.Also only use unleaded plus 89 octane for better mileage and performance cost's an additional $2 a tank and worth it

:R First off WOW and secondly DOUBLE WOW :? This post made my mouth drop and sorry, but it's just so wrong. 870lb hitch wt on a 8500lb trailer ... WAY TOO LIGHT AND DANGEROUS as evidenced in your having to "crank the sway bars tight to keep from swaying" :E Finally, actual admitting to "drafting" behind a semi is about the craziest thing I have heard even from a relative newbie.

Only saving grace here is that from where you are there aren't too many other people out on the roads with your unsafe combo and dangerous driving habits.

Larry

[Gdetrailer]

fourwinns6 wrote:
I pull a 30' Blackstone 7500 lbs. dry with WD bars and two anti friction sway bars with a 2007 Tundra without a problem.My 3000 watt Honda generator (74 lbs) sits in the front of the trailer along with Camp Chef grill (45lbs) and anything else that will put weight forward as my biggest weight other than the TT is my 72 gallon water tank near the rear of TT (600 lbs)My total weight loaded 8600 lbs TW (870) lbs Handles and brakes just fine just need to crank the sway bars tight to keep from swaying.Range of fuel is a problem if you go long distances,I can get 200 miles without overdrive or long climbs.I always use the 4 speed and push forward on the shift lever for 5th when cruising 65 mph.Occasionally if tucked in behind a semi I flip it into 6th and my rpm's are under 2000 I can cruise for miles getting 12 to 13 mpg.Also only use unleaded plus 89 octane for better mileage and performance cost's an additional $2 a tank and worth it

Your Tongue weight is HORRIBLY LOW :E, barely 10% which is one of the reasons as to why you HAVE to "crank the sway bars" in order to keep control.

IF your tongue weight was nearer to 12%-15% (which IS IDEAL) you would have tongue weight of 1032-1290 lbs which most likely IS OVER YOUR "payload" when you add up passengers in the vehicle plus anything else in the back of the truck.

It is extremely sad when folks turn a blind eye from SAFETY in order to justify a BAD setup or match. All to get an extra 1 or 2 MPG to boot :R

If you had my new F250 you WOULDN'T need to "crank up" anything, in fact it most likely TWICE the cargo rating of your truck at 3451 lbs (Supercab, short bed, 4x2, 6.2 engine). As for mileage, so far my setup towing about 7K lbs gets me an HONEST 10.1 mpg.

Even better with having a bigger tow vehicle I am no longer a slave to WD... :B

[spoon059]

bmanning wrote:
My 2 cents: find out the RAWR & tire load ratings of your Tundra and see how much, if any, you'd be over your ratings.

You likely need a heavier-duty truck but I'd still find those #s for the sake of being thorough.

If you aren't over on RAWR or tire ratings then you kinda have a tough call to make.

Some believe GVW is gospel; many, including guys who haul commercially, go by axle & tire ratings.

Depends which school you subscribe to.

If you'll be over on the axles or tires, it's a no brainier...time to go to a 2500 or 3500 series truck.

I've added up my front and rear axle ratings... they are about 1000 lbs MORE than the GVW rating. I know my axles are tough enough, I know my engine and trans are tough enough, I know my E rated tires are tough enough. It makes me wonder what the limiting factor is on the truck that they didn't increase the GVW rating. My only assumption is that they deliberately derated the truck to lessen warranty claims.

[carringb]

Of you have to "crank down on both sway bars" to prevent away, you do not have a safe combination. A trailer should never sway under normal conditions. Sway control is there to maintain control under adverse conditions. I had to pull my 14,000 pound weekend warrior 1500 miles without weight distribution because the hitch head broke. It never swayed. When I bought the trailer, I didn't even bother withe the WD hitch until after I put it through the paces just on the ball (back roads, no traffic of course)

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

spoon059 wrote:
Yes, it will probably tow that weight with no problems.

No, you will be way over your payload.

I love my Tundra, it is a very capable truck and I truly feel that Toyota was very conservative with their numbers and it can haul way more than they rated it for... but the payload rating is low and you will probably be way over that rating. Unfortunately it sounds like you need a heavier duty truck.

I do think Toyota is the only manufacture to use new SAE standards. Good for them and shame on the others....yes even Chrysler! My bet is the EB boys are not going to like it when/if Ford ever adopts them as they seen to have the most to lose.

Don

[fourwinns6]

I pull a 30' Blackstone 7500 lbs. dry with WD bars and two anti friction sway bars with a 2007 Tundra without a problem.My 3000 watt Honda generator (74 lbs) sits in the front of the trailer along with Camp Chef grill (45lbs) and anything else that will put weight forward as my biggest weight other than the TT is my 72 gallon water tank near the rear of TT (600 lbs)My total weight loaded 8600 lbs TW (870) lbs Handles and brakes just fine just need to crank the sway bars tight to keep from swaying.Range of fuel is a problem if you go long distances,I can get 200 miles without overdrive or long climbs.I always use the 4 speed and push forward on the shift lever for 5th when cruising 65 mph.Occasionally if tucked in behind a semi I flip it into 6th and my rpm's are under 2000 I can cruise for miles getting 12 to 13 mpg.Also only use unleaded plus 89 octane for better mileage and performance cost's an additional $2 a tank and worth it

[bmanning]

My 2 cents: find out the RAWR & tire load ratings of your Tundra and see how much, if any, you'd be over your ratings.

You likely need a heavier-duty truck but I'd still find those #s for the sake of being thorough.

If you aren't over on RAWR or tire ratings then you kinda have a tough call to make.

Some believe GVW is gospel; many, including guys who haul commercially, go by axle & tire ratings.

Depends which school you subscribe to.

If you'll be over on the axles or tires, it's a no brainier...time to go to a 2500 or 3500 series truck.

[mrkoje]

As others have said the same thing already, payload is the limiting factor on 1/2 pickups far before actual towing capacity. A 9500lb loaded trailer should have around 1200lbs riding on the tongue. Consider you have to account for people in the pickup and your stuff in the back of the pickup then you will be over weight. I'm sure the Toyota will "pull" the trailer no problem after all it just recently pulled the Space Shuttle right?

In short, you don't want to overload the rear axle on the pickup - you leave your self open to tire blowouts on the truck and real braking issues to get that massive beast stopped.

[It_s_Me]

Decide

[It_s_Me]

Those that are saying they would not tow that long a trailer with a tundra I think are misinformed. As long as you are set up correctly you won't have a problem with the length. Again, your payload will be an issue though. You have to decide if you are willing to go over or notams whether you need bags, etc.