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Originally Posted by 04DSGTUNDRA
Hey everyone, I'm strongly considering getting a new Toy Hauler Trailer. I'm really impressed with the Weekend Warrior Super Lite SL2805. The only problem is I don't know if my Tundra will pull it  here are some specs on the trailer, its a 28' 5th Wheel, dry wieght is 5400lbs not including the water (it has a 100gallon water tank), gas (18 gallon pump station), or bikes (it can carry 4 to 5 quads). They say 5th wheel towing is alot easier on the truck, and you can carry 10% more then pull trailers. When we do use it I do not plan to EVER drive with the water or gas tanks full (i'll fill up as close to the destination as possible), and don't plan to carry more then 3 bikes at a time. I've pulled a 25' Fleetwood RV pull toy hauler, dry wieght is 6900lbs, with bikes and luggage and passengers it was around 8200lbs, and my truck pulled it pretty good. Anyone pull a 5th wheel??? Any advice would be appreciated. thanks-
oh yeah, i have a 04' Access cab Limited 2WD TRD Tundra. |
"They" are dead wrong about "5th wheel towing is alot easier on the truck, and you can carry 10% more then pull trailers". This is total and absolute hogwash.
The problem is that 5th wheel trailers put about 20% of their total weight on the hitch versus about 10% with standard trailers. Furthermore, with a good and properly adjusted weight distributing hitch, about a third of the hitch weight of a standard trailer goes on the front axle of the tow vehicle, a third on the rear axle, and a third goes back to the trailer tires. By comparison,
all of a 5th wheel's hitch weight will go onto the rear axle of the tow vehicle. If you add bikes, gear, food, 100 gallons (
800 lbs) of water (no matter if you are
almost at your destination), your 5500 lb trailer is going to weigh around 8000 lbs. 20% of that is 1600 lbs.
Unlike most here, I've actually had my truck weighed (4X4 '03 Access Cab)...with just fuel, driver, and some lightweight stuff in the bed (~200 lbs), the weight on my rear axle was 2700 lbs. The Gross Axle Weight Rating (rear) is a very light 3760 lbs. A proper 5th wheel hitch is going to weigh at least as much as the gear I had in my bed so you have, at most, 1000 lbs to play with for axle loading. Subtracting 1000 from 1600 means you will be at least 600 lbs over the maximum allowed weight for the rear axle.
That's a
very serious overload...the springs will be bottomed out and a great deal of stress will be placed on the axle bearings. Tundras do
NOT have heavy duty axles...they are nothing more than widened Tacoma axles and the differentials
are Tacoma differentials. One good off-road jolt with that much overload and you could easily be looking at a snapped-in-half axle with the wheel up through the top of the wheel well.
Because of the major overload you were putting on the truck by towing the Fleetwood, you've very likely already overstressed the steel in the suspension and axle and made it even more likely to catastrophically fail. Overload springs, add-a-leaves, air bags, whatever, may get the frame off the axle but they're
not going to solve the underlying problem of a light duty axle that can definitely be snapped by overloading it (one TS member already did while trying to pull a toy hauler with a Tundra).
Another huge problem with using a Tundra to pull a 5th wheel is the short bed on the Access cab. As I discussed in depth earlier in this thread, with the 5th wheel hitch mounted just ahead of the axle, the distance between the pivot point and back of the cab is less than distance between the pivot point and the side of the trailer. All it would take to have an expensive collision between the front of the trailer and the corner of the cab is to make a sharp turn (like getting in/out of a gas station or a campsite). And if you ever happened to get into a jacknife situation during an emergency maneuver while traveling, the trailer would obliterate the corner of the cab...and the head of anyone sitting near that corner. The only way around this is buy one of the automatic sliding hitches that move back whenever you go into a turn. The problem with these is they're expensive (around $2500) and take up the entire bed.
Basically, you really ought to totally and completely forget towing a 5th wheel with a Tundra unless you're willing to go with a very small one (around 2700 lbs empty/5500 lbs
loaded) and are willing to invest in a Pullrite sliding hitch.
As for that Fleetwood...8200 lbs is waaaay too much load for this truck. The Gross Combined Weight Rating is 11,800 lbs...that's the maximum you should
never exceed for the total of loaded truck and loaded trailer. A 4X2 access cab with normal options, a load of fuel, passengers, and cargo is going to weigh about 5000 lbs. Subtracting 5000 from 11,800 means the heaviest loaded trailer you should have ever pulled is 6800 lbs. Because you were at least 1400 lbs over that I'm confident that you've already severely overstressed the frame and suspension. Just because the truck
could move that heavy a trailer down the road doesn't mean that you weren't doing a lot of hidden damage like crystallized steel and microscopic hairline cracks.
If you want to pull 8000 to 9000 lb trailers, you need 3/4 ton truck that's designed for that kind of load...like a Ford F250 or GM/Chevy/Dodge 2500 series. Tundras were never designed for that kind of loading.