Just bought Travel Trailer. Time to test Sequoia's towing

[Blaque]

Pics of my sequoia and trailer ...

[mikerat]

Thanks for the pics. Looks good.
Looks like you have the same hitch setup as I just got. Are those 1200# bars?
Hope you had a good trip. How did it tow for you?

[hayesb2]

Thanks for the pics. Looks nice a very nice setup. Is it hard to navigate around the gas pumps?

[Blaque]

Yes, they are reese 1200# bars and the thing tows great. Accelerates well uphill and is very stable. As far as the gas pumps, some stations pose more of a challenge than others but I drive a tractor trailer for a living. Blind side backing that thing up at one of my customers location is tougher than any gas pump I had to deal with pulling the camper.

[hayesb2]

Well I received the trailer...it is a 2009 Rockwood 8306SS, UVW 6900 lbs and fully loaded for my first trip it was around 7500lbs.

We installed the Propride Hitch, and it took longer than expected, around 7 hours total...ran into some issues with a bushing being stuck on a bolt, and had to have a local fabrication shop make 2 small steel plates to close a gap between the trailer a-frame and a ubolt on the hitch...aside from those 2 items the rest of the installation was pretty smooth.

Now for the review...I have never towed anything in my life except a small 8x10 utility trailer. In my 08 Sequoia was myself, 3 other fullsize adults, and 2 kids, and we left on our maiden voyage for a 4 hour trip.

Let me tell you, from having zero towing experience I was very nervous and expected the worse, but with the combination of the Sequoia and the Propride hitch this towing combination towed like almost nothing was behind it!! I was amazed at how easy it was...Alot of people telling me my Sequoia couldnt handle towing anything heavy or long, well I am here to tell you first hand, thats simply not true...I had no problems whatsoever...at the end of the trip I had put around 500 miles onto the trailer.

I was driving on I-70 going 65-70MPH with the air conditioning on full blast, Sequoia fully loaded with people, and I was passing semi's and other large trucks, even going uphills...and I drove through West Virginia and Pennsylvania I-70/I-470 which as some very long steep inclines/declines.

So for anyone else out there with a Sequoia and wondering what its capable of doing, I can safely say it will easily handle a 33 foot, 7500lb trailer with no problems *assuming* you tow with a Propride/Hensley hitch setup. I say this because I do not know how it would handle or tow without the propride hitch I installed...

I attached a picture of the setup I took when I pulled over for gas...

[Manoah]

wow, people are towing some HUGE trailers! thats so cool, now i want a trailer!

[Blaque]

Thats a great looking setup Hayes and a great story also. But I got to say I already knew the outcome of your story before I even read it. Now, if only we could get this story in the towing section of this forum. We seem to have a spy from rv.net thats always posting threads on what the toyotas are NOT capable of and constantly insisting that we are overloading them.

[hayesb2]

Yea when I first started asking opinions of others, the guys over at RV.net practically had me thinking I would be scared to death to tow any of the trailers I was looking at buying unless I upgraded to a 3/4 ton or 1 ton pickup truck. Alot of them all told me that my Sequoia wheelbase was too short to handle any trailer over 22-24 feet, and that anything over a DRY WEIGHT of 4000lbs was too much....

I'm glad I ignored their advice because after doing my own research from other forums, including this one, as well as Toyota's own technical specifications on towing, I ended up with a fantastic trailer which my family is very happy with and plan to enjoy for many years to come...

Had I listened to some of the guys from the RV.net forum I wouldve ended up towing a popup camper I truly think alot of those guys are just a bit too proud of their 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, and therefore think anyone who doesnt tow with one of them are doomed for failure.

So I hope my posts and experience will help other fellow Sequoia owners out there. Trust me, the Sequoia is a towing beast, and I would be very careful about heeding the advice of non-Sequoia owners, especially when they are 3/4 or 1 ton truck owners....

[JD and Beastlet]

Originally Posted by hayesb2

I got a good deal on a 32ft Rockwood Travel Trailer which is 6,000lbs dry.
I also placed an order for a 3P Propride Hitch to help compensate for the lenght of the trailer.

I should receive the trailer and hitch in about 3 weeks and I plan to post reviews of how this towing combination works with my 08 Sequoia.

Anyone else out there towing a trailer this long or heavy with their Sequoia?

We've been towing our 30' Starcraft TT since October with an Equal-i-zer. With our shorter wheelbase I wanted to eliminate sway rather than control it, so we too ordered a ProPride 3P. I installed it on Sunday and documented the process with nearly 100 photos.

I have yet to test it out for a longer trip than around the neighborhood. This coming Sunday I'll take it out for a run to the scales, though.

[Robert_Laurali]

We have a 2008 SR5 basically your mid level equiped SR5. No stock air bag setup. Added a Prodigy brake controller.

We have a 29ft KZ travel trailer rated at 5700lbs dry and 7100 max rated. I guestilmate it sits at 7000lbs when loaded ready to roll out. Has everything from a generator, to bikes, to added tv's etc...

we bought it repo'd and came with a reese WDH not the cam style with a friction sway control. Basic yet functional.

We also own a 2001 diesel excursion 2wd lifted with 6" lift and D rated off road tires.

Towed the TT first with the Seq. Very nice. went up to big bear here locally and thats a very twisty and inclined/decline trip. Outrageous power and brakes from this Seq. Not to mention the ease of down shifting and upshifting with the manual column style shifter they have.

Towed with the Excursion. Not to nice. At 7500lbs rig, I can only guess that the D load rage tires and slight lift has something to do with that. Yest got E1 rated heavy load range tires. and adding some bags to it before next trip. should solve any issues.

Also, adding bags to the rear of the Seq. they are readily avail now in a specific Seq kit.

In summery. If I had to tow tomorrow our TT, I would use the Seq over my Excursion (even though some call this Excursion the ultimate tow rig). I would ad bags to the rear of it first if poss though.

After the bags on the back of the Ex and the new tires. I do feel the Ex will have the upper hand though. AVG MPG with Seq on a trip we also did with the Ex = 8.4MPG. On the Ex = 13.1MPG. Diesel does have its huge advantages.

[mikerat]

Hayes, Do you have the AutoLevelling Air Bags on your Sequoia?

[MattyP]

I'm so stoked I found this forum. We're on the verge of buying an Outback 250RS. I have a 2008 5.7L Sequoia and wasn't sure if I could tow up to the 7500lb GVWR. I feel a little better about this soon-to-be purchase now that I've seen some actual results!

[hayesb2]

Originally Posted by mikerat

Hayes, Do you have the AutoLevelling Air Bags on your Sequoia?

I have the factory independant auto leveling rear suspension...thats it. I didnt add any aftermarket air bags.

[Vegas3000]

We towed the 5000lb. boat out this weekend and the 5.7 had so much power I forgot i was towing the boat. Incredible power going up hills from Lake Mead and crossing through the hoover dam hills. The back up camera makes it too easy to get hitched. I didnt even switch over to the sport gearing. It put my hummer H2 and Landrover to shame. They would struggle pulling my boat and its only 5000lbs

[mikerat]

Originally Posted by hayesb2

I have the factory independant auto leveling rear suspension...thats it. I didnt add any aftermarket air bags.

So do you hook up your EQ Bars as soon as you hitch up or do you wait for the factory bags to level out the vehicle first?