1st Generation Tundra-TT length???

[cviator]

How long a trailer is too long for a first generation tundra doublecab? I have read enough here on the site to realize I should look for a travel trailer in the area of not much over 5000lbs. However some of the ultra-lites reach nearly 34 feet at only 5300 lbs. What concerns should I have? Any advice from your experience is appreciated.

[Herbicidal]

I have a 2001 Tundra and I tow a 26' Outback TT. Scaled weight when prepped for camping including about 10 gallons of water for traveling incidentals, is 5,600 lbs. I use a DrawTite weight distributing hitch with 1,000 bars. A year ago or so, I replaced the friction anti-sway device (what a piece of cr**) with a Reese HP dual-cam anti-sway device. Night and day difference! Last year we did our longest trip ever, to Yellowstone National Park. Over 850 miles each way from our home in Roseville, Ca. Absolutely ZERO problems. Oh yeah, we use a Prodigy brake controller too.

With that said, I would probably not go much past a 26 footer. I know there are formulas and such for computing the max trailer length etc, but from real world experience, this setup works very well for my family of four. Our model has a 'bunk house' so each kid has their own side of the trailer. They both choose to sleep in the top bunk and keep their stuff on the bottom bunks.

Good luck in your research and I'm glad to see you are doing it before buying a trailer. Unfortunately you can't trust the sales people any further than you can throw them. For another great forum, check out Outbackers.com. They are a great group of folks and we really like our Outback. I have some pictures in my photo gallery if you care to have a look.

[tomhole]

I went from a 16' pop-up to a 25' hybrid travel trailer to my current 32.5' (Rockwood Ultra Lite 2701SS).

I was concerned about the 2701SS length. I use the Equal-i-zer on this trailer and it does a great job. This trailer is designed well in that the axles are biased towards the rear of the trailer by about 2 feet so that helps control sway. It is lightweight at 5600 lbs loaded for travel. I have a hitch scale and was able to do some playing around on a trip to Ohio. I started at exactly 10% hitch weight and it was stable but wiggly. I went to a little more hitch weight and it got better. I then went with 750 lbs hitch weight and it was rock solid.

On the way home through the Shanendoah <sp> mountains, it got very nasty with high winds, freezing rain and fog. Worst conditions I've ever towed in. I saw no issues with directional stability. Couldn't see 50 ft in front of me and there was ice on the road and everyone was flying by me way too fast and the family was sleeping without a clue that I was squeezing the magic juice out of the steering wheel, but the trailer was stable.

So, this 32.5 ft trailer works with my 2005 Tundra. If the axles weren't that far back, I'm not sure it would work as well. If I don't keep the hitch weight up, it doesn't work so well. If I don't use the Equal-i-zer, it won't work so well. I know I am outside the guidelines for our 141" wheelbase Tundra, but the guidelines give you some leeway if you use a good quality sway control.

I will be adding a Hensley to the trailer once I find a job this summer. I picked a heck of a time to retire from the Navy.

Tom

[core64]

I tow a 31'4' Coachman captiva ultralite. I come in at about the same weight as tom and herb (5600 lbs loaded). I currently use the WDH and sway control I purchased with the trailer, and it works good. I am going to upgrade to the reese WDH and their trapazoidal sway control this summer(dont like the friction sway control). I havent had any bad situations, but I dont think I would be comfortable with anything longer or heavier. If we ever do decide to go bigger, then its time for a new truck (the new tundra of course). I have a picture of my truck and trailer in pics folder, if you wanna take a look.

[XRamTundraMan]

With my access cab 2002 tundra I pulled a 27 foot fleetwood prowler TT(not a light weight model either)all over sea level flat southern Florida. We do use a WDH with sway control. I never used cruise control or overdrive but I didn't expect to be able to. It did fine at 65 mph but I never forgot it was back there. At 55 mph it does even better and I would forget(sorta forget, you now what I mean) it was back at times. The water and tranny temps never even came close to red zone. No dipping no diving when breaking and no sway at 55 or 65 mph even with 18 wheelers passing by at 80plus mph. As I stated in another post I don't think it would do very well in serious hill country let alone real mountains, but that is what the new 2008 CM SR5 5.7L 6 speed with tow package and 4X4 is going to be for. I'll still tow with the 2002 any where in Florida.

[cviator]

Thanks for the posts guys. Keep them coming. It is really helpful to hear other's experience and have that knowledge to help make the best decision possible.

Thanks!

[jamesrc]

My 02 4.7L Access cab pulls my Outback 25RSS pretty well. Mostly over flat land, but I've been up (and down) a couple of mountains. No issues at all with sway, and I'm just using a standard Valley WD hitch and friction sway control. Probably has a lot to do with loading properly..

[curling_coach]

Tom, that is a nice rig you have there. I knew getting on TS would help me with my little dilemma. Took the wife shopping for a TT and ended up with a longer unit (Surveyor 280) than originally planned. You know, kids are now pretty much grown let's go the smaller route. Wrong, went from a 24' to a 31'. My biggest concern with my '05 access cab is, will I be able to tow this 5513lb (dry), 680lb (hitch weight) behemoth.
We usually travel with no water in the tanks but I really am concerned that 1. it may be too long and 2. that the hitch weight & overall weight is too heavy. I don't believe all the dishes and stuff, camping gear etc. adds more than 200-400lbs and what I would have in the truck bed minus the hitch weight would amount to more than a few hundred pounds also.
Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated. I am taking the trailer for a test pull tomorrow.
Hmmm, maybe I just need to trade in the '05 for an '08? Then maybe change the TT to a 5'er?

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by curling_coach

Tom, that is a nice rig you have there. I knew getting on TS would help me with my little dilemma. Took the wife shopping for a TT and ended up with a longer unit (Surveyor 280) than originally planned. You know, kids are now pretty much grown let's go the smaller route. Wrong, went from a 24' to a 31'. My biggest concern with my '05 access cab is, will I be able to tow this 5513lb (dry), 680lb (hitch weight) behemoth.
We usually travel with no water in the tanks but I really am concerned that 1. it may be too long and 2. that the hitch weight & overall weight is too heavy. I don't believe all the dishes and stuff, camping gear etc. adds more than 200-400lbs and what I would have in the truck bed minus the hitch weight would amount to more than a few hundred pounds also.
Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated. I am taking the trailer for a test pull tomorrow.
Hmmm, maybe I just need to trade in the '05 for an '08? Then maybe change the TT to a 5'er?

I think you'll be fine with that trailer. But i know tom will recomend you add to that hitch weight while loading the trailer. He has a good rule of thumb to go off of in another post he made. That is a looooooooooooong behemoth, that's for sure. Just make sure you have a good WDH.
I think tom will tell you to count on about 1000 lbs more when loaded. This has been his experiences, and he actually weighs his trailer.

Trading for the 08 & 5er would be quite the expensive to go. But my experience with the 4.7 is that it lacks a bit in power & drivetrain for towing. But it is quite impressive for a small v-8, that's for sure. But with that long of a trailer, a truck with a longer wheelbase would be quite beneficial for you.

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by curling_coach

Tom, that is a nice rig you have there. I knew getting on TS would help me with my little dilemma. Took the wife shopping for a TT and ended up with a longer unit (Surveyor 280) than originally planned. You know, kids are now pretty much grown let's go the smaller route. Wrong, went from a 24' to a 31'. My biggest concern with my '05 access cab is, will I be able to tow this 5513lb (dry), 680lb (hitch weight) behemoth.
We usually travel with no water in the tanks but I really am concerned that 1. it may be too long and 2. that the hitch weight & overall weight is too heavy. I don't believe all the dishes and stuff, camping gear etc. adds more than 200-400lbs and what I would have in the truck bed minus the hitch weight would amount to more than a few hundred pounds also.
Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated. I am taking the trailer for a test pull tomorrow.
Hmmm, maybe I just need to trade in the '05 for an '08? Then maybe change the TT to a 5'er?

You'll likely be under the GCWR on weight (trailer will probably be close to 6300~6500 lbs loaded) but you'll be way out of the envelope for length unless you use a really top-end WDH.

First a few notes about weight...the "dry" weight you're quoted on the trailer normally does not include any factory or dealer options (like AC, even the spare tire) and those alone will usually add up to around 500~700 lbs. Then your stuff (dishes, bedding, pots/pans, food, propane) is often more like 500~600 lbs than your expected 200~400 lbs. But even so, the combined weight of the truck and trailer is still probably under the GCWR (11,800)...if you indeed do travel with empty water tanks and don't load the truck's bed with heavy stuff (like firewood). Even with empty tanks, I think you'll be seeing loaded tongue weights around 900 lbs or so...and anything less will lead to a very sway prone trailer. So it's absolutely necessary you use a Weight Distributing Hitch with at least 1000 lb spring bars.

The length is another matter altogether....with the Access Cab's fairly short wheelbase, the standard rule for towing travel trailers would suggest you don't tow a trailer over 24.5 feet and definitely not over 27 feet. If you don't use the most sway resistant hitch on the market, you'll never be able to safely tow a 31 footer with an AC cab. You might be ok with a Reese Dual Cam but I think you're still going to have some really scary sway incidents sooner or later. To be honest, I don't think you're going to be really safe from sway issues unless you pony up the $3000 or so it'll cost to get a Hensley Arrow hitch. If you try to get away with a simple friction sway control hitch, I'd put your chances of an accident at pretty close to 100% within the first 3 months of towing.

[curling_coach]

Thank you everyone for the sound advice. I guess back to the drawing board on TT hunting.

[curling_coach]

Well still hunting for a trailer and for some reason nothing seems to have the floor plan we like unless it is longer than 26ft. It also seems that anything we look at has a GVWR of over 6000lbs. This is even ultra-light trailers supposedly. Coupled with the info Tom provided for his rig, I might be able to get away with upwards to possibly 6300 GVWR but I do not see a lot in that rating.
Ray, another question I should have included in my original post was I also put on summer tires & rims, Toyo Proxes S/T in 285/50R20. I towed a 24ft '88 Wilderness last season with them on (did up the front pressure to 45psi and the rear pressure to 50psi) and had no handling or towing probelms but in going to a newer heavier trailer do you think they would present problems?
Getting a new truck is not out of the question but I would need Perry Mason or Sebastian Stark to argue my case so I may be stuck in really looking at a smaller trailer.
Thank you again in advance for your help.

[cviator]

I am with you concerning the tires versus towing ability. I have the factory 265-50-20s. So that has been a concern of mine.

You may also want to look at the Heartland North Trail line of rvs sold at Camping World. Heartland has a great website and seem to be good quality.

I am also trying to find out more info on a Keystone FreedomLite I found on the Camping World website but have been unable to find on the Keystone site.

Both offer all aluminum frames and several good sized floor plans that stay between 4700-5300 lbs.

Still researching myself so that is all I can offer currently.

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by curling_coach

Well still hunting for a trailer and for some reason nothing seems to have the floor plan we like unless it is longer than 26ft. It also seems that anything we look at has a GVWR of over 6000lbs. This is even ultra-light trailers supposedly. Coupled with the info Tom provided for his rig, I might be able to get away with upwards to possibly 6300 GVWR but I do not see a lot in that rating.
Ray, another question I should have included in my original post was I also put on summer tires & rims, Toyo Proxes S/T in 285/50R20. I towed a 24ft '88 Wilderness last season with them on (did up the front pressure to 45psi and the rear pressure to 50psi) and had no handling or towing probelms but in going to a newer heavier trailer do you think they would present problems?
Getting a new truck is not out of the question but I would need Perry Mason or Sebastian Stark to argue my case so I may be stuck in really looking at a smaller trailer.
Thank you again in advance for your help.

A 285/50/20 tire is about 31.2 inches in diameter; the stock 265/70/16 is 30.6 inches. Which means your Toyos are roughly 2% larger in diameter; the effect of which is effective towing torque is reduced by 2%. I rather doubt you'll notice that small a reduction in torque...there might possibly be a slightly greater propensity to downshift on moderate grades and it will take just a little longer to accelerate on on-ramps. OTOH, the much smaller sidewall would help control lateral forces (like sway) so from that perspective the 50 series tires are better. This is all based on the assumption that the 20 inch rims are rated for the loads you'll be putting on them.

[curling_coach]

I had no trouble with the Toyos towing my 24ft Wilderness but now that we are looking at up sizing I do have a concern about a larger tongue weight. It may all be a mute point because I would have to get an '08 to tow the '07 31 footer that we are getting a good deal on.
I did look at the Heartland seriously for a day but still with my '05 the smallest trailer did not have the floorplan we wanted and I would have to go to a min 30ft which may be too long according to Tom & Ray. The dealer said no problem, which may be true but I still think doing all the calculations that I still might be over my GCWR every so often. I am putting safety as my priority.
Plus Cdn $21000. to US $27000 plus other expenses figures into the picture BUT I sure did like the idea of having a wider wheelbase than the more conventional TT. Too bad I couldn't get a better deal. I would go to Montana to get the trailer no problem.