950lb tongue weight

[jtbmoore]

I am looking at a travel trailer that has a 950lb tounge weight and 7000 dry weight. I am a little concerned on the tongue weight. I have a 08 5.7 4x4 tundra. What are you thoughts?

[mudfuel07]

I would definitely get a weight distributing hitch for the trailer and I don't think that you would have a problem towing it. I had one that weighed about the same on tongue weight and I never bought a WD hitch and I was still able to tow it with no problem. If you have the option, go with a 5'er, it will tow much better.

[tomhole]

950 lbs is a lot, but if properly set up, should be fine. The interesting thing about hitch weight is you can control it to a certain degree. It can also get a lot higher than any brochure weight. My hitch weight is listed as 480 lbs. It was 750 lbs right off the dealer lot with absolutely nothing in it. Now that I have it loaded, I can vary it from 475 lbs to over 1,000 lbs depending on how I load the trailer. I have a nice Sherline hitch scale that I use every time I load up and have a good idea how to achieve what I consider my ideal hitch weight of 700lbs.

So, starting with a hitch weight that heavy, you could easily get up to 1,500 lbs. If you load carefully (including fresh water, depending on where the tank is), you could sit right around 750-800 lbs. I like a minimum 13% on my hitch. With a 7000 lbs trailer, that' about 1,000 lbs. With a weight distribution hitch, set up properly, a new Tundra should handle this well.

I will caution you that all that hitch weight counts against the GVWR of the truck. And the Tundra has a limited supply of that.

I will also caution that not using a weight distribution hitch with that much hitch weight could kill you. Lots of bad things happen when the truck is loaded like that. The brakes are all screwed up, the headlights are pointed up and the front axles unload a lot. With 1,000 lbs hitch weight and no weight distribution, the front axle will likely unload by about 450 lbs. The rear axle will have about 1450 lbs on it. This is due to the teeter totter effect of the hitch point being behind the rear axle.

Bottom line, 1,000 lbs hitch weights on a new Tundra are achievable with a high level of safety if all the weight limits are considered and you use a weight distribution hitch.

Happy camping!!

Tom

[dkjalj]

Tom, I have read many of your posting on towing and weights and everything. Maybe you can answer some questions I have. I bought the 2007 5.8L double cab tundra with the towing package. Supposed to tow 10,000 #. I recently bought a small utility tractor which is 3000# and a 14' dump trailer to haul it around in for some light construction jobs that I do on the side. The trailer empty weighs 3800#. I am new to towing and would like some suggestions on any additional setup I need. I got a reese brakeman brake controller and plan to install tomorrow. By my count the trailer and tractor would total about 7000# What type of reciever do I need and do they have ratings? Also if I just load material in the dump trailer, like gravel, how many pounds do you think I could load in the trailer and be safe. Should I be looking at a weight distributing hitch? Any other suggestions? New to the towing world with my Tundra - just don't want to cause any damage to the vehicle because of a lack of knowledge.

dkj

[jtbmoore]

Tomhole, thank for the reply. The sherline scale looks great. I tink I will pick one up and use that to shop around. Great advice!!!!

Should I look elsewhere. Is 950 really pushing it. The problem is all of the storage for the TT is at the front.

[charlesaf3]

Question,

I'd like to tow with 1000 pounds on the hitch - tractor on a skidsteer trailer on an 07 crewmax.

Do I need to alter the Tundra at all, or does the weight distributing hitch go on the trailer?

What sort of weight distributing hitch is recommended?

How about anti-sway? I wouldn't imagine windage would be huge.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[jtbmoore]

Scrapped the idea of the 950lb dry tongue weight. I am getting a Outback with a dry weight of 7100lb and a dry tongue weight of 650. All the Ford and Chevy guys on rv.net say that is still too much. I think it will be fine with some strategic loading. Any thoughts.

[tomhole]

A dry weight of 7100 lbs with a dry hitch weight of 650 lbs is unsafe. With a dry weight of 7100 lbs, it will most likely weigh a minimum of 8000 lbs ready to camp. The hitch weight will be at least 800 lbs, should be 13% or about 1,000 lbs. You can load the trailer and get the hitch weight down, but it won't tow very nice.

It looks like you should plan on 1,000 lbs of hitch weight based on the trailers you are looking at. You can find any trailer you want that weighs 7,000 lbs dry weight and you may find a hitch weight that looks better on paper (650 lbs) but it won't tow any better than the 900 lbs hitch weight, probably a lot worse. Physics are physics and they are fairly predictable. 13% of loaded trailer weight is about the minimum I would use for a travel trailer. You can load it with less, but I haven't found a trailer that tows well with a lower % of hitch weight, even with an Equal-i-zer or Dual Cam. Boats and open car haulers can get away with 10% or maybe even just a tad less.

I would stop nit picking the hitch weights and decide if your Tundra can handle 1,000 lbs of hitch weight. Go weigh your truck. Subtract that from the GVWR. Subtract all the stuff you plan to have in the truck while towing. The amount left over is what you can have for hitch weight. If it's less than 900 lbs, I would look at smaller trailers.

Tom

[1jeep]

Originally Posted by jtbmoore

Scrapped the idea of the 950lb dry tongue weight. I am getting a Outback with a dry weight of 7100lb and a dry tongue weight of 650. All the Ford and Chevy guys on rv.net say that is still too much. I think it will be fine with some strategic loading. Any thoughts.

I have a outback sydney 32bhds and it was advertised at 7600lbs with a 805lb tongue weight. Actual weight is 8200lbs with battery and propane and 990lb tongue weight....i know i am in 3/4 ton truck territory, but for the next year i need to make this work and so far it has.

First i would really reccomend a good WD hitch such as a reese dual cam or equalizer. Next ditch the "P" rated tires and get a good brake controller. I have even installed air bags and rear sway bar, all these items help but i run out of cargo capacity fast. I always try to pack all items in to the rear of the trailer and never travel with water in the tanks.

As for the guys over on rv.net i would take what is said over there lightly, there is a lot of titan and tundra bashing and i have found if my truck had a ford emblem there would be less negativity on that site towards it.