Show me your 30ft trailer

[brow]

TundraBay, did you ever get them going, way to go!

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

Harper, you may be right. Born about 10 years before you so I can remember anti-German sentiment even into the '70's. I'm German by birth, so I caught some of that.

I also think it's the fear that "we're not the biggest" any more, which reality (and population, and slowly, economy, and eventually, military) is making us not.

I bought a truck that I thought would tow my trailer. I had to get rid of my Dodge. I read a lot about this Tundra, examined and measured it's rear axle, frame, springs; did my own figuring as to where the ratings came from, and decided that as long as I could stay within 20% of the rating, and I'm towing 5,000 miles or less a year (and driving this truck as a commuter vehicle in excess of 20,000 miles) I would be OK.

So far so good.

Tomhole, I respect your opinion, but I would still contend that there is a difference between being "overloaded" which, technically I am, and being "way overloaded".

Even this is only unless I go and pay to have a different weight sticker put in my truck, based upon the modifications made to it, and then I'm somehow magically no longer overloaded.

I'll post some pics here and over on RV.NET next week after my upcoming camping trip, and see what that brings out of the woodwork.

Cheers all.

Most of us all know that the tundra is up to the task, and then some. They have the brakes, transmission, and power to do the job. The only weak links are the rear springs IMO. And with a few minor upgrades, this is easily taken care of. I don't beleive the bearings will give us any problem, but it might and only time will tell i guess.

As far as being way overweight, i don't beleive you are tundrabay. You are overweight, but not by a lot. But the key is here that you know you are and drive accordingly; which is important.
I also respect tomhole's opinion, as i think he does know quite a bit as far as towing. But to put a different spin on this whole overweight issue.
Is it not safer to have a heavier tow vehicle than the trailer? I beleive so, and i also beleive it is better ( safer )to tow a 10k lb fiver than a 10k lb TT. MOST of the reason is the tow vehicles weight between the 2.

Tundrabays fiver may be 12k lbs, but 2400 of that is on the tow vehicle thus making the TV in control of the load better than if he had 1200 on it.

This would make his truck weigh approximately 8400lbs, and the trailer 9600. In his case, the truck DOES NOT outweight the trailer but is much closer than what a heavy TT would be. Thus, maybe not so much pushing around by the trailer in an emergency situation.
My setup is perfect in this case as my trailer axle weights are 5900lbs hooked onto my truck, putting my truck at 7200 (or thereabouts).

I may get quite a few comebacks on this, but i do beleive it is best the TV outweight the trailer when possible.

Some of you may not see any merit in this at all, and some might.

For you TT guys, i beleive most of you are under 7k lbs and if setup properly can work very well. But for those with much much heavier TT's, let's just say.......i'm glad it's you and not me.

[Blaque]

Way too many numbers being thrown around about capacities and what can and cant be done. Anyone have any difficulties towing whatever trailer you have with your 1/2 ton. Because all I have is wonderful seat of the pants experiences pulling my 8000lb+ TT. And I've been in some situations where I had to stop hard, swerve when stopping alone wasnt enough and also had to do some uphill accelerating and NEVER had a problem. Would really like to hear if anyone had a problem with these or anything else cause it would be something to look out for. This is supposed to be an informative forum not a whose got the biggest balls forum and the truth would only hurt if I had a problem with MY setup.

[TundraBay]

Originally Posted by Blaque

Way too many numbers being thrown around about capacities and what can and cant be done. Anyone have any difficulties towing whatever trailer you have with your 1/2 ton. Because all I have is wonderful seat of the pants experiences pulling my 8000lb+ TT. And I've been in some situations where I had to stop hard, swerve when stopping alone wasnt enough and also had to do some uphill accelerating and NEVER had a problem. Would really like to hear if anyone had a problem with these or anything else cause it would be something to look out for. This is supposed to be an informative forum not a whose got the biggest balls forum and the truth would only hurt if I had a problem with MY setup.

Thank you blaque, I appreciate your candor, and that is the kind of real world experience I'm talking about.

If I need to replace rear wheel bearings every 3 years, I consider that a very small price to pay for the pleasure of driving this truck as opposed to a 3/4 ton vehicle for the few thousand miles it is "necessary". But so far, no need. Of course, if replacing the rear wheel bearings became a $2,000.00 job each time, I might be singing a different tune! (the blues)

[jdubh]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

Thank you blaque, I appreciate your candor, and that is the kind of real world experience I'm talking about.

If I need to replace rear wheel bearings every 3 years, I consider that a very small price to pay for the pleasure of driving this truck as opposed to a 3/4 ton vehicle for the few thousand miles it is "necessary". But so far, no need. Of course, if replacing the rear wheel bearings became a $2,000.00 job each time, I might be singing a different tune! (the blues)

If you wanna read a harrowing tale of experience when I got stuck towing 9000lbs with the Tundy on solid ice then read this thread, also my first experience with my big camper: Towing 9000lbs on ICE

I loaded it up the other day, full fresh tank, 3/4 both gray tanks, and 3/4 black...that's about 100 gallons or 800lbs extra. I'm sure I was 10,000lbs but I wanted to see what it felt like to tow about 10,300. Took it for a quick drive then to the dump station to dump my tanks. I have yet to have a problem...oh, and I didn't use my "Sissy bar" (WDH) on this trip as I wasn't going far, did just fine. Without the wdh you would definately need air springs which I have...just haven't installed...yet....

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

Thank you blaque, I appreciate your candor, and that is the kind of real world experience I'm talking about.

If I need to replace rear wheel bearings every 3 years, I consider that a very small price to pay for the pleasure of driving this truck as opposed to a 3/4 ton vehicle for the few thousand miles it is "necessary". But so far, no need. Of course, if replacing the rear wheel bearings became a $2,000.00 job each time, I might be singing a different tune! (the blues)

Yeah, thanks blaque. It really shouldn't surprise me i guess, with the tundra's huge hitch mounted to the frame 3' from the bumper. Evidentally this setup is paying huge dividends for you TT guys. I would think it provides better equalization by having it mounted so far forward.

I really should have put more thought into this, but from past experiences most hitches ARE NOT mounted this way.
I have never towed a TT with my new tundra; i did with my 02 but not this beast. But it's good to hear other owner's experiences in situations like this.

I'm with you tundrabay on the wheel bearings. Although, i don't think we're going to have issues to be honest. But then again, it just might be the only weak link for us. But like you said, wheel bearings shouldn't be too big of a job from what i've seen anyway.

[Buck62]

Originally Posted by Super Dave

Wow. Perhaps, they towed with the Mighty Tundra and realized it's only a 1/2 ton truck with a 3/4 ton aspirations. If you have to install airbags, WDH (sissy sticks), travel with empty tanks, not pack half your gear, have Tom Hole calculator every piece of equipment, and still worry if your overloaded; maybe, just maybe, you should consider a bigger truck. I highly recommend the Chev. 2500 HD with a 6.6 Duramax it will pull the Tundra with your trailer attached right off the showroom floor. (now to be fair the Duramax was orginally manufractured by Isuzu). Sorry guys, the truth hurts! I'm going back to the RV Net.

Granted, the Chevy HD has a great engine and suspension, but that's about it.

Chevy trucks (and Chevy's, in general) have the absolute worst tie-rod and ball joint assemblies in the automotive industry. They're complete junk and usually fail in half the time of most other manufacturers.

"Snap, Crackle, Pop" ain't just a breakfast cereal... it's the sound you hear a split-second before your front end drops to the pavement before your Chevy even has 60,000 miles on it.

Chevy cars and trucks also have notoriously cheap interiors. I mean, they're not just cheap, they're downright ugly, too. As an owner of 48 cars and trucks in my life, the only manufacturer with a worse interior (in both quality and looks) was AMC. And I mean no disrespect to AMC, because at least you knew they were cheap to begin with.

Oh... and how is Chevrolet doing these days?

GM is about to go bankrupt, isn't it?

The bottom line is, all vehicles have their strong points and weaknesses. If there was one truck that did everything perfect and lasted forever, we'd all own it and there would be nothing to argue about.

[dee08tundra]

Originally Posted by Buck62

Chevy cars and trucks also have notoriously cheap interiors. I mean, they're not just cheap, they're downright ugly, too. As an owner of 48 cars and trucks in my life, the only manufacturer with a worse interior (in both quality and looks) was AMC. And I mean no disrespect to AMC, because at least you knew they were cheap to begin with.

It sounds like you are referencing older gms. A 2008 GMC sierra interior is much nicer than the tundra. Hands down. You may be right on the other points, but I disagree with the interior statement.

[rcracer]

So I was driving up the 101 today and I saw the perfect rv.net setup, although I am sure there are some on there who would say it was overloaded. I did not get pictures I was driving at the time. So anyway the rig was a 1 ton diesel duallie pulling and 18ft travel trailer.

I guess he was doing a delivery, but I though of the hornets nest that TundraBay stirred up over there when I saw it.

J

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by rcracer

So I was driving up the 101 today and I saw the perfect rv.net setup, although I am sure there are some on there who would say it was overloaded. I did not get pictures I was driving at the time. So anyway the rig was a 1 ton diesel duallie pulling and 18ft travel trailer.

I guess he was doing a delivery, but I though of the hornets nest that TundraBay stirred up over there when I saw it.

J

Yeah, i can't friggin beleive it. It was 1 page last night, and tonight it's 15 pages long.

I've had a problem getting logged in over there, otherwise i'd be throwing in my 2 cents. They sure went off on the lug nut thing didn't they? Our 8 is better than 5. I guess since the 5 we have are much larger than their 8, that has nothing to do with it.
They don't understand that HEAT is the cause of bearing failure, not the consistency of metals in it. I think Hino made the rearends, and from what i understand are building some nice large HD trucks with proven track records.

A few guys from here jumped in though, and that's nice to see. I know i recognized a few photos of loaded tundra's from here on TS.

msxjw threw in a few comments.

Tomhole even tried to lend a hand.

[tomhole]

I have a question:

If the manufacturer recommended weight limits are not the real limits, then what do you think are?

I see this classic progression all the time:

1. I'm over on GCWR , but that's ok because that's ok because that's not a safety limit
2. I'm over on GVWR, but that's ok because I'm under the individual GAWR's
3. I'm over on both, but that's ok because they are recommendations with a lot of built in margin for lawsuits and I added stuff to mitigate the overage

That's usually where it stops. Now we're going even further:

4. I'm over on GAWR but that's ok because I have a 3/4 ton axle

So, it begs the question: what do you think is a real limit?

Tom

[brow]

Originally Posted by Only Toyota for me

Yeah, i can't friggin beleive it. It was 1 page last night, and tonight it's 15 pages long.
A few guys from here jumped in though, and that's nice to see. I know i recognized a few photos of loaded tundra's from here on TS.

msxjw threw in a few comments.

Tomhole even tried to lend a hand.

Isn't it crazy? I even threw in my skid steer pullin' picture and nobody bit, maybe they are in denial. What a bunch of opinionated close-minded people eh?

[brow]

Originally Posted by rcracer

So I was driving up the 101 today and I saw the perfect rv.net setup, although I am sure there are some on there who would say it was overloaded. I did not get pictures I was driving at the time. So anyway the rig was a 1 ton diesel duallie pulling and 18ft travel trailer.

I guess he was doing a delivery, but I though of the hornets nest that TundraBay stirred up over there when I saw it.

J

Oh man, I have to go through my old pictures - way back when I had a 13 foot L'il bigfoot (a whopping 1200#). I am going to try find a picture and photoshop it to be pulled behind my old truck, an F350 diesel....

[TundraBay]

Originally Posted by tomhole

I have a question:

If the manufacturer recommended weight limits are not the real limits, then what do you think are?

I see this classic progression all the time:

1. I'm over on GCWR , but that's ok because that's ok because that's not a safety limit
2. I'm over on GVWR, but that's ok because I'm under the individual GAWR's
3. I'm over on both, but that's ok because they are recommendations with a lot of built in margin for lawsuits and I added stuff to mitigate the overage

That's usually where it stops. Now we're going even further:

4. I'm over on GAWR but that's ok because I have a 3/4 ton axle

So, it begs the question: what do you think is a real limit?

Tom

Tom, just to restate it, I have a lot of respect for you and your obvious towing experience, as well as the thought you clearly put into the question (above).

Everyone has their limit. I'm at mine

Why did I distrust the engineers (sorry: marketing guys) axle limit? Because the axle limit is based upon the weight limit the tires come with, from the factory.. That's the weakest link. The springs are designed to deal with the limits set upon the truck by the tires it comes with, and that was my rationale for putting air bags on.

OK so where does that leave me? I have an axle which there is no evidence of widespread breakage, and rear wheel bearings which in widespread experience in other applications require routine maintenance, and are generally also not catastrophic failures. NOT that it CAN'T happen, of course bearings die even when not loaded in excess of their stated capacity.

Some people say you should never exceed the axle capacity. Some say, never exceed 80% of the rated capacity. Well, I'm cautiously not exceeding 120% of my capacity. I compensate, to a small extent, by not exceeding 60 MPH, keeping the rear differential oil fresh (and full synthetic), ensuring that my trailer and truck brakes are in good condition, and the other small changes noted.

For interest sake, I will go over the scales next week; I'm taking my trailer to the shop for new tires anyway, and the scales are on the way.

Good camping!

[tomhole]

When you weigh, please get weights on each individual axle. Always nice to argue about data vs. conjecture.

Tom