Review 4,000 Miles Pulling 5'er, '07 Tundra Gets The Gold Star

[cwit]

Now that Tankerhank has found lt 15" I see no reason to go to 16". I travel with 2 spares on my camper witch means buying 6 tires instead of 2. I travel NY to Florida and a friend gave me his brand new spare because his camper never moves.

[eugarps]

Hi,

I guess I'll ask this here. I have a 2007 Tundra TRD DC 4x4 with a 6.5' box. Does anyone make an under-bed mounted hitch system like the Reese Signature Series for my truck. Seems like they make them for long box DC's or CrewMax's but not for mine. I'm hesitant to use a gooseneck adapter, because of warranty issues with some pin-box and camper manufacturers. I just don't care to hassle with removing the rails after each trip and installing them before we go again.

Call me lazy,

Bill

[Tankerhank]

The most likely reason you are not going to find a gooseneck setup for your 6.5' bed is just that it is short. Ya need a slider hitch for tight manuvering and gooseneck doesn't slide, I got a Reese with a 9" slide with my first Tundra, now I have the 8' bed and I don't need the slide as I have lots of clearance for those 90 degree turns. Unless you have a narrow 5'er you are going to need 4' + from the center of the pin latch to the front of the box.

[eugarps]

TankerHank,

Agreed on the slider but, for instance, Pullrite makes a cool under bed mounting system for their SuperSlide on the CrewMax (super short box) and Reese makes their Signature Series under-bed mount for the long box. However, there doesn't seem to be an under-bed mount for a fifth-wheel hitch for the 6.5' box. I may be wrong but I think the 6.5' box on the DC is about the most common configuration.

I can find a gooseneck and gooseneck adapters for my truck. I may end up using either a Pop-Up or a B&W under-bed gooseneck hitch and a gooseneck adapter with and offset and take my chances with the warranty.

I just want a clean bed, when I'm not towing.

Bill

[Tankerhank]

I understand what you are after, in fact I have seen some really nice gooseneck setups where the ball recedes under the bed when not in use... very cool. A gooseneck on a shortbed is just a difficult combo with or without an extension, after all the extension only moves the trailer back further it does not change the distance between the cab and the rig during a sharp turn equally.

I settled for pulling the 4 pins on my hitch and leave it dangling on the rig when I want to use the bed.

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by eugarps

Hi,

I guess I'll ask this here. I have a 2007 Tundra TRD DC 4x4 with a 6.5' box. Does anyone make an under-bed mounted hitch system like the Reese Signature Series for my truck. Seems like they make them for long box DC's or CrewMax's but not for mine. I'm hesitant to use a gooseneck adapter, because of warranty issues with some pin-box and camper manufacturers. I just don't care to hassle with removing the rails after each trip and installing them before we go again.

Call me lazy,

Bill

I'd recomend going with a gooseneck type hitch, if i were you. B&W makes a nice one, and it's worked out great for our trucks ( all DC w/ 6.5' bed's). You'll want to check with the manufacturer of the trailer to be sure it's beefed up enough to handle the extra stress.
B&W also makes an extender that fits right into their hitch that will put the trailer about 4" back further. I DO NOT recomend the offset kingpin adapters though. They cause problems with clearance on the bed rails. Just go with a Colbert adapter, and the $100 offset like we've got. We can almost do a complete 90 degree turn setup like this.
On the tundra hitch, you CANNOT turn the ball over due to the large rear end on the truck and the brake lines. I usually just leave mine in and put a ball cover over it when not in use.

I'm with you on the bed space, and the turnover goose is much easier to hook up to.

[eugarps]

OTFM,

What offset do you have? I like the Colibert and the B&W. I have a B&W dealer about 2 miles from my house and they also handle Ranch Hitch adapters.

I emailed Arctic Fox (Known for being tough, I think.) and they said I wouldn't void the warranty but wouldn't cover stress cracks in the Filon sidewalls. I can't figure that resonse out. I'm considering the AF 23-5A, which is the smallest Arctic Fox. After looking at the AF frame, I can't imagine it would flex enough to crack the Filon. The 23-5A is not one of their "Wide Body" models at 8' wide.

Thanks for your help,

Bill

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by eugarps

OTFM,

What offset do you have? I like the Colibert and the B&W. I have a B&W dealer about 2 miles from my house and they also handle Ranch Hitch adapters.

I emailed Arctic Fox (Known for being tough, I think.) and they said I wouldn't void the warranty but wouldn't cover stress cracks in the Filon sidewalls. I can't figure that resonse out. I'm considering the AF 23-5A, which is the smallest Arctic Fox. After looking at the AF frame, I can't imagine it would flex enough to crack the Filon. The 23-5A is not one of their "Wide Body" models at 8' wide.

Thanks for your help,

Bill

It is similiar to this Hide-A-Goose Performer Gooseneck Extension, 5" for 6310x Series 19304 : Trailer hitch bike rack and trailer hitches - etrailer.com , but it is part # GNXA4585 from B&W themselves. I don't remember where i got it, but it was around $100 or so.
It's a 4" offset, and it's worked out well for us. Actually, i think my dad got 3 of them from B&W themselves. www.turnoverball.com . It's got to be THEE right one for the tundra hitch though. Any other will not work; been there tried that and we had to take it back & get the right one.

The underbed gooseneck hitch is $349 from etrailer, just for reference when you go shopping around. We've bought quite a few things from them, and they've been great to work with. This one may have been the drawtite brand; i don't know for sure. My brother and i actually have the drawtite, and it's okay. But my dad has the B&W on his tundra, and i'd prefer it over the dt. I think the b&w was like $50 more or so.

You can look in my gallery for some pics of my setup; i beleive i have a shot of the framework on our KZ Jag in there. Might help you out. I know KZ has no problem with goose type hitches, and it will not affect the warranty whatsoever.
My dad has a 03 Durango 5er and it has the filon sidewalls. No stress cracks at all on his trailer, and it's got about 1800lbs pin weight.

I'm going to check out this trailer you're looking at. Hope this helps.

[Only Toyota for me]

It's the Nash one i guess, huh?

Looks pretty nice, and should fit well with the tundra. It's claimed dry weight is about the same as our 5er, but you have a few hundred lbs less pin weight. You probably won't even need airbags on the truck, with only 800lbs pin. I barely needed them with our 1250lb pin trailer; actually we travel with only 15lbs in the bags.

[eugarps]

OTFM,

I've got a local dealer working on a KZ Durango for me. I want a true four-season fiver and there aren't that many small ones out there you can option out with heated tanks, enclosed dump valves, and thermopane windows plus other stuff to allow me to camp off-the-grid.

Thanks for your help. I thought that little offset ball was what you were referring to. I like the way the Colibert braces their adapter with the gussets going back. Could be a sweet combination.

Bill

[Tankerhank]

Rockwood has all those options available. The Rockwood comes with an enclosed bellow and heated tanks standard, the thermo windows were an extra I didn't get.

Trouble with the tank heaters is they draw AC power so you need a genterator or be hooked to the grid as they use a little power.

I boondock camp all the time, I have my 5'er setup with 270 watts of solar panels on the roof and a 2000 watt Ouback inverter, allows me to use almost 1000 watts of power a day. I thought about adding a 3rd panel but opted to buy a Yamaha 3000ISE so that I can run the A/C should I want.

[eugarps]

I'll see what Rockwood offers and your point regarding heat blankets or strips is well taken. Are the dump valves exposed on the Rockwood?

Thanks,

Bill

[Tankerhank]

Two of the valves are back inside the belly but the valve for the kitchen is exposed. It has three tanks as it has a rear kitchen.

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by eugarps

OTFM,

I've got a local dealer working on a KZ Durango for me. I want a true four-season fiver and there aren't that many small ones out there you can option out with heated tanks, enclosed dump valves, and thermopane windows plus other stuff to allow me to camp off-the-grid.

Thanks for your help. I thought that little offset ball was what you were referring to. I like the way the Colibert braces their adapter with the gussets going back. Could be a sweet combination.

Bill

KZ makes a good trailer; as my dad, my brother and i all have KZ trailers. My bro's and mine are 06 Jag's, and my dad has an 04 Durango 27'. I just posted this info on rv.net, but i'll post it again.
My bro's trailer came with a weak floor in front of the furnace area, and everytime he walked across it it felt like it was going to cave in. After a call to KZ and a few to the dealer, KZ gave him a whole complete new trailer. Simply because the dealer would have been in a lot of labor to repair it. Kudos to KZ for this!!

My trailer has been pretty good so far, with just some extra water tank support needed so it wouldn't fall on the road when traveling. Our Jag's are not 4-season trailers, so it was fairly easy for me to do. I do have a few small wood paneling pieces i need to put back in place somehow inside, but other than that it's pretty solid.
My dad's durango has been a pretty good trailer, with exception to the popout motor going bad which costed him $600 to replace. He's ripped out the underbelly insulation due to a mice problem, which was traced back to a 4" heating duct hole left open. It's now fixed with some sheet metal to cover the hole. He's still going to replace the underbelly cover & insulation this summer.

We're fairly satisfied with the quality of KZ trailers for the most part, With exception to a few minor issues. I beleive you'll get that with any trailer you buy, but with the way KZ stepped up to the plate on my bro's trailer i think i'll consider buying another some day.

I have been told the colibert adapter is probably the strongest one you can get out there.
The ball extension has worked great for us so far, and we haven't had any issues with it at all.

Let us know what you decide.

[eugarps]

OTFM,

Do you know anything about the Star Performance Hitch Adapter. The internals apparently, have a glider kind of mechanism that dampens the fore and aft chucking motion. That could go a long way toward minimizing stress on the pin box. How did (if you did) you reinforce or brace your pin box?

Thanks,

Bill