1 gen towing a fifth wheel

[No_Tundra_Yet]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anybody has any experience towing a fifth wheel with a first generation Tundra. The budget doesn't allow for a second generation so we are looking at used first gens.

We like fifth wheel campers and were wondering if anybody has any experience towing a fifth wheel with a first gen Tundra.

Also, Does anybody know the payload capacity of the first gen Tundra? I watched TundraBay get flamed on RV.net so I refuse to post this question over there. Other than a camper (which we don't have right now either, so I'm starting from scratch) I will no be hauling anything heavier than a tree stand and the occasional deer.

We do have four in our family so we are looking at the four door model. (double cab?)

Am I crazy, should I just buy a 3/4 ton, should I forget the fifth wheel idea and go for a travel trailer? And No a scamp fiver will not work for us LOL.

I know that some here have towed a fiver with a first gen but I can't find much via the search function. Most of the fifth wheel stuff on search is about the 07 and up gen.

Thanks everyone!

No_Tundra_Yet

[Tankerhank]

Yup, I towed my 26' Rockwood with my 2000 Tundra AC 4X2, my '00 was rated to tow 7,500 lbs. later years of the Tundra it dropped to 7,100 lbs. and the DC back then was even shorter on bed length than mine so not sure how well it would do with a 5'er, there is a super slide 5'er hitch that has about 14" of slide but it is pricy also.

My '00 Tundra did rather well with the 5'er, only up the serious grades in the mountains did it have to work hard, other then that for our weekend wanders it filled the bill. Of course the new Tundra is a vast improvement. With four of you a TT might be the better way to go as they are lighter so you can go bigger with less issue.

[nomadic]

you will likely find a better TT for 4 than 5th wheel on a tight budget. i will amuse that you are not planing to full time, how often do you intend to camp and for how long at a time. 1 weekend a month or 1 month in the summer?

my advice is to look at trailers in your budget and see what you need to tow it.

[TundraBay]

The flaming didn't cause any lasting scars. Sadly, I started only to describe that you don't HAVE to have a 1 ton dually to haul a big trailer, but found myself in a defensive position from the start. Oh, well.

If you have a first generation, you need to look at payload. Then ask yourself how much you are comfortable exceeding it by. 400 lbs? 600 lbs? 800 lbs? Everyone will have their limit. Then you look at what you can do to mitigate the excess, and I went with tires and air bags.

When you go shopping for a 5th wheel, don't overly rely on the posted pin weight.

I had not weighed the 5th wheel I owned (when I used a 3/4 ton Dodge as my tow vehicle) but I did know that the rated pin weight was 1,370 lbs and empty weight was 8,300 or something like that and with the Tundra rated for 10,000 lbs towing and 1,530 payload I naively thought that I was well within my capacities. I'd read a bit on this forum, and none at all on RV.net, but I truly wasn't worried.

I started looking more in depth after some towing and more looking around the internet, and of course weighed my rig finally and realize that I'm over all kinds of ratings. Well I'm not in a hurry to sell the truck or the trailer, if worse comes to worst I'll drive (and tow for another couple of years and then have the rear wheel bearings pulled and replaced, and look at how they're wearing. For now, I'm
Front Axle:...1,750 KG......3,850 lbs
Rear Axle:....2,190 KG......4,818 lbs
Trailer Axle...3,850 KG......8,470 lbs
Total weight:.7,780 KG....17,116 lbs
Which exceeds the stock ratings in a number of directions. I'm not posting this to encourage irresponsible behavior, or to brag, boast, or taunt. I'm simply putting out there that within reason, it is possible to exceed posted ratings, and apparently not fly apart or lose control or whatever towing like that.

You need to do your own math. But the cost difference between an '06 and an '07 Tundra might push you to the latter.

[Tankerhank]

Hey TB,

My 2000 Tundra payload was rated at 2011 lbs., serious., it was rated to pull 7,500 lbs. also (later years they reduced these numbers), which is why I am amazed that this new Tundra is payload rated so light considering its axle, etc.

[TundraBay]

Originally Posted by Tankerhank

Hey TB,

My 2000 Tundra payload was rated at 2011 lbs., serious., it was rated to pull 7,500 lbs. also (later years they reduced these numbers), which is why I am amazed that this new Tundra is payload rated so light considering its axle, etc.

I suspect they went light on the springs for a more car-like ride. That is easy to fix. Also, what was the weight of the 2000 Tundra, unloaded? The GVWR may not be much different, but the 4.7 engine, the 5sp transmission, and other components may easily be 400 lbs lighter, and if they wanted to keep the gross vehicle weight rating below 7,200 lbs, that had to come from somewhere: in this case, the payload loses out.

[Tankerhank]

Originally Posted by TundraBay

I suspect they went light on the springs for a more car-like ride. That is easy to fix. Also, what was the weight of the 2000 Tundra, unloaded? The GVWR may not be much different, but the 4.7 engine, the 5sp transmission, and other components may easily be 400 lbs lighter, and if they wanted to keep the gross vehicle weight rating below 7,200 lbs, that had to come from somewhere: in this case, the payload loses out.

Ya I already fixed the spring issue on my '07, I added the full Hellwig helper spring, had to have Ivan at Arizona spring make me long shackles to hold everything afterwards but all is good, I would drop a ton in the back without a second thought.

I don't remember the exact weight the 2000 was, memory says it was just under 4,000 lbs., and it had a 4 spd tranny, the 5 spd came out later, go figure they add a 5 spd and reduce towing and carry capacity. It carried an 8' queen bed cab-over camper like it wasn't there, up the mountains and down the freeway without issue. As my saying would always go when we were heading up the mountain and got behind a snail trail... its either a Ford or Chevy struggle up the mountain that is holding things up, and sure enough when we got to a passing lane that was what it was 90% of the time, the other 10% it was a Dodge . Pulling the 5'er worked it harder when in the mountains, even then it didn't put me to shame and create snail trails.