7000 mile trip with 3000 mile towing with Tundra and Outback

[BaseCamp]

BACKGROUND:
My wife and 2 kids (13 & 14) and I have been camping with a Coleman Santa Fe popup trailer for 8 years when we decided to upgrade to a Outback 21RS this year. After muny research hours here and at half a dozen other Internet sites, we purchased a 2006 Tundra DC Limited as the tow vehicle. This is my first full size pickup and first travel trailer.

We purchased the Outback 21RS from LakeshoreRV in Muskegon Michigan because it was $6,500 cheaper than any place in the west coast. We live in northern California and last summer we took the popup on a 3000 mile camping trip loop around the Pacific Northwest to as far east as Yellowstone. So traveling and camping long distance is not a problem for us. We decided to make it our 2006 summer trip to pick up the Outback.
The Tundra had all of 2000 miles on it as we prepared to head east. A second transmission cooler, a trans temp gauge, Prodigy brake controller, and ReTrax bed cover was installed. A Equal-i-er hitch with 1000lb bars purchased. A wireless backup camera, wireless IR camera, and a monitor installed. We packed and weighted everything that we thought we needed for the trailer into the bed of the Tundra. Every square inch of the bed was full of something. The over-the-road weight of all passengers and stuff was 1083 lbs. I'm ready to go....

But even after all the research and test drives, I still had a number of concerns. Many people had posted that they had no problems pulling their trailer with the Tundra, but a number of other people had negative feedbacks on their towing experience. Some had experienced bad sway control issues, brakes, lack of power, etc.

My primary concerns were:
1 - Did I perform all of the weight calculations correctly?
2 - Will I be able to handle trailer sway from passing semis and strong winds?
3 - Will the Tundra have enough power for serious mountain towing?
4 - How bad will the gas mileage be?
5 - Will I be a mess by the time I get into camp?


PICKING UP THE TRAILER:
After a pleasant 3 weeks driving the Tundra eastbound (lots of stopovers), We finally picked up our Outback and spent 4 hours going over the PDI. By the way, thank goodness for the PDI checklist. It caught many problems before we left the dealership. Thats why it took 4 hours.

We spend 4 weeks camping on all 3 sides of Lake Michigan. Finally started on our westbound journey home on August 5.


THE 3000 MILE TOWING EXPERIENCE:
In a nutshell, the Tundra did superbly towing the Outback!
99% of the trip westbound was with overdrive off. I did click in overdrive on the long not-too-steep descents. Speed was between 65 and 68 mph.

1 - First thing we did was get the Tundra and Outback combination weighted at a scale. We moved all of our camping stuff from the truck bed to the trailer and did our grocery shopping. All tanks were emptied. Initial weight-in looked good. We were 900 pounds under GCWR and all axles were within limits. I plan to re-weight the setup after I perform a number of upgrades in the Outback after I get home.

Steer Axle: 2900
Drive Axle: 3200
Trailer Axle: 4920
Gross Weight: 11020

2 - I had purchased the Equal-i-er hitch many months prior but had LakeshoreRV install it. My tools were 3000 miles away and since I had never had a distribution hitch before, I figured they would be better at it. They sell and install the Equal-i-er on a regular basis and had alot in stock. Well, I was wrong on all counts. The trip to the campground was about 15 miles and since this was my first experience with the trailer, it seem fine. However, the next leg of the trip was 120 miles on the interstate. Lets just say, I was getting major sway whenever a SUVs passby. I got on the web and between the Equalier manual and this forum, I was able to figure out that the dealer had installed the sway brackets upside-down and the hitch head too high. Luckily I was able to redo the setup with the tools I had onhand. It took a couple of fine-tuning, but it is now solid going down the interstate. In fact, big semis don't move my setup except for a bit of pressure when the cab pulls along-side the back of the trailer and than again when the back of the truck clears my front bumper. I get more of a "push" from class-A and buses. I had alot more problem with strong gutsy winds between Nebraska and Nevada. Not much sway, but kind of pushed the combo as a unit. Strong headwind took it's tow and I had a hard time getting passed 55 mph in Nebraska. Decided to find a campground early when I saw more than one semi fish-tailing that day.

3 - Going thought the midwest states, the combo towed almost like my popup did. Acceleration was better than I expected. 3000 rpm at 67 mph, cruise control worked well and there was never a lack of power. The only exception was Iowa and eastern Nebraska because I80 was one rolling hills after another. The cruise control kelp wanting to kick into 3rd to maintain 65 mph. Had to stay off of cruise control on most inclines including overpass. The trans temp never went above 100 degrees (except in stop-n-go traffic).

Got my first taste of serious mountain climbing just west of Cheyenne, Wyo. The Tundra dropped into 3rd halfway up the hill and maintained 67 mph at 4000 rpm. The transmission climbed to 120 degrees and promptly dropped back below 100 degrees after cresting the summit.

The Tundra took all subsequent hills in Wyo, UT, and Nev ranging from 5-6 degrees for up to 11 miles with plenty of power to spare. It never dropped below 55 mph and the trans temp never got above 130 degrees. AC was off during these climbs.

The descent from these steep hills were all in 4th gear. The Tundra maintained 55 mph with my foot off of the gas pedal. I had to give it some gas to maintain 67 mph downhill. I never had to put my foot on the brakes to slow the descent, not once. It was great!


4 - Knew there was going to be some bad news somewhere.
Had a pleasant surprise on the initial 120 mile tow. The outside temp was a cool 77 degrees, so no AC was needed and no wind. It was a 45 - 55 mph state highway and the mpg came in at 14.7 mpg. I was thinking "what were those guys doing to get 10 mpg towing?".

Than reality hit me during the next 2000 miles when I maintained 68 mph. The outside temps climbed into the high 90s, so the AC had to be on. Suddenly, the gas mileage dropped to 9.x mpg. What really hurt was when the afternoon winds kicked in. I had a couple of fill-ups that was down to 7.2 mpg.

What saved the gas mileage for the trip was the 70 or so miles of downhills from Donner pass into the Sacramento valley. It was 17.4 mpg. The overall towing mileage was 10.2 mpg.


5 - Did I have to worry about towing that trailer?
Not a bit. Yes, you know it's back there when the wind is blowing, but once the hitch was tuned in, it was really easy to drive. It may also be due to the long wheelbase of the DC.

I've read some people had complained about the 4.7L engine, but I found the acceleration on to the freeway just fine. plenty of top end when I needed to pass, and plenty of torque to accelerate while climbing hills. By the way, before the trip, I had told myself I wasn't going to pass anybody on the hills. I was just going to stay behind the semis so that I wouldn't push the Tundra. Will that didn't happen.

I've also read that some people complained about the brakes on the Tundra while towing. The brakes on my Tundra does feel different than my Camry in that it is not as grabby. It took a little longer to stop with the trailer, but the feel was identical with or without the trailer. Took a few stops to get use to it, but had no issues after that. By the way, I did have a few hard braking incidences in the Chicago and California traffic where I had to come to a stop really quick.

Sorry for such a long winded post, but I was expecting a harder time towing the combo on this trip. I'm just so please with the way it worked out.

[tomhole]

Nice post, good info. The only thing I don't care for too much while towing with my Tundra is the bounce from the P rated tires. I know they are the issue as I can tell when I'm at 42 psi vs 44 psi on the tires just by how much Tiggerin' I'm doing.

I agree with all your points and envy your trip. Would love to do that with my family.

Tom

[BaseCamp]

Originally Posted by tomhole

Nice post, good info. The only thing I don't care for too much while towing with my Tundra is the bounce from the P rated tires. I know they are the issue as I can tell when I'm at 42 psi vs 44 psi on the tires just by how much Tiggerin' I'm doing.

I agree with all your points and envy your trip. Would love to do that with my family.

Tom

Hi Tom,

I've the P265/65R17 large stock P tires and had them at 44 psi for the towing portion of the trip. Did not experience any bounce. I was a lttle concern about possible damage when I encountered the bad potholed I80 at the California border. Luckily, all is good.

Cross out the weeks and just do it. I know even if I worked 24/7, there will still be more work to do. So we plan out our spring and summer trips every Dec and the dates are crossed out for anything else.

[ericb]

Thanks! What a wonderful, informative post! And a nice word of caution on checking behind the "experts." I had my equalizer installation checked by the dealership where I bought my trailer and they said it was good. Found out when I got home that both weight bars were off the trailer as I had put the lock downs on backward instead of hooked over the bars! BTW, what is a PDI?

[tomhole]

PDI = Pre Delivery Inspection (I think). There are several PDI checklists posted on the net that help you do your delivery walk-through with the dealer.

Tom

[BaseCamp]

Originally Posted by ericb

Thanks! What a wonderful, informative post! And a nice word of caution on checking behind the "experts." I had my equalizer installation checked by the dealership where I bought my trailer and they said it was good. Found out when I got home that both weight bars were off the trailer as I had put the lock downs on backward instead of hooked over the bars! BTW, what is a PDI?

Tom is correct on the PDI. It took 4 of us 1-1/2 hours to complete the PDI. I warned the service guy we were going to take a couple of hours on the PDI and told him we'll yell when we're done. We generated a list for him and it took 2 techs, 4 hours to repair it all.

We found things like leaky faucet connections to wood chips blocking the sewer gate, tears in the rubber roof to drawers that wouldn't close, etc, etc, etc.

A couple of other things have shown up since camping in it for a month, but nothing nothing major or that was in the PDI. Definately a must-do.

[ProEdge]

BaseCamp..
Excellent post..
Do you have towing pics of your Outback..
I find the Tundra an excellent towing rig also, just did a 2500km road trip in Northern Ontario, with a 22' TrailCruiser.. All was good..

[54telluride]

Basecamp,
Welcome to the family of best campers ever - Outback. I pull a 2005 26RS with my 2005 Tundra with very little effort. It did take me some time getting my weight disribution/antisway hitch set up right as well. I think the intaller must have been on drugs because we had the wrong bars (too light) and the setup was all wrong. I contacted the manufacturer to the get the correct setup procedure and bar information.

[BaseCamp]

Not sure why or how these people can make such simple mistakes on products that they sell and install on a regular basis. It's not like they need weeks of specialised intensive factory training to do this kind of install. I guess they just don't have a whole lot of pride in their work.

[funfinder4]

Good write up BaseCamp!

I also think the Tundra is very capable and has done well for us. We stepped up from towing from a Honda Odyssey minivan to our new '06 DC TRD. Wow what a difference. We are still towing the same camper (for now) that we towed with our minivan a '16 3000 lb TT (Fun Finder T160).

The first time towing I was so excited that I could maintain 70 mph and have all that power that I only got 9.2 mpg! On the way home I slowed it down to ~65 mph and didn't "power up" the hills (kept the gas petal at about the same location). Doing this I was able to keep it locked in 5th gear with the torque converter locked-up about 90% of the time. This rewarded me with ~13 mpg.

During Thanksgiving I'll be towing a classic car to my BIL's house, so I'll get to stretch the Tundra's legs again.

[BaseCamp]

Originally Posted by funfinder4

Good write up BaseCamp!

I also think the Tundra is very capable and has done well for us. We stepped up from towing from a Honda Odyssey minivan to our new '06 DC TRD. Wow what a difference. We are still towing the same camper (for now) that we towed with our minivan a '16 3000 lb TT (Fun Finder T160).

The first time towing I was so excited that I could maintain 70 mph and have all that power that I only got 9.2 mpg! On the way home I slowed it down to ~65 mph and didn't "power up" the hills (kept the gas petal at about the same location). Doing this I was able to keep it locked in 5th gear with the torque converter locked-up about 90% of the time. This rewarded me with ~13 mpg.

During Thanksgiving I'll be towing a classic car to my BIL's house, so I'll get to stretch the Tundra's legs again.

Wow, we replaced our Honda Odyssey minivan with the Tundra also. We were pulling a Coleman popup with it and was very please with it. The positive experience was why we moved up to the Outback trailer.

I understand from the people on this forum and the owners manual that one should not tow in overdrive. Than again, you are in Texas and not climbing the Rockys.

[funfinder4]

Originally Posted by BaseCamp

Wow, we replaced our Honda Odyssey minivan with the Tundra also. We were pulling a Coleman popup with it and was very please with it. The positive experience was why we moved up to the Outback trailer.

I understand from the people on this forum and the owners manual that one should not tow in overdrive. Than again, you are in Texas and not climbing the Rockys.

That's the thing... I read and read in the owners manual. The towing section in the Tundra manual sucks! My Honda Odyssey has a better description and more detail for towing than does the Tundra. What gives with Toyota's new manual and service schedule layout!? It sucks!

Anyways I couldn't find anywhere in the manual where it said NOT to used overdrive IF towing. I only found one small statement that said something to the effect of, "if the transmission is downshifting often due to loading then turn overdrive OFF".

I'm new to this Tundra... Should overdrive not be used? If so why? For our Odyssey it was a no brainier because even if overdrive was on it would not shift into it unless you were going down a BIG hill with the wind to your back!

[tomhole]

The tranny will tell you whether to tow in OD or not. When I towed my pup, OD worked just fine. Wouldn't hunt between 4th and OD and the torque converter stayed locked up. With the travel trailer, it won't even make it into OD unless I'm going slightly downhill.

If you're in D and the tranny is constantly changing gears or the torque converter won't lock up, switch OD off. If the tranny seems happy, stay in OD.

I have found that the large frontal area of the travel trailer is what keeps me out of D. I think a low profile trailer of the same weight (5,000 lbs) would likely be able to tow in D.

Tom

[TowingCivic]

My 05 manual says do not use overdrive because it will decrease engine braking performance.

When I'm towing the only time you can be in OD is on flat stretches without winds. Most of the time, I tow w/o OD.

[Herbicidal]

I have installed a tranny temp gauge with the sending unit in the tranny pan. I did a recent trip to Mt. Lassen in N. CA., (we take I-5 north - very flat for quite a ways) and I always tow with OD turned off. The tranny temp gauge indicated 165 degrees @ 58 mph. Just for grins, I turned off OD to see what would happen. Within several minutes the tranny temp started climbing. Once it hit 205 degrees, I turned off OD, within 10 minutes, the tranny temp was back to 165. So for me, with a 2001 Tundra, towing a 5,600 lb Outback down a perfectly flat freeway, towing with OD off is the way to go.