2006 DW Double Cab 4x4 Pulling 26' TT/Should Be OK?

[dew]

I recently bought a 26' R-Vision Max Sport travel trailer. The dry weight of the trailer is about 4200 lbs. After we loaded all our stuff in the trailer (tv, pots & pans, dishes, clothing, fridge, food, etc) the trailer weighed in at about 4700 lbs. This of course is with no fresh water in the tank (30 gal). In the truckl will be myself (190lbs), my wife (150lbs), and my daughter (50lbs). I have a canopy on the truck that weighs in at about 200 lbs. I usually load enough wood for several nights fires in the bed along with some folding chairs, a Weber Baby Q, fishing rods & tackle, and misc. other stuff. I would guess I put roughly 300-400 pounds in the bed of the truck. I have the towing package, an equalizing hitch, and the Prodigy brake controler. If I understand all the different weight factors I have been reading about here I should have no problems towing this trailer and in fact should have a decent margine left in the towing specs. This is my first travel trailer so do you experienced towers think I am good to go? Thanks

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by dew

I recently bought a 26' R-Vision Max Sport travel trailer. The dry weight of the trailer is about 4200 lbs. After we loaded all our stuff in the trailer (tv, pots & pans, dishes, clothing, fridge, food, etc) the trailer weighed in at about 4700 lbs. This of course is with no fresh water in the tank (30 gal). In the truckl will be myself (190lbs), my wife (150lbs), and my daughter (50lbs). I have a canopy on the truck that weighs in at about 200 lbs. I usually load enough wood for several nights fires in the bed along with some folding chairs, a Weber Baby Q, fishing rods & tackle, and misc. other stuff. I would guess I put roughly 300-400 pounds in the bed of the truck. I have the towing package, an equalizing hitch, and the Prodigy brake controler. If I understand all the different weight factors I have been reading about here I should have no problems towing this trailer and in fact should have a decent margine left in the towing specs. This is my first travel trailer so do you experienced towers think I am good to go? Thanks

Weights seem to be within limits...though the margin is likely not as much as you think it is. You may be close to (or over) the limits for the GVWR or GAWR (rear). A 4X4 DC loaded as you specified (don't forget the 26 gallons of gas) will be right around 6200 lbs. Add in around 300 - 400 lbs more for tongue weight that's not redistributed to the trailer tires and you'll be around 6500~6600 lbs. GVWR is 6600 lbs. Pretty close.

With the truck at 6600 lbs and the trailer at 4700 lbs, your total rig weight is 11,300. That's not very far below the GCWR of 11,800.

The load on the rear axle is likely also to be pretty close to the GAWR (rear).

Bottom line: seems close but within limits. At sea level/low altitude towing will be satisfactory. On mountain grades at higher altitudes you'll be challenged to get much over 45 mph.

[dew]

That's about what I thought. And the weight I put in the bed of the truck could be off by 200 lbs as I just estimated the firewood weights. Lastly, I live about 2 hours north of Seattle & will be camping along the coast so I will have very little (if any) high altitude towing. Thanks for the reply.

[Geodude]

I think you'll be fine, but it'd be a good idea to get onto some scales and weigh your rig. My suggestion is to gas up and weigh it outbound, when you'll be at your heaviest.

If you can get enough time on the scales, get the weights for your front axle, rear axle and trailer axles separately. Then unhitch and get the front axle and rear axle of your truck with the trailer unhitched. Then pull the trailer onto the scale, unhook, and get its unhitched axle weight. Then hook up again and push it back and unhitch in such a way that you can get the tongue weight. This will give you all the numbers you need and will give you hours of fun analyzing them!

When it comes to trailering, weight and length are what people focus on but hitch setup and handling characteristics of the tow vehicle and trailer are the most important.

We tow a 32' TT that weighs 5300 lbs, with a Sequoia, and we're running near the limits. In two years and 25,000 kms of towing it has been a very good rig. Even at high altitudes (we've been up to 9,500 ft) the performance drop was minimal and we were able to move with traffic without stress or strain.

Having said all that, yes, I'd really like a new Tundra CrewMax since nobody every wished for less power! <insert Tim Allen grunt>

[j4x4ar3]

I'm pulling a 26' KZ JAG with the same approximate dry weight. Loaded I'm about 5000#... .you'll be fine.. I'm doing it with an 05 Tacoma. V8 would be nice if I traveled in the upper Sierra's here but I never get above 2000 feet.

[core64]

Nice setup geodude, I am pulling about the same, 31' TT with a loaded weight about 5400 lbs. We did our research and even called toyota to make sure all weights were correct and in safe tolarances. We are taking our first trip to the colorado river this presidents weekend. I would like to stop at the scales and check all the axle weights and total weights, just to see where we stand. I would love to buy a new crewmax but wife says not till 2008 I guess the main thing is to stay within the limits and have the safest setup possible, weight distributing hitch, sway control and all that good stuff.

[skiptamm]

You can google ask for "calculate tow capacity" and get a excel spread sheet that will give you a fill in form to calculate this for you. I just went through the excercise for my Tundra. I am towing #5000 travel trailer 25 ft. You are very close to MAX.

Bill