Towing TT with 2016 Toyota Tacoma 4X4 Sport

[RV444fun]

I am towing a 22' Shadow Cruiser 199 that weighs 5000 lbs and the truck weighs 5300 lbs. The truck has the tow package and 6' bed with rear seats.
I have a weight distribution system (WDS) rated at 8000 lbs with 800 lbs tongue weight. I bought a tongue weight scale and trailer is around 650 - 700 lbs, the Tacoma is rated at 650 lbs for tongue weight. I have adjusted the WDS, so my front end is within 1/2" of the base measurement without trailer connected. Before I bought the tongue weight scale I suspect I was towing with 700 - 800 lbs.


I have towed it for about 1.5 years now and looking for RV folks with experience in managing tongue weight with trailer balancing and truck bed cargo to give me a smooth ride as possible.


I have towed the trailer up and down hills along the Oregon coast and from coast to I5, up to 72 mph along I5 flat road. I find the best speed around 62 M mph that keeps the V6 around 2500 to 2700 RPM. Going up hills the engine gets up to 4100 - 5000 RPM to maintain 55 mph. The high RPM is to be expected towing 5000 lbs up hill and the V6 seems to run just fine doing this.



On my last trip to the coast we hit HW 26 that has many bumps and ripples in the road causing the truck and trailer to bounce a lot or the truck to bottom out on bumps or potholes.


Are there any experienced towers out there dealing with travel trailers and trying to smooth out their ride over bumps and roller coaster roads?

[Diesel-Lover]

HI, Welcome to the forum.

Please check the specs of the truck as to how much it can tow and the ability to use weight distribution hitch as well as the total GCWR, hitch weight and towable capacity left after you load up your vehicle. Knowing the weight of your ready to roll trailer will help greatly.


Its rather difficult to increase the tow capacity of a vehicle without a lot of expense, engineering tests etc. Once can substitute heavier springs, airbags and antisway bars, strut tower stabilizer bars under hood etc etc. All those things are accommodations at best but not cures.

Weigh your truck ready to roll on an outing with the trailer, weigh the trailer ready to go as well then do your computations.

I have towed a 3000 pound trailer with a V6 Sienna and it did an admirable job over a distance of 4000 miles or so, under all sorts of road conditions and speeds of 68 when the limit was 70 and spurts to 75 when the speed was 80 to deal with traffic situations. Aerodynamics play a big roll in trailer towing as well. The van helps a bit in that department. I have also towed with a Titan V8 which had a truck cap... which when added made a decent difference to the trailer towing process.

Another point to check is the tires and their rating and recommended pressure for a given load on them. They have a great deal of impact on handling and ride characteristics at various loads.

Hope that helps. All the best and no hurry makes less worry!

[Pricejh]

Our first TT was a 25’ RVision that we pulled with a 2011 Tacoma. The dealer sold it to us with an inexpensive WD hitch. One weekend outing was enough. 60-65 on the freeway and being blown about by trucks and SUVs. Shopped around and found a used Hensley. Sway gone, handling issues gone. Was good for local trips but needed more truck for long XC expeditions. Wound up with a ‘12 Ram.

[Diesel-Lover]

The idea of weight distribution and stability needs to be examined via use of simple physics on a piece of paper or perhaps with a toy truck and trailer.

On a smooth surface springing the hitch weight upwards to force the vehicle to carry the weight produces down force on the vehicles tires if you will front and back by levering the weight distribution! Now if one imagines the truck and or trailer going over bumps and ripples one can see that spring lever causing "force or weight shifts". My friends parents used to tow a heavy airstream with one of those full size wagons where there was a rear facing seat or perhaps it was the one with seats facing each other. Once they were coming into a toll plaza and there were some pot holes and pavement irregularity or some such the car and trailer started oscillating and flipped the car on it side. It seems the road irregularities and the braking forces together caused the issues, making the tow vehicle unstable. Those old airstream trailers were really heavy, though nice and aerodynamic.

The way of thinkin in the US vs the ROW is a bit different as to where the trailer weight should be and how much should be on the hitch. Similar difference in thinking is seen in tractor trailer truck design as well! ROW thinks the trailer weight should be squarely on its own wheels allowing for smaller vehicles to tow larger vehicles, though the trailers there seem to be logically engineered to be light compare to similar sized rigs here!

In the ROW you commonly see station wagons and cars towing camping trailers of various sizes, though the suv craze has filtered down over there as well and the trucks are following them!

In the end weight distribution level works all the time and sometimes its not exactly conducive to stability! If the trailers were designed properly and the tow ball hitch was properly designed and the braking system sophisticated there would be no need for weight distribution for stabilization of the trailer and tow vehicle combination is my take on the situation. In Europe I would not be afraid of towing a decent trailer with an automobile like we did in the past with a Peugeot 505 wagon!

BTW for decades they have had an electric parking system for trailers with ability to walk the trailer into precise parking! Yep its very popular on the caravans to drive each axle side individually or together!

[Jay D.]

i had what i thought a lot of porpoising, so i installed some air bags at the rear. i normally put about 12-15 psi in each bag or just enough to where it starts to lift the rear bumper. they seamed to help a lot. i also run my tires when towing at the max rated on the tire.
Jay D.

[Persistent]

"Are there any experienced towers out there dealing with travel trailers and trying to smooth out their ride over bumps and roller coaster roads?"

The "Bouncing Betty" or "porpoising" ride is typically due to the rear axle of the tow vehicle bouncing off the travel stops. It is an interaction between the road surface and the suspension. It usually starts at a certain speed and increases with the speed. It often disappears on smooth roads and reappears on concrete roads at certain speeds.

It is a sign that the rear axle is overloaded. The solution is to reduce load on the rear axle of the tow vehicle.

Removing heavy objects from the truck bed can help.

Adjusting the weight distribution hitch to move more weight to the front would most likely solve the problem. Typically the height at the front of the loaded tow vehicle should be close to ¼ inch of the unloaded height.

Re-balancing the trailer will work, but don’t reduce the tongue weight too much. You typically need 10% to 15% of the actual trailer weight on the hitch to maintain towing stability. Move weight from in front of the TT axle to the rear. I reduce tongue weight by 50 pounds by moving food stocks to the rear while towing.

Using air bags or lift assist springs on the back of the tow vehicle may stop the bouncing, but the rear axle would still be overloaded. Air bags do not increase load capacity. They only level the tow vehicle.

Fully load the tow vehicle and the travel trailer and take it to a commercial scale. Get axle weights and gross weights for your whole rig. Compare the results with the weight sticker values found in the tow vehicle driver’s door frame. Do not exceed any of those specifications.

Also compare the trailer weights with the travel trailer weight sticker specifications on the front left side of the trailer. Do not exceed any of those specifications. Note: tongue weight specification on the TT sticker is general reference only. It is not relevant to loading.

I wish you good luck and happy trails ahead!

[TXiceman]

Originally Posted by Persistent

"Are there any experienced towers out there dealing with travel trailers and trying to smooth out their ride over bumps and roller coaster roads?"



It is a sign that the rear axle is overloaded. The solution is to reduce load on the rear axle of the tow vehicle.

!

A word of caution about reducing the load on the rear axle. DO NOT reduce the tongue weight on the trailer below about 12% (maybe 10%) of the trailer weight. Going lighter on the tongue will have a negative effect on trailer handling.

The bouncing and bottoming out on rough roads is a sign of a couple of things. One is overloaded truck or time o slow down and take things a bit slower. We have been in situations that the only way to continue was to turn on the emergency flashers and drive as low as 35 MPH which can be below the minimum road speed.

Ken

[bneukam]

If your truck squats too much with the trailer attached, and no WDH installed, then in my opinion you are overloaded.

Our setup is level with no WDH, but the rear does drop, and front end raises 3/8”. The WDH most important gets the front end back down to the original ride height as it sits normally with no trailer attached. This should restore handling, and ride quality.

OP- measure your front fender using the center axel, before and after install. Try to get back within a 1/4 inch at a minimum.