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Way too much trailer

Freebird

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Location
Oberlin, OH
Website
www.venturerider.org
2022 TRD OR DCSB Auto
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OK, thought I would post a couple of pictures just for the heck of it. About 14 months ago, my wife decided that we should start doing some camping. Having recently starting a new business, I knew that finding the time to get away was going to be tough but I agreed anyway. First thing I did was to go out a buy a new Toyota Tundra. Then we found the camper that we liked and drove from Ohio to Grand Rapids, Michigan to pick it up. I was worried that it was too much camper for even the Tundra but we bought it and surprisingly, the Tundra handled it very well. Got it home, parked it, and the camper then set there for 14 months and was never moved again and never slept in. So, I decided to sell it and move on.

I also decided that once the camper sold, I would sell the Tundra and buy a Tacoma. The Tundra seemed like a good truck but I just never got excited about it. Before selling the camper, I found a good deal on an '18 Tacoma Off Road 4X4 so went ahead and made the deal trusting that the camper would eventually sell.

Sold the camper on Thursday to a nice lady who asked if I could deliver it. She had no way of moving it at this time and plans to put it in a campground in the spring. I figured I could borrow a larger truck and told her that I would. She lives about 45 miles away. I had agreed to deliver it on Saturday but wan't able to find a truck to borrow so finally decided what the heck. The camper is 31.5' long, and according to the specs., weights 6505 lbs. I think towing capacity on the Tacoma is 6500 lbs. so I was barely capable in that regard. The bad part was that the tongue weight for the Tacoma is around 640 lbs. and the tongue weight on the camper is 790. I did have an equalizer hitch but of course the Tundra had the trailer brake controller and the Tacoma does not.

Anyway, I decided to give it a try. Got it all hooked up and headed down the road. It has rained her for a couple of days so the roads and everything else are wet so my biggest concern was stopping on the wet roads. I kept the speed down to 50 MPH and less. There were high wind warnings and the wind certainly added to the adventure but they weren't as bad as I had feared.

Bottom line is that we made it ok. Had to really watch my speed because the trailer with the winds made it a bit harder to handle. If I had it to do over, I'm not sure that I would. I would just wait until I could get somebody with a larger truck to help me. I like the Tacoma a lot but if I decided to buy another camper at some point, I think I'll keep it around 4,000 - 4,500 lbs. and a tongue weight between 400 and 500 lbs. Looking back, even moving it once for that distance was not one of my smartest decisions but it is done and the lady is happy to have her camper home.

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This was a great story to read and I feel your anxiety. I just hauled 2,400lbs of rock which is more than 1,000lbs over its rated payload. Like you, the truck handled it well but it still felt overly sketchy for comfort. I think you have created photos of the longest trailer behind a 3rd gen with this, so that’s unique!

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