TOY: Re: towing

["Scott Ellinger" <ellinger@xxxxxxxx>]

> I recently acquired a 4,500 lb. (wet weight) 19' 5th wheel travel trailer.
Problem is, my '94 V6 pickp is only
> rated to tow 3,500 lbs.  What Toyota product do I need to adequately tow this
trailer?  Would a 5 speed
> 3.4L V6 Tacoma or T100 adequately handle the job?  (They are rated to tow
5,000 lbs.)  Too bad the
> Tundra is not available with a turbo diesel option.

I've never pulled a fifth wheel trailer, but I have pulled a 6 or 7
thousand pound bumper pull (yeah, I know, that's a lot of weight
for a bumper pull) and that was a strain on a 350-powered
Chevy truck.  It got a lot nicer the last time I was coming home
with it and towing somebody else's Jeep instead of my truck (he
broke worse than I did on Independence, and had the distinction
of getting to follow his own Jeep home) and it was ~2k pounds
lighter, the whole package was a lot easier to move.

For a fifth wheel, I wouldn't get anything smaller than a T100, and
I'd be seriously considering something bigger.  I think the smallest
truck I've ever seen semi-successfully tow a fifth wheel around that
weight class was an F150, and he had serious problems in the
mountains.  But also keep in mind that when I say "mountains" I
mean 11k feet (still on the pavement) and "plains" is still 4-5k up.
The elevation is rough on tow vehicles.  My old Chevy had a lot of
trouble in the mountains, too... but it fared better than that poor
F150 with the fifth wheel.  Weight was probably around the same.

For the right price, a turbo diesel Toyota is an option... you just
don't want to consider the cost of buying a Tundra, and swapping
in a Cummins or the like.... :)

> Any trailer towers out there?

Used to be, haven't for a little while, will again... but not mine, I've got
a big truck now, so I can just load my truck in the bed.  :)

--scott  ellinger@frii.com
http://www.rockstomper.com