[:0]Help please first time buyer


M

mindnova

New Member
This will be my first rv purchase and it's driving me nuts. I have tried to make heads or tails of the towing issue. I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma with towing cap. of 6,000lbs. The combined weight must not exceed 10,000lbs. GVWR for the truck is 5100lbs. and payload is 1330lbs.
The unit I'm looking at is a trail-bay 27DS, length of 29'5" and dry weight of 4941lbs. Using this info this is the top limit of what i can handle. Using the 75% rule I saw somewhere sets me at 4500lbs. By that rule I'm 441lbs over.
Is my logic correct or does anyone have any input on this that could be of help. The trail-bay has everything we want and so far has been the best quality for the price we have found.
We have been looking for 6 months for the right one and are planning one last trip this weekend to see if we can find anything else.

Thank you for your help. :)
 
H

hertig

Senior Member
[:0]Help please first time buyer

Lets see. If your GVWR is 5100 and payload is 1330, then your truck's dry weight should be about 4000 (GVWR - payload + driver + fuel). This is where the 6000 pound towing cap comes from (GCWR - dry weight). We need to know the GVW of the trailer, but let us assume it is only 6000 (pretty light for a 29 footer). Pin weight is usually about 15 - 20% of the trailer GVW, or perhaps 1000 pounds. Pin weight is the weight the 5th wheel puts on the hitch in the bed of the truck, and is considered 'payload' (as is the weight of the hitch, maybe 100 pounds).

This is a marginal situation. Taking the 1000 pin weight from the 1330 payload leaves you with 330 pounds for the driver, all passengers, fuel and ANYTHING else carried in or added to the truck. You are right at your towing limit, your GVWR limit and your GCWR limit, and that is with a trailer weight guess which is probably low by 500 to 1000 pounds or more. Keep in mind that ANYTHING added to the trailer (some options, propane, water, waste in the tanks, your gear, food, etc is on TOP of the dry weight.

The 75% 'rule' is not a rule, just a good idea for safety. With your truck, you probably want your gross trailer weight under 5000 lbs, which means a dry weight of perhaps 3500 or less. I'm not familiar with Toyota's engines, but even if you can get a 'safe' tow, there is a good chance it will not be pleasant going up hills.
 
W

Will Daniels

New Member
[:0]Help please first time buyer

Could not agree more with Hertig only to say this is not a marginal situation,but a BAD situation. The Tacoma is a nice truck but in this situation it would be underpowered and unsafe IMO. Even the Tundra with a V8 would be stressed with this unit unless you stay in Florida.There are many small units,including the hybrids which are under 5000 GVWR which are more suited to your truck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top