New Tow Vehicle on the Block


DL Rupper

Senior Member
Today I went to the Dayton, Oh Auto Show. Wow, there is a new 1/2 ton that needs to be reckoned with. The Toyota Tundra is one impressive 1/2 ton pickup. It has 380 hp coupled with 401 lb-ft of torque. My "95" Dodge Cummins only had 420 lb-ft of torque. The Toyota is rated to tow 10,500 lbs. It looks awesome to boot. The only negative is the $35,900 price tag for a 1/2 ton. Of course it was a 4x4 with extended cab, but that's a lot of money for a little bitty pickup. Although the new Ford and Chevy 1 ton Diesels were in the $50/55k ball park. The Dodge 2500 Big Horn 4x4, extended cab, short bed with the new 6.7 L Cummins and 6 spd auto trans was a modest $45k. I keep hearing inflation has been held in check. At least that's what they claim when inflation retirement raises are discussed. :dead:
 

Grandview Trailer Sa

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Man, I remember the first new 1/2 ton GMC 4x4 I bought. I drove it off the lot with less than 20 miles on it for $7,800.00. Of course that was a 1979.
 

dmjaway

New Member
RE: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

DL Rupper said that, "Today he went to the Dayton, Oh Auto Show. Wow, there is a new 1/2 ton that needs to be reckoned with. The Toyota Tundra is one impressive 1/2 ton pickup. It has 380 hp coupled with 401 lb-ft of torque."

We have one of those beauties and, so far, it has been very impressive. We shall see, one day, when we are pulling the canyon in central Arizona on the 15 mile up-hill climb!

Dave
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Dave, let us know how well it performs. Most of us are diesel fans, but it looks like the V-8s are back for the next round. For lighter loads and less than big, big trailers the new V-8s should be adequate for the job. Anything over 30 foot I would still want the torque supplied by a big diesel.

The Tundra is awesome looking. Would love to drive a Tundra 4x4 to Alaska pulling a 21 to 24 ft 5th Wheel.
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Just because the Tundra can 'tow 10,400 pounds', I think that would be a TT, not a fiver. It may not have a large enough GAWR to take the pin weight of a fiver. Something to check on before signing on the dotted line.
 

dmjaway

New Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Thanks again hertig, however, it would help me even more if I knew what, "TT, not a fiver", meant? :)
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Hey Dave, TT is a Travel Trailer that hitches to your bumper. Generally lighter than a 5er (5th Wheel Trailer that hitches in the middle of the truck bed). The hitch weight on a 5er is about !,000 lbs to 2,500 lbs on a big 5er. The hitch weight on a TT is generally around 500 lbs give or take a 100 lbs or so. The reason for the difference is that to make a trailer tow really well you need at least 20% of the trailer weight up front. This is easy to do with a 5er by hitching over your truck axle. With the TT it is harder and doesn't happen because the rear end of the trailer can't take that much weight without affecting the steering and control of the truck. Typically the TT's are not as easy to tow as the 5er. They tend to have a lot of sway and react badly when Big Trucks go by. You can get a equalizer hitch that helps stop the sway and makes them easier to control. The draw back to the 5er is the height and weight on the bigger (29+ foot trailers). The weight could be a major drawback to towing a large 5er for your 1/2 ton pickup. That is why we have been saying a TT would probably be better for you if you want to go with a loaded trailer in the 9,000 to 10,000 lb range. It wouldn't be wise to hitch up to a 5er that has a king pin hitch weight of say 2,000 lbs and then load another 1000 lbs in your pickup bed, if your bed capacity was say 2000 lbs. Is that all confusing enough. :laugh:
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

There is also a hitch by PullRite which claims it makes towing a Travel Trailer 'as pleasant as' towing a Fifth Wheel, and easier to hook up. May keep the sway down, probably won't do anything for weight distribution which you may need with that 1/2 ton truck.
 

deniloo

New Member
RE: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

I'm hearing all the good things about the new truck but being from DETROIT it's not safe to drive them kind of trucks! :(
 

dmjaway

New Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Thanks DL for the clarification on “TT” and “5er”, guess I should have been bright enough to figure that out at least. Still processing a lot of information and I thank you for your patience with this newbie.

We will be shooting for the 6 to 7k dry weight and are learning how to optimize weight and storage by considering the types of cargo and supplies necessary for the various terms and situations we will find ourselves in.

With the 07 Tundra, we feel that the TT is the better bet, over against the 5er when considering weight versus the size of the units. The towing limit for the 07 Tundra 4x4 is about 10,300 pounds, which most likely means about 9000 pounds in the real world.

The 07 Tundra 5.7L engine is supposed to produce 381 hp and 401 lbs of torque and a 6th gear ratio of 0.588, in the 6 speed transmission, which should help on the highway.

Still do not know how all of this will really translate out on the road but it sounds good anyway.

Thanks for all the information DL,

Dave
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

It's much better to be prepared with all the info you can get, rather than blunder through it. It gets expensive when you buy the wrong hitch or trailer. Like I mentioned in your other thread, Wal-Mart has a RV'ing 101 book in their RV dept. I don't personally know if it is any good, but there should be some useful info in it.

I bought a book on Full-Time RV'ing about 14 years ago. 2 years before we hit the road RV'ing and we are still using the info we got out of the book. It was the only book available at the time (lots of them now). I don't remember the name of the book and it is probably out of print now because I read a couple of years ago one of the husband/wife team that authored the book had died. Bottom line: Any RV book will give you lots of info.
 

dmjaway

New Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Thanks again Dl for the info. We bought the book, “Complete Guide to Full-Time RVing, (Life on the Open Road), by the Moellers and it does contain a lot of information. Still, it’s only a 1998 publication.

Will stop by Wal-Mart and pick up a copy of “The RV Book” by Mark Polk
($4 cheaper there than Amazon.com).

Thanks,

Dave
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Hey Dave, the Moeller book is the one we started with. I just couldn't remember their name (getting to old). It is a great RV book, but some of the info is dated. Ours was probably about a 1993 edition. Technology has moved on, but a lot of their advice is still valid today.

I think the book you mentioned at Wal-Mart is the one I saw there. It says RVing 101 in smaller print up on the top of the front page, but that wasn't the name of the book.
 

dmjaway

New Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Dear SnowbirdInFlight, as you say, the Hensley unit is $2995.00 and the 1400 Pound weight distribution bars are $50.00 extra.

The 90° PullRite: http://www.pullrite.com/pullrite_90.htm

10K, Suggested Retail: $2,350 * (price includes equalizing equipment)
20K, Suggested Retail: $2,915 * (price includes equalizing equipment

The Blue Ox “Sway Pro” comes in at about $675 with Shanks.

Thanks,

Dave
 

C Nash

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Deniloo, I think the Toyoto is the only truck made in America now :eek: . Sure some impressive numbers on it.4 wheel disc brakes with 13.8" 4 piston calipers on the front and 13.6" single piston on rear should make for great breaking on a 1/2 ton. Think you would be ok with one of the light 27 to 29 ft 5 th wheel. Should handle the pin weight. Wow, cost more than the house I bought 40 year ago :eek:
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

The bottom line on the new Toyota Tundra is: It can tow 10,500 lbs on the flat and for a V-8 it has impressive torque, but will it pull the hills. My first Dodge CTD had 440 ft Lbs of torque, but would only tow my 12,000 lb 5er at 30 mph up a 6% grade. It would tow all day long up that grade at 30 mph, however, I was always worried I was going to get rear ended. I don't think I would try tow or buy any trailer over about 8,000 lbs dry weight with it. That's still quite an improvement over 1/2 ton pickups of the recent past. Just my opinion. :laugh:
 

dmjaway

New Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

DL commented that, “The bottom line on the new Toyota Tundra is: It can tow 10,500 lbs on the flat and for a V-8 it has impressive torque, but will it pull the hills?”

I don’t know yet but we shall see.

The 07 Tundra 4x4 is rated at 10,300 where the 4x2 is 10,500 lbs. An after some consideration, I would agree that 8000 lbs dry weight would be max. We think that between 7-8k with a good quality hitch is about right.

Speaking of hitches, would you have an opinion on the better hitches?

The Hensley unit with its 1400 Pound weight distribution bars, the PullRite, including its equalizing equipment, or the Blue Ox “Sway Pro” with Shanks, or perhaps another preference?

Thanks,

Dave
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: New Tow Vehicle on the Block

Dave, if you 're asking me about TT hitches I have no opinion as the last TT I owned was in 1982 and it was all of 17 feet long, single axle and I towed it with a Chevy short bed 4x4, 350 V-8. I used a bumper hitch and didn't even feel it back there. From what I can observe you are doing a good job researching the different hitches and will probably get the right one. It sounds like all of them will do a pretty good job. I would buy the best one that was reasonable in price. If you are only going to get a small improvement and it will cost say $1000 extra for the small improvement you are probably wasting the extra money. However, if you get a remarkable improvement for the extra $1000 it is probably a good investment in safety.
 
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