Towing 6-7000# Trailer with Toyota Tundra

[shirleyj62]

I am posting this for my son. He is looking at purchasing a 2017 Toyota Tundra to pull his trailer.

We are looking for feedback from other Toyota owners who pull a >5000# trailer.

Have you modified the suspension in some way? (I.e., air bags, additional springs, etc)

What's the longest drive you've done pulling this trailer? Most trucks can pull a mid-sized trailer a short distance. How did it handle mountains? How did it handle the passing semi's on the interstates? Do you feel comfortable pulling your trailer?

Any additional comments, pros, cons, etc., would be welcome.

We also don't want to get into a Toyota vs Chevy vs Dodge vs Ford debate. We are purely interested in your opinion about the towing capabilities of the Toyota Tundra.

Thank you.

[Ron3rd]

I pulled about 6500 lbs with my old 2007 Tundra 5.7 V8 and it did fine. I loved that truck and would still have it if we had not moved up to a bigger trailer (8500 lbs). Tundras are a close to bullet proof as you can get. Great transmission and rear end, good brakes too.


Only thing I added to the Tundra was Timbrens (do a google search)

[portablevcb]

We towed our 24ft fiver with a 2006 Tundra. The trailer GVWR is 8400lb but we normally only had 7k lb in it.

Our 2wd crew cab had the highest load capacity of any of the lineup and could handle even the max 1400lb pin weight (which was normally at 11-1200lb). I did put airbags on it since it would bottom out on big bumps without the bags.

We towed over 15k miles on it before I traded it in. Needed a 4wd so decided on the Cummins.

If you tow a lot (10k a year) I usually recommend getting more truck than needed, by a lot. If towing 8k I'd get a truck rated for at least 10k.

But, it you're just going camping on weekends maxing out the truck isn't that big a deal.

charlie

[CaLBaR]

Our trailer is 7400lbs loaded and no issues towing with the Tundra. Have towed to Florida and back to Ontario which is 24 hours of driving about 7 times. Never any issues. As other have said the Tundra is a great TV, with out without towing mirrors. I would not hesitate to use the Tundra for what your son wants to tow. Mine is stock as well just a good weight distribution hitch and sway control.

[braindead0]

Eng208 wrote:

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Does the truck come with tow mirrors? If not, probably not designed for towing anyway.

Wow, I guess my 13 2500 Cummins powered Ram isn't built for towing either since the tow mirrors were an option.....

Mine also, RAM 1500, no tow mirrors even though it came with integrated brake controller and factory receiver... I guess it wasn't designed to tow my 2700# TT..

[Eng208]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Does the truck come with tow mirrors? If not, probably not designed for towing anyway.

Wow, I guess my 13 2500 Cummins powered Ram isn't built for towing either since the tow mirrors were an option.....

[otrfun]

We put 50k on a 2012 5.7 Tundra we purchased new. The '12 has almost the identical engine/tranny/suspension as the '13-'16 5.7---not sure if they made any changes for '17.

Used the Tundra to tow a 7k (CAT scaled, loaded) bumper-pull toy hauler on a 5,000 mile, cross-country trip, several times. The Tundra was within 100 lbs. of its maximum payload towing the above rig (CAT scaled). On smooth roads the suspension was fine. On rough, interstate expansion joints (i.e., I10/I12 in Louisiana) the suspension would bottom-out occasionally. 8-9 MPG's (hand calculated) at 60 MPH. It had decent power, handled good, but it wasn't the effortless tow experience that others have described.

FWIW, if you plan to tow more than 5k with a Tundra, I would highly recommend purchasing the 5.7 V8. The smaller 4.6 V8 is much less capable in terms of HP, torque, and tow capacity.

Good luck!

[spoon059]

Oldcow wrote:

fasteddie wrote:
I had an 08 Tundra sr5 crew cab with the 5.7 and towed a 7500lb trailer. It did great with the weight and pulled fine, like everyone has said the payload was the Tundra's achilies heel, with the family and all the normal camping stuff we were over payload otherwise it was a great truck and I enjoyed it, wish they would make a heavy duty payload pkg for it. My Ram 2500 has twice the payload and it is nice not to have to worry about it anymore but I do miss the Tundra.

X2

Oldcow

I'll echo that... X3

[Oldcow]

fasteddie wrote:
I had an 08 Tundra sr5 crew cab with the 5.7 and towed a 7500lb trailer. It did great with the weight and pulled fine, like everyone has said the payload was the Tundra's achilies heel, with the family and all the normal camping stuff we were over payload otherwise it was a great truck and I enjoyed it, wish they would make a heavy duty payload pkg for it. My Ram 2500 has twice the payload and it is nice not to have to worry about it anymore but I do miss the Tundra.

X2

Oldcow

[fasteddie]

I had an 08 Tundra sr5 crew cab with the 5.7 and towed a 7500lb trailer. It did great with the weight and pulled fine, like everyone has said the payload was the Tundra's achilies heel, with the family and all the normal camping stuff we were over payload otherwise it was a great truck and I enjoyed it, wish they would make a heavy duty payload pkg for it. My Ram 2500 has twice the payload and it is nice not to have to worry about it anymore but I do miss the Tundra.

[Ron3rd]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Does the truck come with tow mirrors? If not, probably not designed for towing anyway.

I had the optional towing mirrors on my 07 Tundra.

[Ron3rd]

travelnman wrote:
I talked to a experienced retired 70 years young guy who had been towing way
before retiring and had three pickups before his Toyota. Was loyal to one
manufacturer for his whole life until he started camping. Then the problems
started, he said he lost three transmissions towing all but one was covered
under warranty but he was in numerous awkward situations and got fed up bought
a Toyota on the recommendation of others. He said that was the
end of his problems but regretted not buying American made, it was only out of
endless frustrations that he bought a Tundra. He was pulling a 31 foot Heritage
Glen TT. That was enough for me nothing like a brake down on a mountain road
with warning signs to check your brakes and run away off ramps. With Semi's
smoking their brakes using engine braking it must be a thrill to lose a transmission.

Loved my 07 Tundra and never heard of anyone with trans problems. It's probably the best trans in any 1/2 ton IMO. Sold it at 109,000 miles and never had a single repair. Best truck I ever owned.

[Ron3rd]

shirleyj62 wrote:
I am posting this for my son. He is looking at purchasing a 2017 Toyota Tundra to pull his trailer.

We are looking for feedback from other Toyota owners who pull a >5000# trailer.

Have you modified the suspension in some way? (I.e., air bags, additional springs, etc)

What's the longest drive you've done pulling this trailer? Most trucks can pull a mid-sized trailer a short distance. How did it handle mountains? How did it handle the passing semi's on the interstates? Do you feel comfortable pulling your trailer?

Any additional comments, pros, cons, etc., would be welcome.

We also don't want to get into a Toyota vs Chevy vs Dodge vs Ford debate. We are purely interested in your opinion about the towing capabilities of the Toyota Tundra.

Thank you.

I pulled about 8500 lbs with my 2007 5.7L Tundra. Only thing I added was Timbrens. Bullet Proof truck BTW and I really came to appreciate how well it towed after moving up to the new Cummins in my sig.

[mudfuel07]

I have a 2016 CM SR5 4x4. We tow a 32' travel trailer weighing about 9500 loaded to camp. I average about 7-8 mpg's with it, but I have the 38 gallon tank so no worries. I did add a weight distribution hitch, but other than that, haven't added anything. I already had dual sway bars from my previous Ford F250, so I'm sure that helps as well. Our longest trip to date is about 3.5 hours. Truck pulls it very well and haven't had an issue. It's nice to know that all I have to do is get in and drive, no worrying about will it make it there.

[bgum]

Tundra is made in San Antonio TX U S A