Toyota Tundra Towing

I know a few of you to some larger loads & such do I'm reaching of for supplemental info on towing.  I've towed trailers before I had a license and my largest loads have been 26' cat hull boats.  I'm now looking to get a travel trailer and weighing out the pro/con of 5th wheel vs. bumper pull.  Here's some info on my truck for help...

2000 Toyota Tundra V8, auto trans, SR5 155k miles, 2000# air bags(air ride) in the rear.  Just installed a NICE trailer brake system.  Hitch already so I can bumper tow OK as-is.

Should I or could I go 5th wheel????  Go 5th wheel trailer or bumper pull? 

Thanks!

Bill

I pull a 24', 5500# toy hauler, with my AI in it on its trailer, with my 5.7 V8 Tundra, with load leveler hitch.  It gets around fine, but does slow down on hills a little. Gas mileage really sucks - 8 to 10 mpg.   I have stock suspension.  When looking around for toy haulers, I found most of them exceeded the recommended hitch weight.

fifth wheel is going to put the weight on or in front of the rear axle, bumper pull is going to put it behind the axle even with the help of a weight distribution hitch. Steering will be better with the fifth wheel as the front end is less likely to have weight unloaded from it.   With either one I would add better anti-sway bars.  Before buying a trailer I would cat scale the truck to find out how much load capacity you really have with the tires at each axle   Tire rating times two - weight at the axle = load capacity per axle.  Then find out the loaded  tongue weight of the trailer.  You might need beefier tires to carry your desired trailer load.

For a pull trailer, I was looking 3500-5000#  In a 5th, I was looking more at a 19-22' which could be about the same weight.  Heard 15-25% of 5th weight is tingle (on the hitch) weight.  True/false?

You can pull anything with those new Tundras! 

You buying me a new tundra?  Lol. Mines a 2000

Since you have a 2000 Tundra, I'd go with a fifth wheel if trailer is between 4k-5k lbs. I've towed both bumper and fifth wheel, the fifth wheel is a lot more balanced when driving.
Under 4k lbs, just go bumper hitch, but be sure your tongue weight doesn't go beyond 500 lb. Use a weight dist. /sway control hitch helps with driving control. I like the Equal-I-zer sway control hitch.

Good luck.

Good info.  I've looked at a number of bumper pull trailers over the past couple weeks and going to look at one of the candidates again tonight/tomorrow.  In this search, it seemed like a lot more 5th wheel units out there so I thought I'd look down that avenue as well so that I'm not doing myself a disfavor in this process.  I now have to factor in the cost of a 5th wheel hitch @ 500-$1k

Funny thing was, I can't remember ever seeing a Tundra with a 5th wheel hitch & asked myself if there was a REASON you don't see one with a 5th ... my only reasonable answer would be the lack of payload capacity limiting one to a small'er trailer size ... and I'm ok with that.

Yeah but...if you get a 5th wheel trailer...where you gonna put the kayak?

True .... After all the time I just spent making a custom rack for my truck, the 5th wheel would toss the use of that out.

I actually caught myself looking at toy hauler trailers so I could put the kayaks inside the trailer.  Wife wasn't too keen on THAT idea.

Looks like 5th wheel with this truck & my 6' bed is pretty much out.  The distance from axle to cab is just too close for comfort with the trailer geometry.  Sucks too ... think I found what I was looking for & they were including the 5th wheel hitch in the package.

With my truck the towing capacity increases from 13,000 lbs. to over 17,000 lbs. with a 5th wheel hitch. For anything under 12,000 lbs. I would prefer a ball mount trailer and avoid a 5th wheel trailer.

A couple of problems with 5th wheel trailers. One is that you lose the use of your truck bed. I have a fiberglass cap on mine and can safely put inside bicycles and gear and lock them away and I have cross bars and Thule cradles on the top and can transport a couple of Revo 13's. No way to take any of these along with a 5th wheel trailer. 

Second problem that friends have all commented on with 5th wheel trailers is having more steps to get up to the first level and still more steps to get up to the sleeping area.

Before the advent of rear video cameras for trucks it was easier to connect up to a 5th wheel trailer hitch. Now with a rear video camera this is no longer the case. I can get within 1/2 inch off the trailer ball the first try with my truck. 

5th wheel trailers are good for more sedentary people. The more active you are and the more you want to be able to take along bicycles, fishing equipment, kayaks, dirt bikes, ATV, dingy, etc., the more advantageous it is to tow a travel trailer. No RV setup is more versatile in this respect.