Truck with 100,000 should I tow a TT (trailer, mileage, pickup)
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I have a 2006 Toyota Tundra 2WD Double Cab 4.7 V8 with 103,000 miles on it and I'm curious if I should tow a travel trailer with it or focus on getting a different truck with less miles. The truck runs great as a daily driver and local road trips (300 miles one way). Every service visit comes back with a positive report. I recently replaced the timing belt, water pump, belt tensioner/pulley (the kit). Are any of you towing with high mileage trucks? Would you make a 2,500 mile round trip with this truck while towing a travel trailer?
I haven't purchased the trailer yet. What is going to haul it is my first priority.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I have a lot of 500,000 mile+ trucks (even pickups) that have to go 1000 miles daily.
so... well serviced + careful towing, well within capacity of truck... should be OK. (you don't mention total weight, terrain, temps and tranny type (all VERY IMPORTANT)
If automatic tranny and STEEP LONG hills, add a tranny temp gauge and cooler ~$200.
It's an automatic. Thanks for the tranny tip. That sounds like $200 well spent. We'd be driving up and down the western states. To and from Southwest and Northwest.
A smaller trailer would be OK. Just understand that max weights don't mean you can actually use all that max weight. If your truck is loaded down, your max tow capacity could be reduced by a 1000 or more pounds. Toyota trucks are notorious for very low load limits. In addition to some previously mentioned upgrades, you'll need a receiver, and 7 pin plug and a brake controller. If your truck doesn't have a factory receiver, be aware of aftermarket receivers that can't handle the weight of a trailer at your upper limit. As for the brake controller, your truck may be plug and play ready, or it may not. I don't know anything about Toyota, so you'll need to check that out. If it's plug and play ready, get a harness and a Prodigy3 controller from Amazon. If not, you can still get buy Prodigy3 and have it professionally installed. The 7 pin can also be professionally installed, if you don't have one.
Worst case scenario, you'll have to rebuild the transmission. That would still be cheaper than buying a different vehicle with unknown problems, and worth doing, in my opinion.
I moved a year ago with a 93 Nissan pickup, automatic, 4 cylinder, rear wheel drive. I loaded up the extended cab, and the bed, and towed the smallest U-Haul trailer they had. I drove slowly, but dealt with snow and mountain passes, and wind and rain, etc.
A year later, the transmission went out. It's possible the move helped it along, but when I bought it used just 3 years ago, it had a trailer hitch on it. It was 25 years old and had about 180K on it.
My point is just that, I think the vehicle could handle it, and that even if you ended up having to eventually rebuild the transmission, it would be worth the cost, and cheaper than buying a new vehicle. FWIW.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The miles don't matter as much as the truck's towing capacity. My parents pulled an 8,000 lb 5th wheel with their truck even with well over 200,000 miles on it. That was a heavy duty diesel, however.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Do let us know your desired GCVW. While rated to 7,000# try to keep it closer to 3500 - 4000#
When pushing a vehicle to it's limit... be kind!
Synthetic lubricants survive a LOT higher temps than straight dino blends. (You Toy likely has Synthetic in ALL gearboxes / engine from factory). Keep it that way.
As a commercial driver... I see far more Toy's upside down from towing accidents than any other brand. I am sure it is 'operator error' / higher statistical frequency of Toys on the road. (but also a Toy does not give you much margin for error.)
There are tens of thousands of pickups with 100K+ miles on them towing trailers around the country -- probably hundreds of thousands. Most have problems at some point, even if they're new, but chances of problems happening on any one trip is small. I drove my last pickup, an F250 diesel, to 151K miles before trading, towing a 10K pound 5th wheel on trips up to 3K miles without worry or problems. I had issues with that truck, lots of them, but I was never stranded out of town. My earliest problems occurred in the first year or two with less than 10K miles on it, so it's not JUST high mileage.
If your truck is in good condition, I wouldn't worry. Just stay under its GCWR and under its max axle/tire weights and you should be good to go. (You might want to add a little air to the tires, especially the rear tires.) I'd suggest that you take it to a weigh station and get all the weights -- truck, trailer, combined -- once you're all loaded and ready to roll. Unless/until you get these weights, you won't know if you're overweight or not.
Check the frame for rust before you attempt towing. Did you do the recall already if it applies to your truck?
Obviously you cannot load the trailer and take it to a weigh station in making your decision which trailer to buy, so you have to do the math on a computer. Make sure you consider the weight of the trailer fully loaded (water, supplies, and whatever else you will put in it) as well as anticipated passengers and cargo. When you estimate weights of things, estimate high and leave yourself a margin of safety. I would not go any closer than 85% of your rated towing and total weight capacity lower if you will be driving in serious hills or mountains. Many people use a lower figure than 85%. Also make certain you have a hitch rated for the weight of your trailer.
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