Actual Tundra Towing Capacity

[escavader]

I just bought an 04 Access Cab Tundra that I thought would tow 7200# as long as it had the Factory Tow Package. NOT
I learned the following: GCWR (11,800# as set out in the manual is Gross Combined Weight Rating). GCWR is the TOTAL WEIGHT of TRUCK and TRAILER FULLY LOADED. Toyota advertises Towing Capacity of 7200#. They reach this figure by subtracting the Tundra's stripped empty weight (4573# lets say 4600 even) from GCWR (11,800)= 7200#. They have not included the weight of driver and passengers, fuel, equipment and add ons, fluids like water and oil etc., in this figure. So it is rated for 7200# only if completely empty. Realistically Towing
Capacity is more like 6200#. The GVWR (Gross vehicle weight rating) is posted on the driver's door as 6200# on the access cab.
Next I learned that the factory tow hitch on the Tundra is ONLY RATED FOR 5000# and the Tongue is rated for only 500#. I should point out that ANY TONGUE WEIGHT OF THE TRAILER MUST BE ADDED TO THE WEIGHT OF THE TRUCK thereby reducing the 6200# available even more.
My example. I have a 4300 JD 4wd that weighs 2900#.
The 430 FEL is about 900# and Bush Hog 500# for a total 4300#. Looks like I am OK to tow until you include 2000# for the trailer. Now I am at 6300# well over the 5000# rating for the FACTORY HITCH and the GVWR.
TO BE LEGAL AND SAFE: I am told that I must add a WDR otherwise known as a Weight Distributing Unit ($320) which will allow me to tow 10,000# with a 1000# tongue weight limit: BUT I still cannot and should not exceed GVWR or GCWR.
And I thought all I had to do to tow 7200# was hook up the trailer and drive off.
This is what I have been told when I went to buy a trailer. Any and all comments, explanations, thoughts and considerations are appreciated.
PS. I should also mention I need to add a BRAKE CONTROLLER as well.

STUART,
I was just wondering,did they make the TUNDRA bigger in the 07 line up? I went to look at them at a dealership and it looked like a very full sized truck,however when i looked at some older ones in the parking lot at work,they seemed smaller,more like the width of my bosses DODGE DAKOTA.Mabey its my imagination,but were these the specs for towing they gave for your 04,or what they are saying about the new ones?
Myself personally I am still considering ,and researching .Based on all the people i know,and their experiences as of late,its gonna be a TUNDRA,or the FORD.I dont have all the facts yet,and a test drive will mean the most in my decision.
GUYS DO YOU THINK I COULD GET IN TROUBLE,stashing my tandom with tractor on it around the block from the dealer ships to get a TRUE test on how these rigs act towing ?Of course i wont buy them,because i wouldnt treat my own new motor that way

 

[stuart]

Stuart, I looked on my 2005 Tundra and on the bumper is says maximum of 5000 pounds. This is for a bumper mounted ball, if I understand correctly. Please correct me if I am wrong. I do understand the gross vehicle weight issue. Marketing people love to play games and create confusion. We see it way to often in our society.

Bobrip: On my Tundra there is a Hitch Receiver mounted underneath the bumper. They refer to it as the "Tow Package". It may be that the Hitch is just bolted to the bumper (I am not sure and its raining outside and dark), in which case both the Hitch and the ball mounted on the bumper have the same weight limitations.

 

[stuart]

escavader: I think the 2007 Tundra is 10 inches longer than Gen1 and 4" or 5" wider. I test drove one, and I suggest if you do, that you drive it into almost any regular parking lot ist. Put it into a parking space and see if you feel like I felt when I tried.
I also though the interior of the 07 had a tremendous storage chest in the front seat. The front seats seemed a bit tight, shoulderwise. In addition the instruments were hard to read because they were inset. I loved the added back seat area. It was almost as big as a Double Cab. Test Drive em. Take em home and even test tow em. That is the only way you will know.

 

[RollingsFarms]

So are you suggesting that if the tow rating on your Chevy, Ford, or Dodge is 8000 lbs, you can put 4 people in the cab and 1000 lbs in the bed and still tow 8000 lbs?

I see plenty of contractors driving Tundra's and Titan's, and in the 1/2 ton market they are great trucks. The only advantage I see in the Chevy/Ford/Dodge offerings are their 3/4 and 1 ton offerings, especially in diesel.

no, only an inexperienced tower would attempt such a task. what i am saying is that when i do tow nurse tanks(empty to 1/4 the way full), spray tanks, double axle trailer, or anything that matches my tow limits, my truck does it just fine. a Toyota or Titan would also do the job, but in my experience they wont do it for the same amount of years the Ford, Dodge and Chevy will most likley do it. theyve been in the "towing market" for years and years and offer features that titans or tundras do not. one example would be a locking rear differential that Chevy offers. Tundra's and Titans are great 1/2 ton trucks, no doubt. however i dont see a single one on a farm around here, not a single one at a construction site, not a single one towing and hauling equipment for power companies such as Santee Cooper. this goes back to what i was trying to say earlier, if you want to do some serious towing, day in and day out, year in and year out, i would choose a truck that has proven itself in this market for years....one of the big 3. im not being biased, im going on what ive observed around my location. the few tundras ive seen had women driving them from the grocery store with 3 kids in the "crew max" cab, i see alot of titans but never are towing anything, then i see the local carpenter pulling an enclosed trailer with an F-150...not a titan and not a tundra.

as far as 3/4 ton deisels go, id bet 1/4 of the people that own one never work the things like theyre intended for or theyre "towing" something my 1/2 ton Chevy would snatch around just as easily. i'm doing everyday farm work with a 1/2 ton truck and probably will never need a 3/4 ton.

 

[RobertN]

What you describe is pretty typical.

Your tow capacity can be limited by your hitch, in addition to general GVWR and GCWR for your truck.

Even on my very capable Ram2500 Cummins, with a regular ball insert in the reciever, I am 500/5000lb rated(tongue/trailer). I can do 1000/10,000lbs, with a weight distributing hitch. This is with the factory reciever(Class-3?). Class-4 and class-5 hitches can do more weight before going weight disti type hookup.

The same is true for all the manufacturers.... You could even have an F350/Ram2500/Sierra-3500 with a Class-3 reciever hitch and have a lowly 500/5000lb rating... On the hitch...

 

[Jaybr]

RollingFarms,

Don't underestimate the competition. Tundras and Titans both have great tow setups, lockers, 7-pins, pre-wired for brake controllers, transmission coolers, tow-modes in tranny. They have everything the "big 3" has to offer, and IMO the competition is good for us, the consumers. Do you think the F150 would have a 10k tow capacity today if Nissan hadn't been better the last few years?

I've towed my 21' enclosed trailer packed full from VA to CA and back with no problems. Many other long trips with the trailer in tow and the Titan has done great. I'm sure the new Tundra is an awesome tow vehicle as well.

I have a 95 Z71 with 6.5 turbo diesel sitting in the driveway, and the Titan will outpull it all day long.

 

[RollingsFarms]

RollingFarms,

Don't underestimate the competition. Tundras and Titans both have great tow setups, lockers, 7-pins, pre-wired for brake controllers, transmission coolers, tow-modes in tranny. They have everything the "big 3" has to offer, and IMO the competition is good for us, the consumers. Do you think the F150 would have a 10k tow capacity today if Nissan hadn't been better the last few years?

I've towed my 21' enclosed trailer packed full from VA to CA and back with no problems. Many other long trips with the trailer in tow and the Titan has done great. I'm sure the new Tundra is an awesome tow vehicle as well.

I have a 95 Z71 with 6.5 turbo diesel sitting in the driveway, and the Titan will outpull it all day long.

i agree that the competition is great for the consumer. i also agree that the titan and Tundra are great trucks and offer many of the same features that the big 3 offer in their packages. my point i was trying to make was that the people i have seen in my area that depend on their trucks every single day to make their living do so with either an F-150, Chevrolet, or Dodge(ofcourse some drive 3/4 ton models but that wasnt the topic of this thread). the only Titan that i have seen that was used in commercial work was a landscaping business owned one. i happen to see the owner oneday and asked how he liked the truck, and he loved the power and size of it. he did go on to mention that he had replaced the rear end 3 times before, certain areas inside the cab were showing premature wear from everyday hard use and that he was considering going back to GMC which he had prior. his comment was that the Titan would be the perfect truck to pull a large fishing boat or something similar on weekends, but for everyday work he didnt think it was up to par.

comparing a diesel to a gas motor is insane. its no contest. however the early GM diesels were junk, made no power and hardly any tourque of a few of todays gas motor offerings. they werent known to last and lifter pumps failed every 30,000 miles. also engine rebuilds were more common for those motors around 100,000 miles. i dont forsee your Titan sitting in your driveway 12 years from now still in full operating condition as is your '95 Chevrolet that you own. i could be wrong, but the Tundra and Titan both have to prove they both will last 10+ years after hard use as the big 3 are known too. again, we're talking full-size v-8 model tundra's and titans, not the famous 4cyl small trucks they have produced over the years that have been outstanding.

 

[Marcussen]

My '08 F250 SRW is rated 6000/600 Lbs. without a weight distributing hitch. That is the factory installed hitch on all the F250/F350 SRW trucks.

With the weight distributing hitch it is 12500/1250 Lbs.

In a goose/fiftwheel setup it is 14500 Lbs.

 

[Highbeam]

You, the OP, have found the marketing trick of the half ton. Don't forget to actually weigh the truck too. You will likely find that the GVWR is long exceeded before you ever reach the GCWR so the "tow rating" is bogus.

The half ton will pull within its ratings very well because if you honestly stick to the ratings it won't be pulling much. I have just gone ahead and towed up to and slighty above the tow rating despite all this but choose to respect the important ratings like axle ratings, and tire ratings. My truck is not going to last as long as a result. After 157000 miles I have so far only needed to rebuild the rear end as a result of towing. I have decided that my next truck will be a 3/4 or one ton even if the ratings are only marginally higher since the chassis is so much stouter.

The standard class 3 hitch is labeled for the 500/5000 rating as you describe. This is not a shortcoming, you can and should use the WD hitch to get the maximum 1000/10,000 rating from the hitch. I use the WD hitch system on RVs and my tractor/trailer and really think that the entire towing experience is very much improved.

The import half tons are only as good as the domestic half tons on paper. Great for groceries though. They, the imports, just haven't stepped up.

 

[Renze]

my point i was trying to make was that the people i have seen in my area that depend on their trucks every single day to make their living do so with either an F-150, Chevrolet, or Dodge

I think those people you see in your area, have this "proudly all American" bias thing which is so common in many farming areas through North America. When i was in Canada a few years ago, if you didnt have a Deere, you're no real farmer, because Deeres are made in North america.... NOT !!!
A guy who proudly brought his JD lawn tractor home and told everybody that he was proud to own something built in the great USA, took it back to the dealer when he found that it was manufactured in Japan by Iseki....

I saw in Canada that especially in rural areas, it was very hard for a non-american brand to gain acceptance. Not because it isnt good, but you aint gonna get yourself on the road on one of those !!

toyota got accepted in the car market, just because they exceed the american crap in reliabilty and grade of refinement. (yes i'd be honest with you Americans, most cars the USA built in the era between the oil crises and the mid 90's, are crap !!)
With the trucks, yet again they have to exceed the USA built products to prove themself... Only this time, the USA competition has their quality at the same level as the Asian and European manufacturers, (unlike the 80's with the passenger cars) so they have to try very, very hard...