Towing a Tab 400 Boondock 2022 with a Tacoma 2015

TimandLaurie

• TimandLaurie Member Posts: 9

  11:46AM
  Took our second trip with the Tab400 BD 2022. Here are the facts and nothing but the facts.
  Loaded the camper for a 13 day 1542 mile round trip. Towing with a 2015 Tacoma access cab V6 prerunner with tow pkg. Weighted the camper and truck at Local Cat scale before leaving.
  Trailer weight with all provisions and 5gal of water in freshwater tank with a tab of vinegar to sanitize. Also 4gal of distilled water for drinking. Full gas tank and extra propane tank and portable solar panel and two bikes in back of truck. 
  trailer wt 3340#
  tongue wt 380#
  truck wt 4680#
  total combined wt 8020#
  GVWR 5060# (5400# rated)
  GCWR 8020#  (10860# rated)
  TWR 3340# (6500# rated) 
  On the first leg of trip had no sway control on hitch. Did not notice any problems with sway or squat on truck. Our last leg of trip I put on the Anderson sway control, could be psychological but it seemed to be more secure to me and to Laurie when she was driving. Usually drove in 4th gear unless in flat areas then put it in overdrive (D). We drove from Ohio to SC coast and averaged 14mpg with 13mpg in the mts and 14.5mpg on the flats. 
  As I stated in our first post I installed a bigger transmission oil cooler and it kept the pan transmission 20 degrees cooler on average. Also drove between 55 and 60 mph. Everybody else passed us but who cares we are retired. Everything on the camper worked fine and weather was great. Next big trip will be to Florida. Happy Trails to you. Sincerely Tim and Laurie

  
  

Denny16

Glad you had a grand trip, and no issues. I am with you, and we keep our speed to 50-60 mph when towing on the highway.
 Cheers 

AnOldUR

TimandLaurie said:

• Also drove between 55 and 60 mph. Everybody else passed us but who cares we are retired.

Another one who doesn't tow over 60 mph here. Not sure how people get to the notion that the posted speed is anything other than a limit. It's not the speed you're required to drive or even the speed that you're entitled to drive.

Gotta love California where the shoulder is the designated passing lane. 

dragonsdofly

Kudos to all who exercise caution when towing. With 45,000 miles on our t@b, I can recall only twice getting up to 62 mph while passing. Now with 8,000 lbs of truck (and gear) and (potentially) 10,000 lbs of loaded trailer, we happily continue to travel in the 55 to 60 mph groove.

It's reassuring to know that we have many like travelers here, enjoying the journey as well as the destination.

Hope to meet you all someday!

GregChris

When I drive 60 to 65mph, we get 15-16 mpg. When my wife takes over 65-70mph we get 12mpg. I can't get her to slow down, seems the more I nag, the faster she goes.

VictoriaP

@GregChris Pretty sure the trailer’s tires aren’t rated for speeds above 65. If so, you’re at a higher risk of blowout when she’s driving…maybe letting her know that will help (it’s the main reason I won’t tow over 60 mph except to pass a very slow truck, and I am normally a speed demon).

Edit: Looking at GregChris’ reply, check your specific tires as this varies.

GregChris

That's not exactly accurate, at least for the Tires on my bd. In Between the name and the tire size there is code on the sidewall. The last letter in that code is the speed rating. Mine reads 111/106 M.  The legal and safe max speed is 81mph.  Other designations are J=62 K=68 L=75 n=87. I don't know what other tires Nu Camp uses, but this is what they put on mine. This 60mph seems to be a common mistake, my Winnie board kept telling me the same.      https://www.discounttire.com/learn/speed-rating

VictoriaP

@GregChris Good to know, I’ll have to take a closer look at mine. Probably outdated information!

Denny16

Towing a trailer is a stability balancing act, the faster you go, the greater the risk of becoming unbalanced and having an accident.  Most tailer towing guidelines imhave seen always recommend towing at a max of 60 mph, and exceeding this increases the risk of having a issue or accident.  This is why a lot of states limit vehicles towing trailers to 60mph or less.  California is 55 mph when towing. 

Cheers 

manyman297

When we first picked up our 400 I was a relative newbie to towing. We had a popup trailer, about 1500lbs prior. I really had no idea about keeping things under 65mph. Luckily nothing ever happened. 

On our way home from the dealer I was driving in excess of 75+ mph. At one point we had a sway incident that was fairly white knuckled. After that I did some research and learned why it’s relatively insane to tow a trailer faster than 65-70mph. I also installed a sway friction bar for extra measure and it really has made a difference. The payoff is much better MPGs too. 

GregChris

65 is comfortable me. Sometimes it seems dangerous to be too slow. I have almost been run over by a semi more than once. I try to find a truck or another rv going 60 - 65 and stay a safe distance behind. The difference in mpg is amazing between 60 and 70.