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My thought exactly - rent a 1/2 ton truck and use a WD hitch.
4660# is only 69% of the max rated tow capacity for a GX. It'll absolutely tow it and tow it safely, given all of the other recommendations (dialed WDH w/sway control, extended mirrors, brake controller, trans cooler, trans temp monitoring) are implemented. A half-ton Tundra shares many drivetrain components with a GX anyway (UR engine and A760F trans), other than a smaller rear end (which isn't really stressed much by towing).
Again I know myself as I tow 4K with my GX all the time and have no problem safely zipping along at 70 mph all day on the interstate and driving up and down some very twisty, narrow, and steep backroads here in the Ozarks.
Again I know myself as I tow 4K with my GX all the time and have no problem safely zipping along at 70 mph all day on the interstate and driving up and down some very twisty, narrow, and steep backroads here in the Ozarks.
My thoughts exactly. You need to buy a WDH with sway bars, trailer brake controller, etc. to make it safe. Then you are still putting the wear and tear on your older but clean GX. That's why in this case I would leave my baby (GX) safe at home in the garage and rent a truck or larger SUV for this trip.
Everyone makes their own decisions and I respect that. OP asked for input and I was just providing mine.
OP, no matter what you decide to do be safe and have a great trip!
Not trying to pick your answer apart hear or go too far off the deep end, but honestly the limitation of the vast majority of 1/2 ton vehicles isn't the towing capacity, it's the payload capacity and the rear axle weight limit. While that trailer dry is 4660lbs, it can easily climb well above that when loaded. I would "guess" it would be 5,400lbs loaded. An ideal tongue weight is 10% minimum, and likely closer to 15%. So for rough math lets say 12% which is 650lbs which exceeds the limit for the oem hitch (w/o wdh capacity). 2010 payload capacity is 1,295 lbs, so there goes exactly half of your payload.
Now you look at a 6500lb trailer and let's go max 15% suggested tongue weight (which is almost always determined by the person packing the camper depending on where they put stuff) and that is 975lbs tongue weight, which exceeds the OEM hitch's capacity even with a wdh. That then leaves roughly 300lbs for fuel, occupants, etc to get you to 6,600lbs max weight. At that point my guess is the rear axle is way over the max rating.
You also cannot compare a Tundra to a GX460 simply because they share some driveline components. Wheelbase and physical mass alone would set the Tundra apart from the GX when towing. Just food for thought.
I think you may have mis-read some of the preceding posts and context. It appears the OP went to the scales, as they indicated the weight of the trailer with cargo is 4,660#, not the 5,400# you have estimated, and a full 1,900# less than 6,500# example you have mentioned. They also indicated the GX with people/cargo is around 5,800#, which is a full 800# less than the GX GVWR, providing a whopping 800# for tongue weight (assuming the WDH puts some of this on the front axle as well so the rear axle weight limit is not exceeded, as you have mentioned).
One comment brought up by others is the "wear and tear" of towing with a GX versus a half-ton truck. As indicated in my post, a GX and a Tundra share lots of drivetrain components, so the GX is certainly built strong enough to tow a trailer within it's limits without too much stress to the engine/trans/rear end/cooling system etc. This is of course different than mass of the vehicle and wheelbase - however the GX is rated up to the 6,500#, and the OP is only at 69% of that. I tow 61% of that. I would personally not want to exceed 70-75% of the tow rating as power will become a limiting factor at that point and MPG will be in the single digits. While I agree more mass and wheelbase is beneficial for towing, my experience is that these will tow just fine when you don't creep up to close to the weight rating (the same goes for a 1/2 ton truck or anything else really - they just have a higher rating).
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I say grip it and rip it bud, especially because I’ll be thousands of miles away and out of that land torpedos range lol. But seriously, lots of good food for thought in the comments. If it’s a one off I’d probably go for it.
Where does he mention it being loaded with cargo? Having done a fair amount of research when buying our camper, I'm fairly confident that 4660l weight is dry weight. I assume the 5850lbs is w/o the camper attached. So back to a typically loaded camper easily having 800-1000lbs of cargo, lets go back to a typical camper of that size loaded up coming in around 5400lbs. Loaded correctly it will likely have at least 12% tongue weight, so 650lbs, bringing the GVW to 6498lbs. So roughly 100lbs shy of GVWR, with no idea on the rear axle weight.
I am making some assumptions here and I am sure it will be just fine towing "if" the OP uses correct methods to setup the WDH. But the margins aren't nearly as generous as many think.
My assessment were based on the presumption that the OP went to the scales with the rig and weighted it with and without the trailer, hence the 4660# being the true weight of the trailer the OP intends to pull. We can go back and forth about the assumption of what may and may not be in the camper (for the record we usually haul ~500# in ours unless we have both tanks filled due to a campgrounds that are electric-only), but a scale weight is a scale weight (unless the OP confirms the weights were pulled out of thin air, in which case my presumption is wrong
). Regardless of the accuracy of my presumptions vs. your assumptions, I stand by my assessment that a 4660# camper (dry or filled) is well within the realms of safe towing towing with a GX when the setup is properly dialed (as it appears you do as well).
Looks like a 1979 Fleetwood Prowler. Depending on the submodel it will weigh 3400-3800 unloaded. Assume you add 1000 if you pack in everything you want...you are still under 5000 on a tow capacity of 6500. If you have the class IV hitch even better. If you have the 5000...meh, but okay. Get a WDH or rent one from an RV store with the antisway bars. Should be fine for one go. I tow our bush trailer (3750 empty, 700# tongue, about 4500 loaded) with a 470 with no issues, but I am upgraded to handle more. We are upgrading to a single axle 20 footer RV with the new construction tech that gets it to 3500 empty.
Let us know when you plan to travel so we can stay clear of you !!!
r2m
Richard
Maybe some sandbags on the back of the trailer, or like that classic 1951 movie, "The Long, Long Trailer" with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, where she collected bowling ball size rocks wherever they went, hence weighing their trailer down. Classic movie...
The Long, Long Trailer - Wikipedia
We are going into an epro E20FBS: Flagstaff E-Pro E20FBS - Forest River RV - https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/flagstaff-e-pro/E20FBS/7994
It is a nice balance of weight, features, and size coming from our bush trailer. Can you believe the green one is heavier than the other? TECHNOLOGY!!
This is as much as I like to tow with my GX. Especially out here in the west. The Casita is 3500 pounds loaded with a 430 pound tongue weight. I have the factory tow hitch with Redarc controller. Keep it between 60 and 70 mph and 5th gear tops. This trailer with a GX is the perfect match!
Watched the movie years ago and we have much better solutions for weight handling these days. If I remember right...didn't they have some sort of sprung wheel assembly to offset tongue weight?Maybe some sandbags on the back of the trailer, or like that classic 1951 movie, "The Long, Long Trailer" with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, where she collected bowling ball size rocks wherever they went, hence weighing their trailer down. Classic movie...
The Long, Long Trailer - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
For the record...I travel with one of these:
Looks much longer than it is. Light and tows easy with WDH.
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Is that a g20fbs? We are getting the epro version.
