Towing Capacity Limits for a 2010 Toyota Tundra

Question:

I purchased a 2010 Toyota Tundra V8 extra cab 5.7 with a towing capacity 0f 10,300 lbs. I purchased a new forest river 5th wheel w your 15000 lb cap. hitch. The trailer weighs 7900 lbs and I estimate 1200lbs of gear.Thanks

asked by: John

Expert Reply:

As long as you stay under the 10,300 pound mark you should be fine. Currently your trailer and gear estimate would weigh 9,100 pounds.

Take a look at the rig when the trailer and truck are fully loaded as though you were ready to hit the road. If the Tundra is sagging in the rear, I would suggest using some sort of suspension enhancement system. They spread the load to to more springs so there is a total of 4 points on the axle that weight rides on.

Timbren makes hollow rubber springs that mount to the truck frame and assist the factory suspension system. They spread the load to keep the truck level, and when going over bumps in the road they keep the truck from bottoming out. I called Timbren and the springs for the 2009 Tundra will fit the 2010 models. You would use part # TTORTUN4.

expert reply by: Patrick B

Scott B.

2/22/2020

I have 2010 Tundra Crew-max, tow package, 5.7 V8 rated at 10500 GVWR. I want to tow a Grand Design 295RL rated at 9995 GVWR, pin/hitch weight of 1391lbs... with addition of suspension enhancement and brake controller can I do this?

Chris R.

2/24/2020

If your 2010 Tundra has a 10,500 pound towing weight capacity as listed in the owner's manual, it can definitely handle the Grand Design 295RL you're looking to pull. It's GVWR of 9,995 pounds still falls comfortably below the truck's limits and it's also pretty unlikely it will actually weigh this much anyway. I definitely still recommend adding rear suspension support like the Timbren # TTORTUN4 that Patrick recommended. A brake controller like the Curt Echo # C51180 is also a must since a trailer of this size would most certainly be equipped with electric brakes.

Helpful Links

Brake-Controller/Curt/C51180.html

Doug H.

1/15/2021

@ScottB Sorry to be the one to inform you but the bottom line is there is nothing you can do to your truck to make it work with that trailer, you need a bigger truck. The Reflection 150 series 295RL has a GVWR of 10995 and dry 8794 with that pin weight of 1391. Not only are you max tow weight you will be grossly exceeding your payload capacity. Look at the door jam on your truck to get your exact payload configuration, don't go off the internet. I guarantee you will be way over payload with that 5ver. That pin weight is the trailer unloaded as well, so that number is only going to go up as you load the trailer. Head over to Tundras.com and you will see a plethora of threads covering the Tundras limited payload capacity. I feel your pain as I have the same truck. Hopefully you didn't make the purchase, it's too bad the "experts" didn't give you better advice.

Jon G.

1/21/2021

@DougH It is possible that Scott has an older version of the Grand Design 295RL. Since he lists out pretty specific weight ratings I'm sure he has looked them up as well as the weight rating for his pickup. I looked at the online manual as well for the 2010 CrewMax and it seemed to have similar ratings to what Scott listed when the tow package is installed. I wasn't able to find a specific payload rating in the owner's manual but it did state that the pin weight needs to be 15 - 25% of the weight of the 5th wheel trailer, which we always recommend shooting for 20%. As far as expert advise goes, we look at the owner's manuals and compare to make sure that the trailer isn't over the weight rating listed by the manufacturer. It's always a good thing to double check in your own copy of the owner's manual but as far as we can tell it does look like Scott can safely tow this trailer. I took a quick look on that forum you mentioned but the only thing I could find when I did searches was people speculating about the newer models, and even then I wasn't seeing any hard numbers being given out. If you have any specific threads that you'd like me to look at I'd be more than happy to look into this further.