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Massive truck is massive. Do you daily that? My Titan broke a few weeks ago on the day before I was going to pick my car up from the cage builder, so the Nissan dealer got me an Enterprise F250 rental. 2018 crew cab with 8ft bed. I ended up having to daily drive it for 2 weeks while they fixed the Titan, and holy **** was that thing a pain to maneuver on a daily basis. It would be awesome to own as a dedicated tow rig but there's no way I could handle it as a permanent daily. A crew cab 5ft bed 1500 truck is just barely acceptable to me as a daily.
@jpreston, I guess it depends on where you live. Some areas seem to be more geared towards bigger vehicles. I have friends that live in Nevada and Idaho. Both roll in full size diesels with quad cabs. Neither complains about parking etc. I on the other hand have a tough time getting in local markets with my lightning.
Last edited by k24madness; Feb 26, 2018 at 01:29 PM.
I don't daily it on a regular basis, no. I definitely wouldn't want to, but for throwing a whole pile of gear in back and towing two cars across the state, it's just about perfect.
Massive truck is massive. Do you daily that? My Titan broke a few weeks ago on the day before I was going to pick my car up from the cage builder, so the Nissan dealer got me an Enterprise F250 rental. 2018 crew cab with 8ft bed. I ended up having to daily drive it for 2 weeks while they fixed the Titan, and holy **** was that thing a pain to maneuver on a daily basis. It would be awesome to own as a dedicated tow rig but there's no way I could handle it as a permanent daily. A crew cab 5ft bed 1500 truck is just barely acceptable to me as a daily.
I think some of it is just changing driving style and knowing that there will be places you wont be able to get into as easily. My tow rig (2500HD double cab and 8' bed) doubles as my winter beater and I've just had to make adjustments to how I get in and out of places. Sometimes it means parking further away or maybe driving around the block instead of making a tight turn into somewhere, but it's definitely doable. I basically treat it like I'm towing a trailer all the time...no left turns across traffic and only going into parking lots that I know I can get out of easily.
However, with all that said, I am glad I don't drive my truck 100% year round. Having a smaller car makes most things so much easier.
Since my truck isn't a Z71 package, the front end sits about where I think a 2wd truck would sit, with the rear end way up in the air, a solid 3-4" higher than my old truck (measured from tailgate/hitch). Even with 5500lb of trailer on the back and <5psi in the air bags it doesn't sit anywhere near level. I didn't want to raise the front at all, so I lowered the rear with drop shackles.
It seems many of the guys at Sonoma Raceway run air bags in their tow rig. I am looking to do the same on the lightning. I need it with the way it's lowered in order to stay off the bump stops when towing. I am surprised to see you running them with the capacity of your truck and all.
From all I read this approach allows you to spring the truck softer for more comfort when unloaded and up the spring rate via air bags when loaded. Good stuff.
I lived happily without them in the last truck, but the PO added them to this one. Since I've lowered it a bit and it's closer to level, I may need them to re-level with a loaded 2-car trailer, but that remains to be seen.
I think some of it is just changing driving style and knowing that there will be places you wont be able to get into as easily. My tow rig (2500HD double cab and 8' bed) doubles as my winter beater and I've just had to make adjustments to how I get in and out of places. Sometimes it means parking further away or maybe driving around the block instead of making a tight turn into somewhere, but it's definitely doable. I basically treat it like I'm towing a trailer all the time...no left turns across traffic and only going into parking lots that I know I can get out of easily.
However, with all that said, I am glad I don't drive my truck 100% year round. Having a smaller car makes most things so much easier.
I think it's the long bed that really nails it. Driving my 3/4 ton crew cab/short bed around, I don't have any issues with making turns (even U-turns) or not being able to get in places. Tight parking lots do become a bit more challenging.
That said, I don't drive the truck much because it's just more fun to drive the various cars we own.
This is the exact setup I want, with maybe a newer 4Runner.
I understand the benefits of a truck but I hate driving them.
I just don't need a truck's capabilities often enough to justify the trade-offs and additional expense for every day use. Honda says our van can tow 3500 pounds, so who am I to argue?
I use a 2005 Tacoma pulling an aluminum 7x18 enclosed trailer. It gets the job done just have to slow up a little
going up any grades and I don’t pass semis as much as I used to when I had the duramax.
'05 Tacoma V6 has a tow cap of 3500lbs. There is no way that trailer comes in under 3500lbs with a Miata inside. Your insurance company won't be kind if you get into an accident.
Do you have any kind of sway control/weight dist. hitch? The F250 rental that I had recently was so tall that I couldn't use my Equalizer hitch without significant readjustment, so I just pulled my 8.5x20 enclosed with a standard hitch for the one trip that I was doing with the rental. It was sketchy as hell. My single cab short bed 2wd Ram with the Equalizer hitch was MUCH more stable than the massive F250 with a standard hitch.
I wouldn't hesitate one bit to pull that trailer with that Tacoma but I would definitely spend the money on an Equalizer. Even if you don't need the WD aspect, the additional stability while passing and getting passed by semis makes it worth the money.
Just a standard hitch with the Tacoma but WD hitch is in the plans but not a priority right now. My last tow rig had that and I agree it makes a noticeable difference. I do have air bags on the truck to level it out when loaded.
Do you have any kind of sway control/weight dist. hitch? The F250 rental that I had recently was so tall that I couldn't use my Equalizer hitch without significant readjustment, so I just pulled my 8.5x20 enclosed with a standard hitch for the one trip that I was doing with the rental. It was sketchy as hell. My single cab short bed 2wd Ram with the Equalizer hitch was MUCH more stable than the massive F250 with a standard hitch.
Was it loaded properly? I've never had any sway issues towing with a standard hitch on my 3/4 ton Chevy, it's always been super stable.
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