Is my Tacoma adequate to pickup up my new Fleet?

J

john cotterman

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2017
Messages
28
Location
North Carolina
Soon I will drive up to New Hampshire and pick up my new Fleet FWC. It is a partially equipped shell so the weight is not the loaded Fleet maximum.

I just purchased a 2014 Tacoma Prerunner 2WD with the TRD Off Road package.
According to Toyota this includes
Off-road Tuned Suspension with Bilstein Shocks
Locking Rear Differential
16" Alloy Wheels withP265/70R16 BF Goodrich Tires.

While I will probably follow suggestions to eventually get the Bilstein air shocks, do you have feedback as to whether the current shocks and suspension will suffice to get me safely home from New Hampshire to NC?
 
Hi "Newbie", Welcome to the family.

Weight
Check your Tacoma owners manual for the weight it is rated for, Our 2013 4WD Tacoma stock is rated to carry about 1,185 pounds. Your 2WD is higher...maybe 1,500 pounds. Then call the dealer and get the weight on the Fleet shell. Its probably around 1,000 pounds. (Depends on how it is equipped), So stock setup should be ok for the delivery trip. (see note on tires). I would upgrade them before you put extra miles on them.

Four Wheels website has a "weight chart" . I'm sure the dealer has that information..

The two items you will need to upgrade are tires and rear weight capacity. Since the truck is new see if the dealer will upgrade to LT265/70R16. for a small fee. (My dealer wouldn't) They sent me to their 3rd party who gave me $50 a tire trade-in - Yuck...If you plan to go off road go to LT265/75/R16 gain half inch of ground clearance. LT 10 ply load range E. The "P" in your tire size stands for "Passenger" Load range C.

If you plan to remove the shell for storage get air-bags. If you plan to mount it full-time have the springs replaced to support 1,500 pounds.(what we did).

The rest of the stock TRD suspension is fine and doesn't need to be replaced.

Happy camping.
 
You will most likely be ok if current tires are c load range and you are diligent about the pressure, keep you speed down. Having said that, you will need to upgrade tires away, so why not do it now. You mentioned air shocks, I've been that route, not a good option. Go with air bags or heavier spring packs. Enjoy
 
I had air bags and E rated tires when I picked up my Eagle on my 2015 TRD Sport. I ended up adding an OME lift with the heavy springs front and back and an extra leaf in the rear to get the ride I liked (I also added ARB front and Aluminess rear bumpers which added to the weight). With just the airbags and camper the truck wallowed on turns and porpoised a little on the highway but you should be able to make it home with what you have if you follow the advice above about taking it easy.
 
At least installing a set of the Firestone Ride-Rite air bags ahead of time would be a good investment.

Then you can dial in the suspension as you go (down the road).

If you show up with a stock truck, stock suspension, and stock tires, you will get home, but the truck will be sagging quite a bit in the rear.

: (



.
 
I have a 2013 Tacoma 4WD with fully equipped Fleet so our set up is not exactly the same but I agree with what others have said that if you remove the Fleet part time install Firestone air bags and if you leave it on full time look at springs or springs and air bags. I would think you would get home ok with stock tires, but you certainly will want to upgrade in the future. I would not suggest an air shock, but you may want to upgrade the shocks and brakes in the future. I have added air bags and upgraded shocks, tires, and brakes on mine and it handles the weight well. If you do not add springs or air bags I would advise you to readjust your headlights with the camper on so that you are not lighting up the tops of trees as the back will sag with the weight. If you add air bags and have a tow package the electrical tow connection bracket is a great place to end your air lines.
 
jcotterman,welcome to the group.After you pick up the camper be sure to post some photos.And take some while they mount the camper.May come in handy in the future.

Enjoy the camping.
Frank
 
This is an exciting time for you . . . . new truck, new camper, new adventures awaiting. Very cool! As others have noted above. I believe you could probably make no changes and be OK, BUT, you will feel much more comfortable if you add the air bags prior to making the trip to NH. Regarding the tire upgrade, here is an idea - the last time I bought a new Tacoma I drove from the Toyota dealer to my local tire guy. He installed the "E" rated tires and sold my stock tires on consignment. I got $450.00 for them, which greatly reduced my out of pocket for the new tires. Just a thought. Congratulations, and we'll be looking for truck and trip photos.
 
Welcome and don't worry! I drove my 2001 Taco home with 2011 Eagle on bad passenger tires and all original truck suspension. That said over time I went with E rated Cooper tires, air bags...very nice to level the load and an extra leaf in the spring. shocks were original. I will say Toyota has good shocks. So enjoy and don't worry...upgrade as you can and you will never regret it. FWC is great.
 
Thanks for the info. This forum is a goldmine.

The 4WC dealer said he could install air bag shocks at the same time as the camper install. $365 + labor.

On tires. The truck currently has P265/70R16 BF Goodrich Tires. The consensus her seems to be upgrade to LT, either now or at the next time to buy tires. The current P265's are practically new and rather than go through the hassles of getting a tire dealer to sell them for me on consignment or doing the craigslist thing, a friend suggested that I get LT's on the rear an keeping the P's on the front. Then I would save the other P's as eventual replacements when the fronts wear out.

So, opinions please on mixing P's and LT's . . . . Thanks
 
jcotterman said:
Thanks for the info. This forum is a goldmine.

The 4WC dealer said he could install air bag shocks at the same time as the camper install. $365 + labor.

On tires. The truck currently has P265/70R16 BF Goodrich Tires. The consensus her seems to be upgrade to LT, either now or at the next time to buy tires. The current P265's are practically new and rather than go through the hassles of getting a tire dealer to sell them for me on consignment or doing the craigslist thing, a friend suggested that I get LT's on the rear an keeping the P's on the front. Then I would save the other P's as eventual replacements when the fronts wear out.

So, opinions please on mixing P's and LT's . . . . Thanks
Click to expand...
Personally,IMO I would just spring for a full set of LT's,instead of just the rears.
Yes it's an added expense ,but one that will make the use of the truck/camper safer.

One more thing, what are the "load rates" of the current tires? They most likely are around 2.200/2.400 pounds load at 40/50 pounds pressure per tire. LT's in the same size may be in that same area. So if you aren't going way off road and maybe just some gravel/dirt roads you should be OK.
IMO I would start with the air bags even have the dealer install them.They will give you better ride/control also with air bags you can adjust them side to side.

Frank
 
I second what Frank said. Airbags first. If you take it easy drive slow on dirt roads you can get by but I'd also wait and buy 4 LT tires. My first were C rated and they were great I have recently gone to E rated. Have a ball and enjoy. It is true this site is goldmine of ideas and people.
 
jcotterman,to further my opinion ,my Bobcat basically the same as your Fleet,was first mounted on a Ford Ranger 2wd.
The truck had a tow package and a factory heavier suspension. The tires were good but would need to be replaced within a year or so of use.,I bought this truck used from a dealer. I think they were only a "p" tire.
I added a set of "supersprings" and new Michelin LT tires,before I picked up the camper. They were a "c"
rated tire so would handle about 2.400# per tire. They worked well for the 2 years I kept that truck traveling about 20K miles. The "old" tires I advertised on Craigslist and sold them right away.

Frank
 
Congratulations on your new Fleet! Welcome to the cult. I know you have been considering this for a while, so I'm glad you finally decided and acted.

I think my story is relevant: I drove my 2007 Tacoma 4WD out to the FWC dealership in Wisconsin to pick up my Fleet. I had fitted the truck with Boss air bags and LT tires before I went. After the camper was installed, I dicovered that my air bag inflation system had developed a serious leak and wouldn't keep the pressure up. I tried driving it about 25 miles without any pressure in the air bags and found it to be UNDRIVABLE, except at low speed. It would have been absolutely UNSAFE to venture onto an interstate highway.

So I undertook "field repairs" and resolved the leak in a hotel parking lot. After that, and for many miles since, the truck has been easy to drive and seems perfectly safe. (I do worry about stopping-distance with all that weight, so I keep my speed down to about 60 MPH.)

Your Prerunner TRD may have an even lower weight rating than my 4WD TRD with the towing package, so the situation may be even worse in your case. I would STRONGLY recommend getting air bags (or a suspension upgrade) before you pick up the camper.

As to the tires, I think you are going to need to get LT tires eventually, so doing it before you get the camper would probably bring peace on mind.

- Bernard
 
I have a Tundra/Fleet. In response to leaving the P's on the front. Before I went to E rated tires when my P's needed to be replaced, I noticed that in braking and turning situations, that the front end seemed to be squishy in response. I assumed that was caused by the sidewalls flexing on the front tires. It was not a comforting feeling having that momentary delay in response and then grabbing. I feel better with the E's.
Gregg
 
You are talking about an 800 mile trip through heavily populate areas including New York, if I am correct, and asked about safely transporting your camper.

IMHO you should look at Torklift StableLoad quick-disconnect lower overloads as a start. They're relatively inexpensive and can be adjusted by a 3/8" ratchet & extension for both unloaded and loaded conditions. If you use their jig to drill the stock helper spring it's a pretty easy install. They will help raise the rear as well increase side-to-side stability.

http://www.torklift.com/index.php/products/suspension/stableload

+ 1 on the airbags vs air shocks. My preference is Firestone.
 
Use the current tires, put on air bags, don't load the camper down with stuff you don't need, and drive easy. Take care of the correct tire pressure to handle the load. High speed and low initial tire pressure are more dangerous than 'most anything else. Upgrade tires when you replace, think about an extra leaf as you drive home with the camper. I found an extra leaf in the rear and Ride Rite bags were very helpful with a Bobcat that was well equipped.
 
You might call Boise Spring Works too and they can do a leaf spring upgrade. They'll know exactly what you need and I think others on this forum have used them.

Kevin
 
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