Mods for towing horse trailer

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Bwaaw hahahahah!

A gooseneck or 5th wheel on a a Tundra! Hahahaha. Thanks for the laugh. Been there, done that.

Get a Ford F350, GM 3500, or Dodge 3500 and be done with it. Nothing worse than scraping 3 horses, a familly, and 50 pounds of Toyota steel off the side of a cliff.
 

Ghillie_Ohio

Observer
I won't need a goose neck . But , when Lindsey gets out of vet school i'm sure she will have to go with a goose neck . Which means a ford or chevy . Its going to be challenge to find a used tundra with the right axel for me . The tundra won't maxed out with two horses unless your talking v6 . The 5.7L is plenty for bumper trailers and two horses . Now if you go with 3 horse or more , yes . Plus i won't be hauling draft horses like Lindsey .
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
I won't need a goose neck . But , when Lindsey gets out of vet school i'm sure she will have to go with a goose neck . Which means a ford or chevy . Its going to be challenge to find a used tundra with the right axel for me . The tundra won't maxed out with two horses unless your talking v6 . The 5.7L is plenty for bumper trailers and two horses . Now if you go with 3 horse or more , yes . Plus i won't be hauling draft horses like Lindsey .

The Tundra I drove didn't have enough brake, spring, and shock for 2 horses. Plenty of engine, but that soft suspension handles terrible with load.
 

Dirtytires

Explorer
Find a old diesel or duelly to pull em. That is a lot of weight to pull. Pulling may not be the problem. Stopping is a pain..
 

Ghillie_Ohio

Observer
I was waiting on the major truck mfg. to come out with diesel trucks . But talking to my mechanic the diesel truck is out . The addition of pollution controls has made diesel cost prohibited and a pain to work on . I agree that a new truck off the lot doesn't have the best brakes , etc . But then again i would rather choose after market to fill my needs . I have not a search on finding a use truck that has trailer with sway control being integrated into the truck . Toyota tundra has one of better resell values of all the truck mfg. The good thing about Lindsey future truck is ability of getting a decent truck for starting out on her vet practice . Not cheap after spending 8 years in school and having to spend a few thousand dollars for a mobile vet truck .
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Real trucks don't need sway controls or weight distro hitches or any of that garbage. That's just a bunch of band-aids for little 1/2 ton trucks. The Tundra just isn't enough truck. Period. That Truck's a great truck for people that really don't haul anything at all. Maybe a 16' travel trailer or some jet ski's or something. No matter what the manufacturers rating says, 8000 pounds behind a Tundra is a white knuckle ride. There are no effective aftermarket kits to get these trucks to where I'd recommend them for 2 horses or more.

Just not enough spring or brake. Not even close. I know the Tundra's and F150's come overrated with 10,000 pound trailer ratings. Don't fall for that. There is no such thing as perfect lab conditions. One windy rainstorm has sent plenty of 150's flying through the air when thier ultralight 25' travel trailer, that was well within the GCVWR, caught a gust of wind.

(Do Tundra's even come with E rated 3300+pound 80 psi tires?)

Look at the pro's trucks. 1tons with regular factory hitches and pintle ball mounts. Maybe airbags added for extra stability. Proper trailer and truck setup negates the need for sway control, (which deosn't work anyways). I can get some pic's of my setup on my personal truck or work trucks if you want.


The True Control Gold is the best trailer brake controller I've used yet. I've had great luck towing with E rated GY SA's, BFG ATKO's, and Cooper M&S's.

I'll be sweating bullets towing 2 horses with my 1ton, and I passed a F350 SRW on the road pulling 3 horses in a tandem axle trailer a couple hours ago. That truck was sweating and squating. (I'm in Ashland Ohio, horse country)

The new 2012 6.2L gasoline F350's are very promising. I get about 16mpg with my 5.4L. I wouldn't bother looking at the glass tough diesels either unless you want to go all the way up to a heavy guzzler 450/550. 2005+ Ford Superduties are everwhere quite cheap. Get a gas one, rebuild the engine and transmission. Do the brakes yourself. And you have one monster of a truck for dirt cheap (compared to slightly used trucks with questionable engines, or the new $$$ trucks).
 
Last edited:

CodyY

Explorer
5.9 cummins, 7.3 PSD, or a Dmax 3/4 ton. Preferably a dually

Anything less is a safety hazard to you and everyone around you.



Ever notice why cowboys drive HD trucks and not 4cyl Tacomas?
 

Ghillie_Ohio

Observer
thanks for heads up on brake controller . What would suggest for after market brakes ? Thoughts air suspension hitch or goose neck with air bags , opinion .
 

TCcruzn

Observer
Since the OP seems determined to ignore well earned common sense, I suggest a visit to any county fair, rodeo or horse show and see what people who tow horses frequently are using. You won't see any Taco,s hardly any 1/2 tons, some 3/4 tons and alot of duallies. There aren't enough after market accessiories to reinvent the laws of physics. Remember you are hauling live cargo, which comes with a higher level of responsibility than pulling a couple jet skiis, especially if they are someone elses horses.
 

rxinhed

Dirt Guy
Here is a basic Searchtempest.com search of the Craigslist and Ebay ads near you. You've been given some good advice and still appear to be ignoring the content that a 1/2-ton is not a horse towing truck. Resale doesn't matter after the truck has been killed and abused. Please be kind and use some thought beyond your precious resale and aftermarket brake setups...it's still a 1/2-ton.

Searchtempest URL:
http://www.searchtempest.com/results.php?location=45801&maxDist=125&region_us=1&search_string=dually&keytype=adv&Region=na&cityselect=zip&page=0&showeb=1&category=8&subcat=sss&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

Our concerns are:
1. your potentially adverse effect on the public safety,
2. the safety of you and yours,
3. livestock and property

:exclaim:
 

Erik N

Adventurer
I have to believe that any horse vet who shows up in a makeshift vehicle will be laughed off the ranch. Really, do you think seasoned owners would trust the heath of their livestock to someone who obviously shows no common sense?

Good luck to both of you. Seems like you might need it...
 

Ghillie_Ohio

Observer
their is big difference between a ranch and a farm . The only time you see duallies is in area has Large race horse farms (which we don't) . You do see more f250 or 350 then anything else . Once in while a duallie . Lindsey is not going to be dealing with livestock as cattle is not widely raised around here . I don't think she is going to be working with race horses . More likely the amish and the one or two horse owner . The most you see is people with 6 or less horses . I do plan to go to quite a few horse shows coming up . locally . Most people don't have the 4 or 6 horse trailers . Maybe a 4 . Then if resell is not important their is no sense in buying a new truck . You have to cater to your area .
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
I have to believe that any horse vet who shows up in a makeshift vehicle will be laughed off the ranch. Really, do you think seasoned owners would trust the heath of their livestock to someone who obviously shows no common sense?

Good luck to both of you. Seems like you might need it...

Good point. We considered the Mercedez, Nissan, and Freightliner vans as service vehicles a while back. But noone would take us seriously if we drove those POS's. We're expected to be gear heads in my profession, seeing some soft floppy van pull up was a serious point made during our descision.

I wouldn't let my Horse ride behind a Tundra or F150 either. People love thier animals, and if these same people are allready hauling them around with a F350 CC DRW, they aren't going to be too keen to see a little Tundra pull up.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
their is big difference between a ranch and a farm . The only time you see duallies is in area has Large race horse farms (which we don't) . You do see more f250 or 350 then anything else . Once in while a duallie . Lindsey is not going to be dealing with livestock as cattle is not widely raised around here . I don't think she is going to be working with race horses . More likely the amish and the one or two horse owner . The most you see is people with 6 or less horses . I do plan to go to quite a few horse shows coming up . locally . Most people don't have the 4 or 6 horse trailers . Maybe a 4 . Then if resell is not important their is no sense in buying a new truck . You have to cater to your area .

Good idea checking out the show first. Ask around there. People love talking trucks. (Keep in mind that there are going to be some yahoo's and cheap bastards there, ignore their opinions)

Pretty sure in Ohio I can only tow 10,000 pounds on a regular license. Possibly why we don't see any 4 horse trailers with 4 horses in them.
 

Ghillie_Ohio

Observer
I'm pretty sure you need a cdl if you use a goose neck trailer here in ohio . I looked on auto trader web page . Most trucks that might work are 500 miles + and are more than 5 years old . The few duallies i do see are students at Northwester auto diesel school . I agree on the yahoo's . I have friend who's twin sons are diesel mechanics . Dad finally had to buy a new f250 truck as the two boys are married and don't live close . Old dependable finally saw its last days .
 

Forum statistics

Threads
190,189
Messages
2,924,885
Members
233,522
Latest member
Petersmithinak
Top