towing a gooseneck horse trailer

Hi Julie,
It sounds like you have done your homework.
I can only lend advice not actual experience with a 2023. I have lots of bumper towing experience with a 2010 Tundra with different trailers boat, car, Airstream, and horses all on mountain roads. My truck was once stock and has been modified over the years. You can see what I have done to my truck at the bottom of the page by expanding the down arrow. Knowledge set up and experience is your best friend when towing.

In 2007 when the second generation Tundra 1/2 ton came out Trailer Life Magazine rated the Tundra as a better towing rig than all 3/4 ton gas trucks on the market. That's saying something. Of course all of the other trucks have become better over time but what I am saying is don't be afraid to haul within the limits of your truck as Mike Swears the chief engineer on the third generation Tundra has said "This Tundra will tow better near the limits than the competition". With that being said I will continue first with a question.

Do you already own the Tundra?

Is there an opportunity that you will be hauling larger trailers 3-4 horse trailers?

If you may be hauling heavier I would by pass purchasing a1/2 ton or 3/4 ton and go to a 1 ton with single rear wheels, gas with the largest motor option for a GM or Ford or any of the diesels and there is a lot to know about the diesels cold weather and maintenance.

If you will only be hauling a two horse trailer that will be well within the Tundras ability.

Goose necks and 5 wheels can be a issue with short bed trucks (5.5 ft and 6.5 ft beds) of any brand and I am considering the Tundras 6.5 foot bed a short bed compared to 8 foot long beds offered by the competition, and this is why. It depends on the shape of the front of the trailer you are hauling ( < this shape, verse this | shape of the goose neck hitch area ) allows a lot of turning clearance with the back of the cab of the truck when turning sharp and backing. It is common for trailers with the square body shape (I) shape to hit the back of the cab when turning or in a dip in the road (V) shape. Damaging the truck and trailer. That is why many people prefer 8 ft long beds as the extra length creates more trailer to cab clearance. 8 ft long beds also have a very wide turning radius as a negative.

Tack should be stored in a tack room on the trailer as you would want to keep as much weight as possible in the trailer and not in the cab or bed of the truck. All weight added to the truck (passengers, luggage, saddles, ect.) subtract from the tongue weight. I would stray away from towing an open area stock trailer as the horses can move around verses a horse trailer that you can close the sections keeping the horses standing in their compartment. You have to be very careful with moving weight within a trailer (animals or liquid).

With all of that said The truck is designed to tow to the limits as purchased. In most states you can not change the hauling limits of a truck. However, you can change how the truck handles the loads you carry. You can change the load rating of the tires on the truck to E - rated tires. They also weigh more and subtract from the trucks total load capacity. You can add air bag over load springs (I recommend an adjustable from the cab model, AIr Lift brand is the easiest to install) to the rear suspension and a rear sway bar. These suggestions will change how the truck handles the heavy loads.

Don't let the fear of the hitch installer scare you away from towing within the weight limits of a Tundra. If they are a certified B&W installer it just may be the first time they work with a Gen 3 Tundra, a composite bed, and that all means there is a learning curve.

Hope this information helps.
Trailer on Girl, and Cow Girl Up.

I agree with the comments above. I have not towed a gooseneck, but have towed lots of travel trailers with my Tundra's, and the Tundra's are the best tow vehicle I have every used. The gooseneck gets the hitch point up around the rear axel and that makes the whole rig work better together. And the anti-sway built into the rear suspension works wonderfully. If they are anything like the 07-22 Tundra, it will tow your 2400# fur babies in style and comfort.

BTW, I am not sure if the new rear suspension in the 23+ Tundra has the anti sway built into it or not. It is no longer a leaf spring suspension. In the 07-22 Tundra, they moved the front of the leaf springs out so the sway of the trailer is canceled by the movement of the rear axel, and holy crap, it really works. If anyone knows, it would be nice to understand if they built that into the new geometry of the rear end or what they did for anti sway in the new gen Tundra's.

Either way, I am sure you will enjoy towing with your new Tundra!

juliejorlett said:

You are correct! 1600-1940 payload capacity for the 2023 Tundra.

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Ok, so now you know what question to ask of the horse trailer manufacturer... what is the hitch weight. If you look at gooseneck trailers, you'll see that generally the axles are pretty far to the rear:



Unlike bumper pull hitches, where only 10% of the trailer weight/load should be at the hitch, the gooseneck (and 5th wheel) trailers can have as much as 25% of the total trailer weight at the hitch. If your trailer is 8000lbs loaded, that would be 2000lbs at the hitch. If your truck had a 2000lb. payload capacity, you'd be at your max. But keep in mind that any cargo, fuel, and passengers in the truck take away from your capacity.

All that said, I may be way off base, but it is what I would focus on at this point if I was on your journey... Good luck and let us know what you find out so others can learn.

Danny3737 said:

I think this is a time when just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. You also have to consider your brakes in this as well.

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All due respect to your opinion and not trying to pick a fight or argue or anything like that, but in this case, I think if you can, you should.

This is a video of some guys that tested a Tundra on a cattle ranch using a huge gooseneck, and they clearly pushed the truck well beyond its rated limits, but it does demonstrate the capability of the Tundra to tow a gooseneck. And the opinion of the guys who used this Tundra was that it was superior to the 3/4 ton Fords and Chevy they used, both in terms of how well it towed, and in terms of the required maintenance they had to do to the Tundra vs. the Ford/Chevy.

And my opinion is the same. After towing with Chevy and Ford and Toyota, the Tundra is by far the best truck there is for towing. And I think people are scaring juliejorlett into not using her Tundra for something that it can clearly do and do exceptionally well.

juliejorlett is not overloading the truck. Her plan is to tow a gooseneck well within the rated limits of the truck. And I leave the decision to her to do as she sees best.

Mikecol said:

All due respect to your opinion and not trying to pick a fight or argue or anything like that, but in this case, I think if you can, you should.

This is a video of some guys that tested a Tundra on a cattle ranch using a huge gooseneck, and they clearly pushed the truck well beyond its rated limits, but it does demonstrate the capability of the Tundra to tow a gooseneck. And the opinion of the guys who used this Tundra was that it was superior to the 3/4 ton Fords and Chevy they used, both in terms of how well it towed, and in terms of the required maintenance they had to do to the Tundra vs. the Ford/Chevy.

And my opinion is the same. After towing with Chevy and Ford and Toyota, the Tundra is by far the best truck there is for towing. And I think people are scaring juliejorlett into not using her Tundra for something that it can clearly do and do exceptionally well.

juliejorlett is not overloading the truck. Her plan is to tow a gooseneck well within the rated limits of the truck. And I leave the decision to her to do as she sees best.

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I’m not looking for an argument either, but I installed and worked on a lot of turbo vehicles. Even though they can help produce a lot of power when needed, they aren’t intended to run at optimum speed all the time, but more for supplemental power when needed. That’s why a lot of dedicated Ford people abandoned the F150 when they came out with the Ecoboost. We had a bunch of them come in to our shop with turbo issues and the majority of them were hauling heavy trailers and they pretty much cooked the oil. Only time will tell if the new drivetrain for this truck will stand up to Toyota’s past reliability. Diesels on the other hand produce a lot of torque on their own and don’t need to use the turbos as much. I wasn’t a fan of Toyota dropping the V8 and the one I have now will probably be my last truck from them. Nobody is a bigger Toyota loyalist than me. I have owned over 20 of them over the years with a few going over 400K miles. My first car was a 75 Celica that had the first year 20R motor ( best 4 cylinder ever made IMO ) and I put over 700K miles on it with the biggest repairs being 2 clutches over that period. That car took me coast to coast several times without a hiccup.
Hopefully if she does intend to use the vehicle that way it will serve her well. I did watch the video and would love to see an update when it hits 100K and beyond.

I also have not been a big fan of turbo's either, and also prefer the V-8. I also think they can make a naturally aspirated V-6 or straight 6 that would make about 300 HP, have great torque, and that is plenty for towing. I am getting close to retirement (about 5 years off), so I think I am going to try to get a late model low mileage 5.7L Tundra and I think that will be the last one I need. I am sure I can get 20 years and 300K+ miles out of it so I think I can make it as my last truck.

But I think turbo gas engine technology is changing. My son works for CAT and their engines can run a turbo all day every day without stopping. The only thing that really hurts them is intermittent turbo on/off action. And I think the gas engine world is catching up to the diesel turbo world. Cripes, even snowmobiles are turbo charged now.

I don't know if the new Tundra Turbo engines will last like the non-turbo engines, but if they designed the engine for continuous turbo operation, they should be able to control the oil temps and turbo temps and all that stuff. I am sure they tried, and I am pretty sure there will be some hiccups before they really perfect it, but we shall see.

I drove a 23 Ford Mustang with 2.3L Turbo a few weeks ago, and it ran like a big block V-8. The torque and power it made at 1500-3000 RPM's was impressive. I would never have even looked at a 4 cyl turbo, but after driving that one, I can say I was really impressed. I realize I was not towing with it, and that is a whole different thing to do, but it was like driving an old school 427. But just driving in the mountains and highways I was watching the boost gauge, the turbo was pretty much on all the time. Even on the highway at steady speed it was running some boost. And it came on and off so smooth you could not tell when it was on and when it was off. I was impressed.

Time will tell. But someone has to be the first tow with a Turbo in Alaska and let us know how it works. It might as well be Juliejorlett! Ha.