All Entries in the "Tundra Towing" Category

RV Solar Panel Kit FAQ’s

Believe it or not, there’s such a thing as a solar panel kit for RVs. With a little bit of work, you can install a set of panels on the roof of your RV that will power – or at least help power – all the goodies in your camper. Here are some basic questions and answers from a guest author.

This Sunforce solar panel kit for RVs, boats, etc. can produce as much as 260W of power and costs less than $1,000

Q. What exactly are motorhome solar panel kits?

They are convenient easy to install kits that can convert your motor home to run off of solar power. In each kit you will find a solar panel, a battery to store the solar energy, a charge controller, and an inverter.

Q. Why choose solar power for your RV?

Apart from the savings in money – you don’t have to fuel your gas generator as much nor do you have to maintain it as frequently – solar power makes you more self-sufficient.

Tow-Behind Hybrid Camper Concept Needs Work

Conceptually, the hybrid camper described by Gas 2.0 is a neat idea. You drive to your chosen campground and the camper stores electricity that then allows you to have power to run appliances without needing to hook up to an outlet somewhere. At first blush, the idea seems like a winner…but then reality hits us.

Knaus-Tabber's hybrid camper concept might be a good first step, but there are lots of problems with this idea...

Here’s why the current concept being floated by Knaus-Tabber (the hybrid camper concept manufacturer) seems destined to fail:

Ask TundraHQ: How Much Camper Weight Can My Truck Handle?

We regularly receive questions from readers via our contact form – here’s one that comes up quite a bit about in-bed truck campers and payload ratings.

I have a Toyota Tundra DoubleCab and I’m thinking about buying a 1,482lbs slide-in camper. My question is, What is safest weight I can haul in the bed of my Truck?

Here’s how to calculate your truck’s actual payload rating:

2011 Tundra To Adopt New Trailer Towing Standards

During the last 20 years, the manufacturer-stated maximum tow capacity of the typical half-ton pickup truck has skyrocketed. Take a look at the increase in maximum tow rating for America’s best-selling pickup, the Ford F-150:

As you can see, the F-150’s towing power has increased by 66% over the last 20 years…or at least that’s what Ford says. If you think about all the electronics and improved efficiency – not to mention dramatic improvements in transmissions – it certainly seems plausible that today’s F-150 is 66% better at pulling than it was 20 years ago.

However, there are a couple of reasons to doubt these numbers:

Tundra Towing 101

Most people buy their trucks with a specific purpose in mind. Some people bought their Tundra with the intention of taking advantage of its off-road capabilities, either to hit the trails or maybe take a quiet camping trip into the wilderness. Others wanted to use the cargo bay to haul oversized items, toolboxes, or whatever their jobs might call upon them to do.

There is a third group of people who picked up a Toyota Tundra because they wanted to take advantage of its towing capacity. Pickup trucks usually make excellent tow vehicles due to their strong frames and long wheelbases – two very important aspects of safe towing. Since many of the trailers that are towed by pickup truck owners are quite large, such as boat and camping rigs, it is important to understand some of the basic theory behind proper towing technique in order to be as safe as possible out on the highway.