That living lite toy hauler is fantastic. Am checking it out myself to pull with my Ford Expedition.

 

Slagle Rock, I just stumbled upon the site I was trying to tell you about. Take a look at VRV toyhaulers.com. Not sure if these will fit your expectations but they seem to be an affordable alternative to others.

 

X2 on the livin' Lite toy haulers. I'm pretty much ready to get one that is probably 6x19, and will tow it with a V-6 Toyota Tacoma. For the original poster....Do yourself a favor and look at the livin' Lites. They are made of almost entirely aluminum and not a single piece of wood in them. They are pricey, but will be perfect for you.

 

OP, I have a 2008 Keystone passport TT style toyhauler that would look and feel very similar to the Livin' lite hauler posted above. The first trip was from Wisconsin to Sturgis with two touring bikes in it, putting our weights at the max of the trailer at 8000#'s. Towed it with an 05 GMC crew cab 1500 with the 5.3. To say that the travel time spent on the road sucked with this setup would be an understatement. Pulling any type of grade pulled the transmission down into 2nd gear with the pedal mashed to the floor...any headwind was the same situation. Had several tanks of gas that maybe pulled 4 miles to the gallon. Overall mpg was at best 6. Part of the problem is in the gearing, half tons generally are geared to get better gas milage.

Also had a problem with the trailer wagging the truck. Some of that can be fixed with a sway controlling equalizer hitch, but between the softer tires and suspensions of the half tons your still gonna get the wag. Hanging the weight of the bike(s) off the rear of the trailer like the toy haulers do contributes to trailer sway.

The next trip was made with the same trailer but with an 09 Chev 2500 CC with the duramax diesel. Don't need the diesel to pull this trailer but we are looking to upgrade to a bigger trailer someday so we didn't want to be upgrading both at the same time. I can tell you that fuel mileage was greatly improved and the handling was superior with the 3/4 ton, stiffer suspension and tires were a big help...could hardly tell the trailer was behind us...set the cruise and went.

I guess my recommendation would be that ANY toy hauler that is gonna have a tourer or two in it should be pulled with a 3/4 ton truck. The weights of a TH are gonna be high enough to warrant it. It will make for a happier trip.

 

I was in the same boat.1/2 ton chevy with 5.3 .towing 8klb tt.
Towed good.Sucked up gas bad and hills were hard on the truck and trans.
Bought a Gmc 2500 Duramax.And just a dream to tow with.

We are now looking for a big toyhauler like a 35 to 40 ft.So many out there .
With my truck being lifted is a challenge to find the right one.

 

I was thinking the samething.
I would be conserend about the rear axles and diff.

 

Like others said, the 1/2 ton truck is just not good enough to pull a toyhauler loaded.You will hate it. Once I upgraded t a 3/4 ton, driving was safer. Been there, done that. Don't listen to the salesman.
I have since upgraded to a dually and a triple axle Raptor. Sooooooo much better. A fifth wheel is so much easier to hook up, not so much labor.
There is some 5th wheel trailers out there for a 1/2 ton. You can buy a hitch that has a removeable hitch. http://www.turnoverball.com/products...th-wheel-hitch . This is what I have.
Trailer tires are a whole different chapter..........

 

livin lite seems to be the litest, then the work n play...you will be pushing the capacity of the truck...i am in the begining stages of looking also and still haven't bought a truck...will wait until i get really close to getting the trailer...

 

Question 1: Are you going to use the RV? A lot of people think they will, but wind up using it once a year, but the payments are coming every month. When we decided to get a larger RV, we looked around for about a year, until we found the one that someone wanted to get out from under (payments). We bought the 06 Raptor for 20K, and it was in perfect condition. The point being, look around for a while. There is a deal to be had. There is a lot of garbage out there, too. Do your research on what to look for when inspecting a RV for a potential buy. MOST important..... Momma's got to be comfortable, and have her privacy, and so do the kids. If everyone is bunched up, no room, life is going to be miserable.
We had a 3/4 ton PSD, and did the same thing as the RV, looked around for a while for the right one at the right price, and found our dually. It wasn't new, but it was super clean, low milage and cost 1/3 of a new one.
Enjoy!

 

To the OP, just be prepared to pay big time for fuel. When I had my bumper pull toy hauler my one ton duallie went from 10 MPG down to 4 MPG when pulling it. The cost of gas for the 454 big block really cut into my travel budget!