Shopping for New Tow Vehicle

Originally posted by dlbrownmac I have the 2014 Prerunner V6 with Tow package. How much was the supercharger?

As I recall the SC was about $7,000 installed. I bought the SC from Toyota OEM Part World and the local Toyota dealer installed it. The entire installation was then covered under the 3YR warranty. HOWEVER, 2013 was the last year Toyota would install and guarantee the SC. I had signed and put the deposit on a new 2014, then found out Toyota wouldn't install the SC, although the local manager assured me they would. I had to point out to the local manager he had no control over Toyota corporate. So I got a new end of year 2013. That said, the 2014 engine is identical to the 2013 so the SC should fit, but Toyota will not install and warrant it. Maybe a good third party shop would. The SC itself was around $4500. 

Welcome.  Good point.

It's TFL truck, on YouTube. Very informative and entertaining. 

Originally posted by Rustler Your observation brings up a good point. While overall wheelbase is important, the distance between tow ball and tow vehicle real wheels is a factor. The smaller distance tow ball to TV rear wheels the less leverage the trailer has to induce sway. Some of the SUVs have the rear wheels set relatively far back toward the tow ball, which is a good thing.

That is what I was saying also. For my Escape, the distance between the rear axle and the tow ball is about 3'. On larger vehicles, that distance might be more than twice the distance with the corresponding increase in leverage. That is why I feel quite safe and why I have not experienced any significant sway over about 10,000 miles of towing with the Escape. I feel a gentle nudge when passed by tractor trailers, but nothing significant. For me, it is a good thing to feel it as I had a stroke which took away part of my peripheral vision on the left. The nudge lets me know something is there and to check my mirrors again.

The operative factor here is the ratio of vehicle wheelbase divided by hitch ball distance to the rear axle.  If D is the distance from the ball to the rear axle, this ratio is WB/D. The larger this ratio the less steering by the trailer and the less sway. As D approaches zero the ratio gets very large like on a fifth wheel or tractor/trailer rig.