What is the tow rating of your Taco? To safely tow a 196 you're going to want a tow vehicle with a rating of around 6000 lbs or more. The highest rated Tacos are in that range but most aren't. 

Don't let the RV salesperson tell you that the trailer is Ok because the empty weight is within your vehicle's capability. That empty weight is very misleading, the trailer is going to end up weighing in nearer to its max gross weight, and the max tow rating assumes the truck is empty which of course it won't be, you will have gear and passengers subtracting from the tow capacity. 

 

 

Welcome--

There are no "stupid questions" here.  Just about  any problem or question that you have or can think of probably has been covered.There are are a lot of good people here with literally hundreds of years of combined RV experience.  Everyone is always happy to give advice and try to help.  sometimes there are multiple ideas or answers depending on experience.

 As a new owner, spend the first weekend camping in your driveway. You will learn a lot and start a whole new way to travel and camp.

Safe travels

Vann

If you haven't already done so, most folks here would recommend you get a weight distribution hitch and sway control. You will prefer the  ride, handling and security. There are multiple options, if you do a search on this forum you will find a lot of pros and cons of various alternatives. 

Do you have a brake controller installed in your Taco? You will need one. 

No, you don't need a satellite to watch tv.  There is an antennae already on top of the pod.  somewhere behind the tv is a plate where the cable is connected.  On this plate there is a small red button.  Push the button in, the light comes on and your amplifier is ready.  turn on the tv and do a channel search.  It will find all of the available channels.

Remember to turn the amplifier off when finished.  It is a battery drain, although small,  it is still a drain.

If the campground has cable available, there is a cable hookup somewhere on the outside of the pod that is covered by a black rubber plug.  You should be able to attach a cable from your pod connector to the connector supplied by the campground and the cable feed is complete-maybe!! sometimes, the installer forgets to hook up the end of the cable behind the plate at the tv.  If the cable doesn't work, remove the cable wall plate and connect the incoming cable to the wall plate.

As to the weight distribution hitch, we have used an Equalizer 4 point hitch that has integral sway control.  We use the 6000/600 unit and have used it on 2 different pods with great success.  It makes towing much safer as well as easier.

Good luck and safe travels.

Vann

The stabilizer thing is a weight distribution hitch (wdh), some come with integrated sway control, some have separate sway control. You should get both. When you hang a trailer on your Taco's hitch it pushes the back end down and the front end up, so you end up with less than normal weight on the front axle while the rear axle weight goes up by more than the tongue weight. Neither is good. A wdh has spring bars that you tension up which push the front of the tow vehicle back down. Sway control creates friction that resists the trailer rotating side to side. 

I use a Reese Pro wdh and separate Reese sway control friction bars.  Personally I like to be able to set up the amount of sway control I'm getting independently from the wdh because there are times (twisty mountain roads) where I like to reduce the amount of sway control while keeping the wdh function. Others here like combined systems, its a personal choice. 

For your trailer an 800 or 1000 lb rated wdh would be a good choice. You might want to ask your dealer to install one for you while he's installing the brake controller. 

Good for you to take the time to set up your brake controller and understand its functions yourself. Take the time to understand the instructions and be sure its set up right and you know how to adjust it. It's a critical safety system. I suggest that every time you hitch up you test it by using the manual control to see if the trailer brakes can stop the rig without use of your Taco's brakes. That will test the brake controller as well as the rPod's electric brakes. 

Welcome from eastern OR! Your Tacoma should do just fine pulling that 196 - as long as you have the WDH with sway control (I like the equalizer 4) and you do not have a strong head wind. My WDH kept us straight and true, but a very strong head wind topped our speed at 55 mph on an 80 mph freeway. We had to get off and spend the day in a camp ground waiting for the winds to subside. Only happened once, but made a lasting impression.

I'm sure both of you will listen closely during the walk thru with the dealer; make notes and ask questions. The fact that you've done so much research gives you a good head start on what to ask, unlike my DW and I who nodded a lot and found out by trial and error(s).  All the best, be safe and enjoy the pod life!