[mausmobile]

Hi everyone-

New TM owner and this is my first post in the forum, so please be gentle with me.

We recently upgraded from a 14ft popup to a 2007 TM 3023, and we LOVE it. We've taken it on two trips, one across the Rockies, and my husband thinks it tows fine.

Our 4Runner has a 5000 lb tow capacity, and the TM comes in under 4000 lb with our camping stuff loaded inside. I thought we were in good shape. But then I decided to be a good egg and take our rig to the CAT scale. Uh-oh...

Our hitch is rated for 500 lbs tongue weight, and If I calculated everything correctly, we're at 580 lbs! That is with the following:

Two cheapie 6V batteries from Autozone (32 lbs each)
Two full propane tanks
A PVC dump station pipe holder mounted on the tongue
Not a drop of water in the camper

We were hoping to upgrade to standard GC2 6V batteries (an additional 62 lbs) and to be able to carry water. To simulate this, we filled up the 40 gallon water tank and put 60 lbs of exercise weights on the battery box and reweighed. Total weight of the camper was still about 4100, but the tongue weight shot up to 800 lbs! (19.5%)

We can probably get by with the camper in its current configuration. But without decent batteries and at least some water, our boondocking hopes are dashed.

To compound the issue, I've read that we shouldn't use a WDH with the V6 4Runner because the hitch is mounted to a crossmember.

Is there anything else we can do to lower the tongue weight?

Anyone else towing this size TM with a 4Runner?