For Those of You Who Tow 5K Plus LBS.?

How would you rate your 4Runner towing 5,000 plus?
I am considering purchasing a travel trailer that has an unloaded weight of 5,375 pounds (GVWR 7,000) and I am curious how well the 4Runner will do.
I know it is rated to tow 7,000 pounds with a WD hitch, but do you think the 4Runner is overworked? Too much strain on the drive train?
I am a little paranoid after owning GM transmissions.

Hmmm, the most I have pulled is a bit shy of 4,500 for my boat/trailer combo. I have pulled this with 4 people on board all around my area, which has many steep climbs/decents, and twisty roads and never did I feel as though I was working the truck hard; it never even broke a sweat actually. This was with the 03 V8, 05 V8 should be even better.

For comparison, I pulled the boat with a 2003 Tacoma V6 Dcab a few times, and the 4Runner felt less than 1/2 as burdened. I pulled it out right off a steep beach a few times, just in regular old 4-high, with zero drama and not even a 1/5 throttle. I would not think that another 800 or so lbs would be night and day, but maybe someone that has pulled more weight can tell you for sure

I will be pulling my boat this summer with my new 05 V8 Limited. My boat with the trailer and all of the goodies totals around 5150 Lbs (Truck Scale)

Last year I pulled it just fine with my 02 Pathfinder LE so I figure it should be a cake walk for the 4Runner.

I don't trailer all of the time, but it is nice to have it to take the boat somewhere different (Although so far I can't see me being bored with the Thousand Islands where we keep it)

Towing the boat was one of the reasons I bought the 4R other than the new Pathfinder.

Cheers,

There's a fellow over on the RV.net forum who tows a 28 foot ultralight trailer with his V8 & says it does real well. I can give you some more info on him if you like.

towing with the V8

Hmmm

Well, I towed about 1K miles last summer with my 04 V8. It is my 3rd tow vehicle. I tow a 21 foot ultralite travel trailer about 3900# wet with electric brakes, and a 5600# boat (dry) with surge brakes. My previous tow vehicle was a 99 ML320 (V-6) I traded it for the Runner (my second 4RN) as I sold my old boat (4100#) and the new boat was too much for the V6.


Here are my impressions after one summer compared with the ML.

Travel trailer 4 runner 5 on scale of 10 ML 7 on scale of 10.
Boat 4 Runner 6 on scale of 10 ML 4 on scale of 10.

I must admit that the 4rn has not lived up to my expectations as a tow vehicle. It is a little busy and feels somewhat hindered by the load. It handles it fine...it just feels a little nervous. The ML had very good manners towing and except for power with the heavier load, was a better tow platform. I got two miles to the gallon more towing with the ML than the 4 runner which was surprising as I thought the V8 would do better especially with the lighter trailer

I suspect that the things that make the 4rn a great off road truck and reasonably decent riding truck, are somewhat at odds with the demands of towing with with a weight distributing hitch. The wheelbase, while much better for towing than the earlier generations, is still a little short for big loads and that may also contribute.

Don't get me wrong...it is not dangerous, or uncomfortable, it is just a "seat of pants" feeling.

BTW I think that I would likely rate the boat experience higher if the boat trailer had electric brakes.

I do like the prewiring for a controller and the ease of installing it. I purchased an extra fuse cover from Toyota and mounted the controller to it. I can remove the controller when not towing by unpluging the pig tail and replacing the fuse box cover.

Gary

The "nervous feeling" you had with it is likely the short WB. I purchased the premium hitch on the market - which totally eliminates sway - for this purpose. Have yet to test it as we don't have the trailer yet.

Could be..

I have a pretty good setup, including springbars for both trailers, Sway control is not possible on the boat trailer due to the surge brakes. The "nervousness" that the truck exhibits under towing is not a control issue really, rather a transmission of everything the towed rig is doing to the 4RN. My Mountaineer and ML"rode better when towing. I suspect it may be a result of the more agressive shock dampening of the XREAS suspension than anything else. (Both the ML and the Mountaineer were somewhat softly sprung) BTW the Mountaineer was a POS.

I want to stress that the rig is very stable when towing and handles the load just fine. It is a ride quality issue that makes the first 50 miles or so a little disconcerting, 'till your back and butt get used to the input and you realize that nothing is wrong. The first time I towed with the 4RN I kept thinking I had a flat spotted tire on my trailer. BTW both trailers have tandem axles.

I have been towing one type of trailer or another for over 20 years and have logged thousands of miles with an anchor behind me. I guess that part of me is just used to feeling the trailer behind the rig thru the seat and steering. The 4rn is different enough to create a different feeling.

Hell...probably just an early sign of senility.

Anyway... Love the truck...

Thanks - maybe those of us who haven't towed that much won't know any better! LOL So many things in life are a compromise, and I definately see RVing as being a big example of that. I researched the V8 4R for a year and a half. I wanted something that was a mid-sized SUV, good towing ability, good offroad, good safety features, and high quality.

So how many other SUV's would fit all those categories? But I know that going mid-sized was something of a compromise on account of the shorter WB. Therefore I compensated with a Hensley hitch, which I got used for $1300. People using it all say it totally eliminates sway & squirely behavior.

Over on the RV forum there has been several raging threads about the merits of towing with a smaller vehicle. Those with the big trucks (F250-350, Cummins diesels, etc.) railed against the idea that anything smaller could tow well, and that it was a downright safety hazzard! But some experts on there "testified" that using smaller rigs gave an immediate payoff in the air drag dept., and could be done quite safely - and provided examples where it has been done for many years.

Now there are several people on that forum who are towing larger ulralight trailers (designed specifically for smaller SUVs & trucks) successfully. In fact, many of these smaller rigs have a better weight ratio (truck to trailer) than the monster rigs where the trailers outweigh the tow vehicles by double.

There are things to consider, however, to make sure the smaller rigs are safe. Brakes are a factor, and that's why I choose the Sport 4R with the lager brakes. As I mentioned, I bought the premium hitch to prevent sway. Also have a brake controller that works very well with this combination (Jordan). Lastly I will tow around 62 MPH (for safety & mileage).

I just hated the idea that I would have this huge engine going to waste most of the time when not pulling. Also, a large truck wouldn't be as good offroad. Lastly, a large truck/SUV would not even fit in my garage! The 4R fills that space completly as it is!

Tery,

After some research on this forum it seem that the Hensley hitch is a good idea. I don't have a trailer yet but I am planning on sometimes in the future. For me safety is important so I want to do my research before hand...

I do have some newbie question though. Is this this attach permanently to the trailer? How hard is this to install? Do I need to do any modification on the vehicle end?

I own an 04 4rnr SE v8 4wd and an 07 Silverado Duramax/Allison that replaced an 01 Tundra v8 4wd. I also have a 12' flatbed trailer, 14' Pace cargo trailer and a 17' Vortex toy hauler that weighs about 5k dry. A lot of my towing is over 10k passes to get to my favorite riding areas. I get 5-6 mpg better with the truck then the 4 rnr towing the smaller trailers and wouldn't even consider pulling the toy hauler with the 4rnr. I'm sure the 4rnr could handle it but I don't want to risk the wear and tear on the power train. I don't believe you should ever max out your towing capacity.

HuntRunner said:

How would you rate your 4Runner towing 5,000 plus?
I am considering purchasing a travel trailer that has an unloaded weight of 5,375 pounds (GVWR 7,000) and I am curious how well the 4Runner will do.
I know it is rated to tow 7,000 pounds with a WD hitch, but do you think the 4Runner is overworked? Too much strain on the drive train?
I am a little paranoid after owning GM transmissions.

Click to expand...

I have a 20ft, enclosed car trailer that weighs around 5,200-5,400 lbs (loaded) that I tow with my 4Runner.
I use a weight distributing hitch with dual cam sway control. My trailer has brakes and I use a Prodigy brake controller.
With this setup, my 4Runner has easily handled its towing duties over many different terrains under many different
weather conditions over many 1000s of miles.

Has my 4Runner been overworked? Heck no, it barely breaks a sweat. No engine or transmission problems what-so-ever.
I do agree with others here that a weight distributing hitch and sway control are VERY, VERY important to use with the 4Runner.
Another piece of equipment that is important when it comes to towing with the 4Runner are GOOD Mirrors.
The stock 4Runner mirrors severely lack the ability needed for safe towing when one is towing an enclosed trailer that is wider than the 4Runner.
That is why I purchased a set of McKesh Mirrors. I tried some of the other cheaper towing mirrors out there and they all pale in comparison to the McKesh mirrors.

The following is some of the equipment I use for towing:

Hitch equipment : http://www.reese-hitches.com/produc...ribution_Trunnion_Bar_Kitwith_Hitch_Bar,66084

Mirrors: http://www.hensleymfg.com/mckeshmirrors.html

My Rig: http://www.gti16v.com/miscpics/toy_trailer_2.jpg