2003 SR5 with Trailer

[SteveM]

A quick photo of our beach camping rig.

 

[SteveM]

Oops, meant to add this one:

 

[Mark86]

Nice truck. There is something about silver with cladding that makes it look good! In my opinion, best color combination!

 

[SteveM]

Nice truck. There is something about silver with cladding that makes it look good! In my opinion, best color combination!

Thanks!

I thought some of the members asking questions about towing would like to see a 4Runner with a trailer attached. That trailer weighs about 2200 pounds wet and unfortunately has no braking system on it. Other than the lack of brakes, it tows very nicely. The 4Runner seems to be barely working even on longer highway grades. The photos were taken with all our stuff loaded we seem to not be able to live without for a weekend (food, beer, more clothes than I need, firewood, etc).

 

[peter78]

I thought some of the members asking questions about towing would like to see a 4Runner with a trailer attached. That trailer weighs about 2200 pounds wet and unfortunately has no braking system on it. Other than the lack of brakes, it tows very nicely. The 4Runner seems to be barely working even on longer highway grades. The photos were taken with all our stuff loaded we seem to not be able to live without for a weekend (food, beer, more clothes than I need, firewood, etc).

My 2002 Jayco Quest 10X is in the same boat, about 2100 pounds wet and no brakes. My 2001 tows very well with the rig.

I wonder if you tow with the overdrive off or on? I am planning on a big trip out west this summer and I feel a pop up will be a lot easier to tow than a regualr camper. It sure is a lot easier to see behind you with a pop up.

 

[SteveM]

Ours is a Jayco Eagle 10UD. It is made with Dexter torsion bar axles. I was looking into adding brakes and in the process spoke to a Dexter representative. The short answer is that electric brakes CAN be added if the axle set was equipped with a backing plate to mount the brakes (basically, it's just a rectangular flange with four holes in it behind the wheel mounting area).

I don't use OD when we go to the beach as it is only 25 miles or so from home. The manual for a 2003 V-8 states in the section about towing:

" In order to maintain engine braking efficiency, do not use "D" position"

Which is certainly not crystal clear. I would expect that on long flat or near flat stretches OD wouldn't be bad. If the tranny hunts in and out of OD, take it out of OD. If you're headed down a grade OD off is probably better. If you're headed up a grade, it probably won't want to shift there anyway.

I tended to use engine braking by manually downshifting (usually after the CPU did it for me) to prevent further upshifts when I knew I was going to have to slow down further.

(I hope this makes sense to you)

edit: The other great aspect of a tent trailer is that you can stow it in the garage!

 

[04Runnah]

Thanks!

I thought some of the members asking questions about towing would like to see a 4Runner with a trailer attached........

This thing is about 1700 lbs... empty

 

[SteveM]

That's a weird looking mirror on the right fender - what's it for?

I towed our '65 Mustang home on a rented flatbed trailer; the tow vehicle was a 1997 Chevy Astro van. That was an interesting drive home, let me tell you!

 

[04Runnah]

That's a weird looking mirror on the right fender - what's it for?

It is weird looking isnt it? That's actually a real side mirror. It works pretty well. You clamp it over the hood and your set. It's very easy to like or dislike depending on one's taste. Here's another shot I took with my phone from the inside.

 

[rivertrek]

You see those mirrors on the Japanese versions of the Runners. I remember seeing them on a Japanese website for the Surfs, unfortunately I don

 

[04Runnah]

Here are some pics from the 215 SOC... there are the real jdm mirrors...

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5612&perpage=40&pagenumber=1