6000 KM in 3.5 days towing 2000lbs , the saga

pattycakes

pattycakes

New member
Well lets go !!!!!!!! Fort McMurry to Cape Breton , I now know one thing this 4 runner is not a tow beast . I figured 2000 lbs on the hitch with about 300 lbs of cargo and my 270 lbs azz was not much or maybe I am use to my 2 dodge cummins with 800ft/lbs that will tow 15000 lbs with out a sweat. I could not use cruse control for the whole trip as it is so sensitive she would go to 5-6 K RPM trying to keep 110km/h on even moderate hills. I could barley walk for 2 days after the trip due to cramped leg and foot . For real lol. I had to take runs at the hills and let er drag herself down to 70-80 km/h while keeping the gas pedal steady .Not a fun trip I must say .

Revn er on a small bump on the road


17L/100km yes bye !!!!




BUGS !!!!!!!!!!!! Never saw so many , used 9 jugs of bug wash


4 pin came undone and dragged on the road for 500KM , quick fix by the electrician yours truly.



Dohhhh !!!!!!! That's strange , the last time I stopped for gas both of you were covered



Anyone for a flat tire ? Sure why not I'll have one of those too please.


500KM left to go and the gun is out . standing on one leg.


Second best sight in the world the causeway to Cape Breton


First best sight in the world , making it home safely to see my girls on Canada Day
 
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Nice toys! You work in the oil patch?

Anyway, surprised at the fuel economy. Would have expected better than that!

PS- Welcome back to the east coast!
 
Yea, cruise doesn't work when towing. With my tires/lift/weight/altitude, it doesn't work at all. Hopefully you were in 4th as your top gear.

110kms is too fast, need to stay around 100, and 14 mpg (if my math is right) is pretty good. When I pulled a (little over) 5K pound, enclosed utility trailer (aka airbrake) from the east coast to past the continental divide, I think I averaged somewhere around 8mpg.

A 4Runner is never going to pull like a 3/4 ton anything, let alone a tuned CTD
 
Used 5th on the flats and going down hills , this thing has 270 hp and 300 something ft/lbs I believe , it must be at 10 000 RPM lol . I find even without towing anything it kicks down to 4th way too often . sometimes it goes down like it is going into the 4.5 gear or maybe that is the torque converter just unlocking ??

Anyways I know you can't compare it to a cummins but its crazy how it has this much trouble with a trailer half its weight and the cummins can pull twice its vehicle weight and beg for more even in stock form.

I will be towing my travel trailer east doing the same trip again in a month and will be the last vehicle to get across. I will be grossed out at 22K lbs and I will have a smile on ear to ear just lisining to that cummins pull those hills .I won't even turn the radio on the whole way home.
 
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pattycakes said:
Used 5th on the flats and going down hills , this thing has 270 hp and 300 something ft/lbs I believe , it must be at 10 000 RPM lol . I find even without towing anything it kicks down to 4th way too often . sometimes it goes down like it is going into the 4.5 gear or maybe that is the torque converter just unlocking ??

Anyways I know you can't compare it to a cummins but its crazy how it has this much trouble with a trailer half its weight and the cummins can pull twice its vehicle weight and beg for more even in stock form.

I will be towing my travel trailer east doing the same trip again in a month and will be the last vehicle to get across. I will be grossed out at 22K lbs and I will have a smile on ear to ear just lisining to that cummins pull those hills .I won't even turn the radio on the whole way home.
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It is 270 hp at 5600 RPM and 278 at 4400 rpm, with a 3.73 axle ratio and some crazy over drive ratio. Not exactly ideal for towing, it is setup to score well on EPA numbers for grocery getters.

I just pulled my trailer from Denver to Fruita (lots of long, steep grades and 10K+ passes) last weekend and spent a lot of time in 2nd gear near redline. It's not fun or comfortable, but it gets the job done. Coolant and AT temps never went high and I never had to turn on my flashers.

You will feel/see RPMs go up while still in 5th and 4th gear as the torque converter unlocks. If it is unlocking, you're better off just dropping a gear in S mode.

Time for a supercharger and 4.56 or 4.88 (whichever ratio Nitro is making for the 5th gen) gears
 
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Honnestly, 3.5 k on the RPM is not bad at all, if you think about it from the prospective of the motor working at fifty percent of what it can do....
sure its not fun and 3.5k is high rpm compared to a tuned CTD truck, but those morots rev lower anyways...
my little reg cab 4x4 taco and I did a nice trip from Salt lake city north to Idaho, like way north almost on the boarder of Alberta.
that little 2.7 was not winning any races and was getting about 14-15 MPG but but it didnt miss a hitch pulling about 3000 pounds... mind you it was a manual, so i had more control. These trucks will do it, but towing is not their first job thats for sure

anways, thanks for the pictures, it was good for a laugh glad the trip went safely
 
Makes you wonder how many people on this forum would have bought a turbo diesel if they offered one. I'm definitely one of them.
 
Thanks for the info on towing...I'm in Alberta myself.

Been browsing this forum for a bit and we've been looking at 2013 or 2014 4Runner to replace our current cx-9

Really like the vehicle, but without any more real HP or torque than the mazda, I was wondering how it would handle with a 3-3500 lb trailer...

Although it would probably handle the shorter trips, I'm not sure I'd want to head too far in the rockies.
 
U4IA said:
Thanks for the info on towing...I'm in Alberta myself.

Been browsing this forum for a bit and we've been looking at 2013 or 2014 4Runner to replace our current cx-9

Really like the vehicle, but without any more real HP or torque than the mazda, I was wondering how it would handle with a 3-3500 lb trailer...

Although it would probably handle the shorter trips, I'm not sure I'd want to head too far in the rockies.
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It's all about comparison. I have pulled with only V6's for the last 20 years. The 4Runner does just fine compared to other V6 trucks and SUV's. Several months ago I pulled a 4K lb trailer over 2000 miles through the mountains. It did just fine using "S" mode, got 11 mpg and ran 65 mph on the interstate. Key is keep it out of 5th gear.

Now, if you are like the OP and comparing apples to oranges like the 4Runner V6 gas engine to a 3/4 ton Dodge Cummins Turbodiesel that is built to pull heavy trailers then yeah, the Dodge wins.

A Nissan GTR is faster around curves than a Dodge Diesel though....sorta like comparing that truck to the 4Runner for towing.
 
1engineer said:
It's all about comparison. I have pulled with only V6's for the last 20 years. The 4Runner does just fine compared to other V6 trucks and SUV's. Several months ago I pulled a 4K lb trailer over 2000 miles through the mountains. It did just fine using "S" mode, got 11 mpg and ran 65 mph on the interstate. Key is keep it out of 5th gear.

Now, if you are like the OP and comparing apples to oranges like the 4Runner V6 gas engine to a 3/4 ton Dodge Cummins Turbodiesel that is built to pull heavy trailers then yeah, the Dodge wins.

A Nissan GTR is faster around curves than a Dodge Diesel though....sorta like comparing that truck to the 4Runner for towing.
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Agreed. Never owned V8 or diesel trucks, and I find the 4runner doing a very good job, IMO, towing up to 5000lbs. Sure you can feel the trailer, but I kinda like that feeling anyway, and you have to stay in S mode, where the 5th gear will only serve you on flat lands.
 
I commend those that tow 5000lbs with it , I suppose short trips wouldn't be bad , I wouldn't even consider it for a trip like I just did though.

I don't drive the 4runner much as I bought it for the wife I might of put 100Km on it at the most before doing this trip , but one other ting I noticed with it is when you start it up and put it in gear it pushes alot and wants to take off on you and you have to be aware and on the brake like it is in high idle or something ( but its not according to the tach) and seems to get better as it warms up . anyone else notice this with their's . My father has an 09 toco and it does it even worse.
 
Trans Canada , went through Northern Ont. instead of down by the lakes as it has less hills , and as we all know less hills for the 4Runner the better. Never even kept my gas receipts , I don't even want to know what it cost as it was an average of $1.40 /liter the whole way across . Had to use my emergancy jerry can once as I tryed to strech out a tank one time . I was getting tired of stopping every 3-4 hours to fill up. Was ony getting 400 KM out of a tank at best.
 
On second thought , maybe I should of went through Detroit and then my 2 sea doos would of dissapeared and I wouldn't have to worry about towing that extra weight anymore. :uzi:
 
Towing our big-ass camper with our T4R worked much better when I just left it in 4th gear. Until I hit 115 km/h it didn't use more gas, cruise control was fine, and while louder, it's no longer hunting for gears unless you hit a moderately steep incline.

Dual VVTi engines are funny things that way, and all Toyota engines traditionally like to rev higher than competing designs, in fact, they're designed to do that. In return, they don't guzzle gas the same way when run that way. It's not an American (or Windsor) V8, and it's not an inline 6 turbo diesel, so don't drive it like one.

Heck, even my Tundra really really likes doing stuff at 4000 rpm, but unless there is a lot of stuff in the back, maintaining traction becomes challenging. With stuff in the back, maintaining stuff in the back becomes challenging.

Just sayin'.
 
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