6x12 Trailer Phx to Seattle 12/28

bypass

Is your transmission cooler in-line with the one in the radiator? Or did you bypass the radiator?
My opinion:
I bypassed the rad, as my truck has never had the rad replaced. Lots of members have different opinions--- I do believe if you bypass the rad then one external cooler probably isn't enough if you're towing heavy loads. Probably the best idea is to install an external (the one you chose is the best, as I think it has a cold bypass internally) and not bypass the rad, but replace the rad. If you search "strawberry milkshake" you'll see why. These trucks aren't new, so if you're running the original rad, replacing it is cheap, compared to a new tranny. Some guys are of the opinion you should bypass, and use 2 coolers-- possibly with a fan with a thermo switch. The tranny fluid should be at or around 160C for normal operating temp. and running the fluid through the rad brings the fluild up to temp faster and regulates the temp. In cold climates, running externals (without internal cold bypass) may not allow the fluid to reach operating temps. under normal loads. Many have done different combinations over the years... I personally, live in a climate with hot Summers and cold Winters, so ultimately, my goal for next year, is to continue with my external and install a second cooler with a thermo switched fan (and cold bypass like the B+M)--- I plan on a long distance boating holiday, next year.
 
What a drive!! We got into Seattle last night. We left really early Saturday morning. Stopped in Nor Cal for a nights rest just before Redding. The truck did absolutely amazing! Never had a single issue. I ran it about 60% in OD and 40% with OD off. With the OD on the sweet spot was about 69 mph. It pulled great and there were times I forgot it was back there. The OME suspension handled so nice. The trailer never bounced around. My rear end only sank 1.75 inches. Going through the hills between California and Oregon were tough. I Had to crawl in second gear around 47mph. I am truly amazed to be here and in shock a little bit. Here are the numbers:
1521.7 miles
11 gas stops, avg gas was $3.54 a gallon
12.63 mpg
$430 total gas cost.
I think trailer was about 3500#.
 
If you plan on towing more I'd recommend no OD at all. If you talk to transmission guys they say no OD when towing. The OD is really a weak point and if you tow in OD you are likely to strip it out and total your trani. Good luck glad you guys made it safe and sound!
 
3500lbs sounds more realistic, in your first post you mentioned 1300lbs or so, and I know my 5x10 Single Axle enclosed weighs 1250+ Empty. I know the 4runners can tow, but I keep about 700lbs of items in my 5x10, so roughly 1800 to 1900 lbs and my 01 doesn't like it that well.. alot of shifting. I suppose I will start towing with OD Off, from what I read on here? Not sure. I drive about as easy as one could drive when towing.

What a drive!! We got into Seattle last night. We left really early Saturday morning. Stopped in Nor Cal for a nights rest just before Redding. The truck did absolutely amazing! Never had a single issue. I ran it about 60% in OD and 40% with OD off. With the OD on the sweet spot was about 69 mph. It pulled great and there were times I forgot it was back there. The OME suspension handled so nice. The trailer never bounced around. My rear end only sank 1.75 inches. Going through the hills between California and Oregon were tough. I Had to crawl in second gear around 47mph. I am truly amazed to be here and in shock a little bit. Here are the numbers:
1521.7 miles
11 gas stops, avg gas was $3.54 a gallon
12.63 mpg
$430 total gas cost.
I think trailer was about 3500#.
 
OD off and the 4runner pulls really well. I only put it in OD on flats or down hill. To prevent constant shifting I would put it in second around 50 mph on large hills. I'm really surprised it did as well as it did. I have pictures I'll upload when I get unpacked
 
Here are some photos with the trailer on the 4Runner. All these were taken the morning we left when we were gassing up both vehicles around 5AM. As you can see the OME 906s and 60028 shocks handled the weight really well. I measured the drop at the hitch to be 1.75 inches.
 

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Welcome!

Glad your trip went well! I wish I had your rims (the brake upgrade fits under them) and I like the colour.
I see in your post you have OME906's... that is one of my future projects... I've heard they're slightly taller and stiffer than OEM but good for towing. The towing part, you've confirmed, can you comment on the stiffer, harder ride--- I use my truck as a family hauler and DD when I'm not hauling the boat in the summer... my Wife complains it has a stiff ride unloaded! Option 2: I'm considering going with OEM shocks and adding airbags for towing--- as long as the springs haven't sagged too much.
Again Welcome to the PNW, hope you don't mind the grey clouds and rain the PNW is known for, over the Winter months! (we've actually had an unusually dry Winter so far!) During your down time, and maybe you want to get the most out of the 4runner, there is so much to see and do here. Great skiing, awesome lakes and great back-country off-roading, not to mention the coast--- check out Olympic National Park, in the summer, and the coast from Cape Flattery South. Have fun!
 
Glad your trip went well! I wish I had your rims (the brake upgrade fits under them) and I like the colour.
I see in your post you have OME906's... that is one of my future projects... I've heard they're slightly taller and stiffer than OEM but good for towing. The towing part, you've confirmed, can you comment on the stiffer, harder ride--- I use my truck as a family hauler and DD when I'm not hauling the boat in the summer... my Wife complains it has a stiff ride unloaded! Option 2: I'm considering going with OEM shocks and adding airbags for towing--- as long as the springs haven't sagged too much.
Again Welcome to the PNW, hope you don't mind the grey clouds and rain the PNW is known for, over the Winter months! (we've actually had an unusually dry Winter so far!) During your down time, and maybe you want to get the most out of the 4runner, there is so much to see and do here. Great skiing, awesome lakes and great back-country off-roading, not to mention the coast--- check out Olympic National Park, in the summer, and the coast from Cape Flattery South. Have fun!

Thanks for the welcome! I am really happy to be up here. I enjoyed living in Arizona, but this climate is more my type. I can't wait to get settled so I can get out and start to explore my new home. The OME 906 are stiff, very stiff. I enjoy the ride. I feel more planted on the road and I have no problem taking large bumps and potholes with these springs. They are also a progressive spring so they handle weight really well. With the loaded trailer it never bounced at all. On dips the trailer would dip down and then right back up. There was no springing up and down so the trailer was always in control. I heard what makes them so stiff is 60028 "comfort shocks." If you pair them with Bilsteins you might get a more forgiving ride. To give you an idea, I am a decent sized guy at 6'3" and I can only push the back down of the 4Runner at max 1/4 inch. I have no experience with the air bags. I almost went the stock spring rout with airbags but I am 100% happy with this set up. Off road it works awesome too.
 
Glad you made the trip without any problems. And thanks for all the info you put up on here, it answered a lot of questions I had about towing.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the detailed feedback! Glad you're happy with Seattle, its a beautiful city with some very picturesque lo-cals. Wash., Oregon, Idaho all have lots to see... Lots of places to 4x4! Don't overlook Canada--- Vancouver is fantastic and the mountains North and East provide endless natural beauty and great 4x4 territory!! My neck of the woods!!

Check out: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/116034-**rickashays-wheeling-pics-thread**.html

I visited your garage and noticed you bought your 4runner in Sedona. I took my family there in the summer 2012, very beautiful area! We all loved AZ!
Good luck, Happy New Year!
 
If you have any questions about the area, just ask. I was born and raised here, so I should be pretty familiar with things.
 
If you have any questions about the area, just ask. I was born and raised here, so I should be pretty familiar with things.

Thanks! Getting around is much harder than in Arizona so that has been quite the adjustment. Also parking is new for me. We have wide open spaces in Arizona and plenty of parking but living in Lower Queen Ann I have to drive around looking for places to parallel park. I would love to do some off roading in a month or two once I am settled more so if you know of a group or if you head out let me know I would love to join!
 
Thanks! Getting around is much harder than in Arizona so that has been quite the adjustment. Also parking is new for me. We have wide open spaces in Arizona and plenty of parking but living in Lower Queen Ann I have to drive around looking for places to parallel park. I would love to do some off roading in a month or two once I am settled more so if you know of a group or if you head out let me know I would love to join!

Yeah, depending on where you live parking can be a real pain. Our last mayor to try and encourage more people to use public transportation, made parking even more of a pain. Problem is that our public transportation system, while getting better, still blows.

If you're in Queen Anne check out a place calle Toulouse Petit. Pretty good place for dinner and they do a good weekend brunch too.

Keep an eye on this thread for potential meet ups. We're definitely overdue for one.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/97531-seattle-area-maintenance-meet-83.html
 
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Glad your trip went well! I wish I had your rims (the brake upgrade fits under them) and I like the colour.
I see in your post you have OME906's... that is one of my future projects... I've heard they're slightly taller and stiffer than OEM but good for towing. The towing part, you've confirmed, can you comment on the stiffer, harder ride--- I use my truck as a family hauler and DD when I'm not hauling the boat in the summer... my Wife complains it has a stiff ride unloaded! Option 2: I'm considering going with OEM shocks and adding airbags for towing--- as long as the springs haven't sagged too much.

Sounds like we use our runners for similar purposes!
Mine is also the daily family hauler and I tow my boat around your neck of the woods in the summer (Naramata). That said, last year I installed OME 906's with blistien HD's and it's the best upgrade I've done! The ride isn't harsh at all, they actually make the truck feel more planted in corners. Can't speak for the air bag route but I'm certainly happy (as is the wife) with the OME's.
Cheers
 
So glad this came up, I plan to start looking for a 16' or maybe even a 18' car hauler. I currently have 2 cars I need to move that don't run (heck the MB is only 4 parts anymore). Plus having to drop $100 or more on a tow when I buy projects/parts cars is annoying. Big difference is I don't have a external trans cooler or a lift. I will invest in the cooler if we truly buy a hauler, and I intend to replace all my bushings with poly bushings (old stuff is wearing out so why not). So am I an idiot to think my 02' can pull a 16-18' hauler with another runner on it? Big reason I want to know is the fact we have to move soon. At this point we don't know if we are just going up north to the Winslow area, or making the long move to Tennessee. If we can tow everything in one shot (between me in the 02' and a friend in a uhaul truck) then we will really consider Tennessee.
 
So glad this came up, I plan to start looking for a 16' or maybe even a 18' car hauler. I currently have 2 cars I need to move that don't run (heck the MB is only 4 parts anymore). Plus having to drop $100 or more on a tow when I buy projects/parts cars is annoying. Big difference is I don't have a external trans cooler or a lift. I will invest in the cooler if we truly buy a hauler, and I intend to replace all my bushings with poly bushings (old stuff is wearing out so why not). So am I an idiot to think my 02' can pull a 16-18' hauler with another runner on it? Big reason I want to know is the fact we have to move soon. At this point we don't know if we are just going up north to the Winslow area, or making the long move to Tennessee. If we can tow everything in one shot (between me in the 02' and a friend in a uhaul truck) then we will really consider Tennessee.

What part of Tennessee? Reason I ask is because the eastern part of the state can have some pretty hilly, and even mountainous terrain that would absolutely suck to be towing another 4Runner with your 4Runner. Towing a 4Runner + car hauler, you're going to be well over the 5,000lbs limit. Are you supercharged?
 
What part of Tennessee? Reason I ask is because the eastern part of the state can have some pretty hilly, and even mountainous terrain that would absolutely suck to be towing another 4Runner with your 4Runner. Towing a 4Runner + car hauler, you're going to be well over the 5,000lbs limit. Are you supercharged?

I have a friend (same friend that would drive the Uhaul) out in Chattanooga, so we would be looking around there. And unfortunately I am naturally aspirated, forgot to mention that, my bad. So it sounds like I need to buy and truck (like a dully) just to tow with.... lame.
 
I have a friend (same friend that would drive the Uhaul) out in Chattanooga, so we would be looking around there. And unfortunately I am naturally aspirated, forgot to mention that, my bad. So it sounds like I need to buy and truck (like a dully) just to tow with.... lame.

I think towing that much with a 4Runner would completely suck, coming all the way from Arizona to southeastern Tennessee. You would have serious problems going around the ridgecut in Chattanooga along I-24. Especially not having a supercharger, an external transmission cooler, or the Tundra brakes upgrade, I wouldn't make that haul with my 4Runner.
 

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