New member debating purchase - Looking for opinions.

J

jglenn6

New member
Yay! 15 posts down, countless more to go.

So, I’m looking into purchasing my first 4runner. I’m coming from a 98 Silverado 1500 extended cab and am wanting more room. I rarely use the bed for anything besides taking my mountain bike to and from the trails, so that is no issue. My issue comes with pulling a trailer. I own a 1972 El Camino that I have done a full restoration to, and want to be able to pull it without much concern. I have an open twin axle car trailer that I will use making the total weight near the 7,000 pound tow limit. Now, I’m not looking to pull it any extreme distances (no more than 200 miles), because I have access to a 2500 Duramax that I can use whenever I want, but I don’t want to be dependent on that truck whenever I want to take my car on vacation somewhere. I would pull it maybe twice a year.

What is the heaviest weight you have pulled with your 4runner without any issues?

If I get one, I want to put a 3” lift on it. Would adding air bags on the back help with pulling, or should I just get a truck and save up for a runner down the road?

I’m looking into a 4th gen runner with the V8 AWD set up. Should I look into a different version? My budget is $15k

Thanks,
Jody
 
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I have a 99 runner and I hauled a 19ft 3500lbs trailer from Colorado to Oregon. 44runner had 187,000 miles on it and did fine. There were many times when I wished I had a supercharger or a v8 but it actually did just fine all 3 days of driving.

A few months after that it did need new valve cover gaskets. And I was pushing the V6 many times during the drive. Dunno if that is related. All in all I was super impressed. However I probably won't ever do that again just to be nice to my truck. That engine is mean and I wanna keep it purring long as I can.
 
Thinking back, there was 1 hill in particular where I bogged down to about 30mph instead of the posted 65. Majority of the hills it would drop to about 45 and climb steady. If you are not a skilled driver (i used to drive big rigs professionally) then you want more power for a 3500lbs load, it will be safer and less nerve racking.

If I'm not mistaken the 3rd gen 4runners are rated for about 3200 or 3500 max towing capacity. Hope this helps.
 
I'm looking for a 4th gen too. I thought they were rated for 5000# for the V6 and 7000# for the V8. Am i wrong?
 
To clarify; my 4runner that I pulled the 3500lbs trailer with is a V6 3.4L, 3rd generation (1999) that had 187,000 miles when I pulled the trailer from Colorado to Oregon.

I am not sure what the 4th gen's tow capacities are but figured some first hand experience in the subject even tho a 3rd gen V6, could still be useful info for curious buyers of any 4runner. Happy vehicle hunting.
 
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Looking to buy, talk me out of it?

I'm new to this and just drove a 2006 SR5 today. I got the dealer down to 7,500, but I'm a little worried because it has 214,000 miles on it. It seems to be in good shape, and I'm going to get an inspection from a third party done, but I have no idea if this would be a good buy, mostly because I hate buying cars and I'd like to hold on to a car FOREVER!

Am I missing something? Is this a horrible idea?
 
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