Question about towing a car with my 4Runner

[4vector]

Can my 2022 Toyota 4Runner safely tow a (very beat up but driveable) 2012 Mercedes GLK350 from North Carolina to Louisiana with a tow dolly? I do not know whether the Mercedes is RWD or AWD but I strongly suspect RWD. Everything I find (including the car’s manual) says I shouldn’t do it. The manual (p. 264) says not to tow it for more than 30 miles and no faster than 30 mph. Neither is feasible. What’s the truth? And U-Haul’s website says my 4Runner shouldn’t even tow the car on a flatbed trailer. One person says I can and should ignore the “legalese” and another person outright says I can despite seeing the website for himself.

 

[Hungryhawk]

More info needed: what is weight of car and what is weight of flat bed car trailer. You probably will be at or over 5000 lbs. you should have 11-12% of actual entire trailer + car on the receiver hitch.
Do you have tranny cooler on your runner? Is there a flat highway route on the trip start to finish? What are your plans for trailer brakes-if electric you need a brake controller installed in your runner. Or perhaps surge brakes on trailer -with less control than electric.

 

[Yamahamer]

You can tow the Mercedes - but you'll have to remove the driveshaft so the tires aren't turning the transmission internals.

 

[CutthroatSlam]

I would not do it as the wear and potential damage on the 4Runner is high probability. 4Runner is rated for 5K tow capacity and that Mercedes will be close to that. However, it will heat up the trans and that will shorten its life. You really need a 3/4 ton truck for this haul.

 

[4vector]

Thanks everyone. You confirmed my concerns.

 

[Humble Leader]

that merc. is 4,000lbs at least. thats 80% of 4runner tow capacity. no more math needed, it's too heavy. you'd want a proper flat trailer for this. you will easily be above 5,000lbs and probably over 500lbs tongue weight

4runner does best towing toys (jet skies, dirt bikes etc, small/mid size campers, and utility trailers. it's not capable of reliably towing a heavy SUV