Question about towing a car with the 4Runnah

idobref

idobref

New member
I might be going to LA to pick up an s2000, my friend has a trailer he will let me borrow...
the s2000 weights about 2800lbs... im not sure about the trailer though...

its going to be a 600 miles round trip..

I have 2000 4runner 2x4 with 122k miles... the truck runs really good but i wanna make sure im not going to overwork it with this tow.

is it okay to use it to tow the car or im risking it?

thanks!
 
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idobref said:
I might be going to LA to pick up an s2000, my friend has a trailer he will let me borrow...
the s2000 weights about 2800lbs... im not sure about the trailer though...

its going to be a 600 miles round trip..

I have 2000 4runner 2x4 with 122k miles... the truck runs really good but i wanna make sure im not going to overwork it with this tow.

is it okay to use it to tow the car or im risking it?

thanks!
Click to expand...

Guarantee people are going to tell you to get an external tranny cooler first. I did before I towed a 3,900 lbs trailer this summer. It will help protect against the possibility of a pink milkshake as well as keep your tranny temps down. Keep your 4runner out of overdrive, and I think you'll be fine. Unless the trailer weighs more than the s2000 you should be clear. These are rated at 5,000lbs. I believe 500 lbs. tongue weight is the max (could be wrong here).
 
also on the way there the trailer will be empty...

so the stress will be only on the way back... maybe with several stops the car should be alright?
 
I think everyone is being a little paranoid here. You should be fine towing an s2000...those don't weigh very much...the trailer probably weighs 1500 to 2000 pounds so combined, you are still under the towing capacity. Just take it easy and you'll be alright.

If you've never hauled a lot of weight... read up here.

Trailer Loading and Towing Guide
 
KeatonMP said:
I think everyone is being a little paranoid here. You should be fine towing an s2000...those don't weigh very much...the trailer probably weighs 1500 to 2000 pounds so combined, you are still under the towing capacity. Just take it easy and you'll be alright.

If you've never hauled a lot of weight... read up here.

Trailer Loading and Towing Guide
Click to expand...

X2, I think you should be fine. I-15 is rather flat with acouple of hills, from what I remember it isn't too steep in climbs and declines. You will definitely be fine driving with over-drive without car(s2000) on the trailer. When you do have the car on the trailer just be sure to drive with overdrive off. Remember, speeds of 55-60mph only. It will be a hefty fine if you don't.
 
I think as long as your on a flat road and the truck just sits in overdrive it is fine to leave overdrive on. If it is hunting between overdrive and 3rd leave overdrive off.
 
put me in the paranoid list

If you've never towed before you're over your head. Are you even sure your hitch is rated for that kind of weight? That your tow lights even work? It's going to get a lot more complicated and you've never done this at all before ?

sure hope I am wrong.

You state you don't even know the weight of the trailer. You going to learn as you go pulling a nice car without electronic brakes on the trailer?

If you drive like a granny to reach cruising speed the whole way you'll probably be just fine. But what is the cost if not?

Short wheelbase vehicles such as our Runners are not the ideal tow vehicles. Any money you save by not using a dedicated tow vehicle will be quickly eaten up by damage to your tranny or cooling system.

You're not stating which tranny you have-I'm going to presume the auto. Some on here will simply say the manual tranny is the better option to tow with, while others will disagree.

Leaving the overdrive off is a good start but only that. You ready for risking the strawberry milkshake and possibly damaging the tranny completely? It can and does happen-to people of your mileage that never tow at all.

I highly encourage you to leave towing to someone with experience and the well equipped vehicle to do so. It's not something you want to learn around highway speeds with a nice car out back.

Just my opinion-you can see others already disagree.
 
If you've towed before, and I mean anything over 2000lbs you should be fine handling this task, your truck will do just fine. It comes down to the level of expierence you have with towing, you could have a 1 ton truck very capable of towing up to 10,000lbs and still eff it up due to lack of expierence. I would not want to learn with something like a shiney s2000 to lose.

As my dads says, " It all comes down to the pucker factor " haha

Good luck!!
 
How about if just get one of those car dollys and tow the car?
That way only two wheels will be on the dolly and the other two will be rolling on the ground?
Would my 4runner be able to do that?
 
so it seems like i have to take the "risk" and tow the honda on flatbed..

with the temperaturs being in the 50s should be even better for the tranny to stay cool...

im definitely going to consider a tranny cooler in the near future...
 
My normally aspirated 4tR with 185k+ miles tows a covered 10ft trailer loaded with 1000+lbs of fire wood regularly. It get's a little slow going up steep hills but then I am in no rush and drive my baby real easy.

Check your cooling system thoroughly. Replace your thermostat. Check your towing hookup for proper operation. Check tires/lug nuts on your car and trailer. Definitely make certain your brakes are in top condition with lots of pad left to bite the front rotors. You should have at least a class 3 towing hitch. Turn off over drive for level and uphill drives and activate "electronic high power/RPM" shift button. Overdrive is OK for downhill. Drive slow, do not exceed 65mph and keep RPMs between 2 to 3k. Leave plenty of space between you and front vehicle on road. For very steep uphills stick to the slow right lane, turn on 4 way flasher, down shift to 2nd and limit speed to 40mpth/3k-rpm until road levels. It can be done just take it real easy and be mechanically alert. Occasionally pull over at rest stops and look everything over. Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
oh wow!
that does help alot!
thank you so much!
Fortunatelly for me the road is almost completly flat for 90-95% of the trip!

I guess today im going to replace my brake pads :P
 
idobref said:
oh wow!
that does help alot!
thank you so much!
Fortunatelly for me the road is almost completly flat for 90-95% of the trip!

I guess today im going to replace my brake pads :P
Click to expand...
Bump...I want to see if he went through with this and how it did. Or if anyone is occasionally pulling a similar car/trailer occasionally. I sold my 4runner and want another third gen 4runner for a dd and S2000 track day tow pig..
 
TFJ-4runner said:
Bump...I want to see if he went through with this and how it did. Or if anyone is occasionally pulling a similar car/trailer occasionally. I sold my 4runner and want another third gen 4runner for a dd and S2000 track day tow pig..
Click to expand...

Search some of my post regarding trailers for pics, I've towed plenty of vehicles that out weigh an S2K and a lot farther than LA to Vegas. There are better tow rigs out there, but the 4Runner has always done fine for me.
 
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