? regarding towing with my '21 TRD Off Road model ...

[AC Orange]

I was wondering how some of you guys find towing a trailer ? I'm planning on moving in a few months and will be buying an enclosed cargo trailer. What have you found as the practical weight, length, single axle or double axle, etc. I'm not new to towing but haven't towed anything yet with my 4Runner.

 

[AMLOR]

I was wondering how some of you guys find towing a trailer ? I'm planning on moving in a few months and will be buying an enclosed cargo trailer. What have you found as the practical weight, length, single axle or double axle, etc. I'm not new to towing but haven't towed anything yet with my 4Runner.

I tow with my 2019 PRO. However mine is NOT stock. It uses 4.88 gears, a CFS dual core radiator and a Deraile trans cooler mounted in front of the radiator.

I tow a 4000lb Airstream basecamp 20X. It has a 500ish pound tongue weight. I was not comfortable with that much weight on the stock receiver bolted to the rear cross member. I was able to find a Draw-Tite frame mounted receiver hitch that is made for a Australian Prado 150 (Their 4runner...sort of).
Open up a couple of the small bolt holes with a dremmel, add a couple of stitch welds and you are good to go. Currently using a Blue OX weight distributing hitch and love it.
Very easy to tow, very minimal sway even in crosswinds.
Keep your engine and transmission cool and towing with a 4Runner should be no big deal.
AMLOR

 

[MoreOutdoors]

We’ve got an almost stock 2020 TRD Off Road, only thing it has are airbags, that we use to tow our 16’ travel trailer. Trailer has weight of 4,300 lbs and hitch weight of 490 pounds and the 4Runner does surprisingly well towing it. You definitely feel grades and will be one of the slower vehicles on them, but not dangerously slow. We live in Northern California and have taken up and over and through the Sierra Nevada mountains so it’s done some grades. Even on those we still pass semis while keeping the RPMs below 5000. In the flats I hardly notice the trailer is there and have to watch my speed sometimes to make sure I’m not going too fast.
I will say if you’re towing a long ways versus back and forth across town moving loads, get some air bags. We have a WDH but even with that the back sags a decent amount. The air bags really helped smooth the ride in the cab and made the whole rig more responsive. It towed well before the bags(we had it about a year before installing them) but did better with them.

 

[AC Orange]

We’ve got an almost stock 2020 TRD Off Road, only thing it has are airbags, that we use to tow our 16’ travel trailer. Trailer has weight of 4,300 lbs and hitch weight of 490 pounds and the 4Runner does surprisingly well towing it. You definitely feel grades and will be one of the slower vehicles on them, but not dangerously slow. We live in Northern California and have taken up and over and through the Sierra Nevada mountains so it’s done some grades. Even on those we still pass semis while keeping the RPMs below 5000. In the flats I hardly notice the trailer is there and have to watch my speed sometimes to make sure I’m not going too fast.
I will say if you’re towing a long ways versus back and forth across town moving loads, get some air bags. We have a WDH but even with that the back sags a decent amount. The air bags really helped smooth the ride in the cab and made the whole rig more responsive. It towed well before the bags(we had it about a year before installing them) but did better with them.

.
Good to hear you're happy with the way it tows. I used to have a 2009 FJ Cruiser that was all stock except for some air bags and I could tow around 4800 pounds reasonably well. But in the power department it was slightly lacking with that much weight.

 

[Jetboy]

You can search on here for a few threads with a lot of info on towing.

The basic ideas IMO:
Add a trans cooler if you're going to push or exceed the 5k lb trailer weight.

It's not necessary, but keeps temps cool and offers some extra piece of mind. A small one is enough.

Anything up to 5k lbs is do-able. I've towed a bit in excess of that without issue.

Tongue weight is a problem - the rear springs are soft and the hitch is only rated for 500lbs. Airbags are the most common solution for rear spring sag.

Also recommend a weight distribution hitch "WDH" going past about 3500lbs. They're all basically the same. Spend as much as you like. Sway control helps in windy situations with the short wheel base.

The engine is not super powerful. Don't expect to cruise at 85mph with a 30 foot toy hauler - or a 20 foot trailer. Smaller and lighter is better. Lower drag tows easier (reduced frontal area trailers like the 7' wide or lower overall height). Drag is usually more important than weight as far as power issues go.

Add a brake controller. I like the Curt Echo - it's wireless, super easy to use, no fuss. I had a hard wired Tekonsha in mine. I would use a Curt Echo doing it over. I use the echo on my tundra even though it has an OEM built in controller. It works better. Buy what you like. Pretty much any of them will do what you need. Your 4R should have come with the pigtail to wire it in in the glove box. If not you can buy a plug and play wire adapter. The OEM wiring is under the dash.

You may need a plug extension due to the location of the 4R trailer light plug underneath by the spare tire.

Brakes on the 4R are big. No need for upgrades there.

LT tires are a good idea - but you'll never get anywhere close to the weight capacity of the OEM ones with anything the 4R will pull.

I've yet to find any true towing mirrors. The $20 Amazon strap on set actually work pretty well for me. I put a wireless rear view camera system on my TT so I can see out the back using that. The OEM mirrors are worthless for a full width trailer.

Hope that helps. Be safe. Start slow. Load your weight close to the axle center or slightly forward as much as possible. Plan on 7-9mpg towing anything bigger than a small teardrop.

I've towed all sorts of trailers from a 10 foot teardrop to a 20 foot full size travel trailer that was around 5500lbs and lots of utility and small equipment trailers. If you're going to tow bigger stuff regularly, buy a proper truck or even an LC200. The 4Runner isn't a great tow vehicle. The gearing is not great and the engine isn't very comfortable, powerful, or efficient under heavy load. It works. It's incredibly durable. You can flog it all day long and never seen engine temps climb or trans issues. It's just not the right tool for the job if you're towing a lot.

Good luck.

 

[Pedro367]

I tow a 6x12 enclosed Look ST DLX trailer. #1600lbs dry. Loaded with the ATVs/whatever else maybe 2500-3klbs max. I put Air Lift airbags in the rear coils which were a huge improvement. Definitely a must and a cheap upgrade. Otherwise, I don't want to tow any higher weight than that. It stinks in the hills and even worse now that I run 285/70r17 tires. It was tolerable on 265s.

These aren't great tow vehicles. They really need a few more gears.

 

[Bobby12many]

You can search on here for a few threads with a lot of info on towing.

The basic ideas IMO:

[MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] nailed it.


TL;DR The T4R is serviceable as a towing-vehicle, it is a far cry from bring a proper towing-vehicle. The short-wheelbase is its biggest issue. Take precautions and plan accordingly and you will be fine.

double axle is always easier and more stable to tow, but finding a quality dual axle enclosed with the right spec can be $$$$ if you don't already have one.

Best of luck.

 

[Chumly]

I was wondering how some of you guys find towing a trailer ? I'm planning on moving in a few months and will be buying an enclosed cargo trailer. What have you found as the practical weight, length, single axle or double axle, etc. I'm not new to towing but haven't towed anything yet with my 4Runner.

We currently have a 2020 TRD OR with 255/75 KO2’s. We previously had a 2012 SR5. We have towed a Boat / trailer combo of about 5000 lbs for years. Double axle trailer with brakes on all 4 wheels. We are in Florida so relatively flat terrain. We try to keep it at 65 MPH when towing. We have not towed more than 400 miles in a single run with this setup. Zero issues other than a flat tires. Once on trailer, once on truck, both uneventful. No heat problems, no handling problems. Fuel Economy with this load runs about 11 MPG. Rig on the trailer is about 25’. Boat is a 21’ Deep V center console with a substantial fiberglass Top.

Note, this setup is more “streamlined” than and enclosed trailer, so you may have some wind resistance impacts that we don’t see.

I assume this would not be nearly as easy if you had mountain passes to deal with. Our biggest “hill” is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

In the past we have had larger boats, which we towed with a 3500 Dually and another back in the day with a big block, 3/4 Suburban, back when there was such a thing. I would not try overweight loads for long distance with something as small as the 4runner. (Maybe with a RAV 4……)

 

[OregonTrail]

Wow, some of you guys are sure more willing to tow some pretty heavy trailers with your 4Runner than me. I've towed trailers plenty so no problems there but I've never been impressed with the way my 2011 Trail tows. I do have "E" rated Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs on it in stock size and Bilstein 5100 fronts/5160's in the back but no other mods.

I tow my 17' aluminum boat a lot - its right at 2700-2800 lbs depending on what I have in it for fishing/crabbing. Thats about all I really like to tow, maybe go to a little more than 3000lbs but more than that going over mountains isn't the most fun. I've been shopping for a camping trailer but not sure I would feel comfortable towing 4k+ with my 4Runner - thats me though. Good to hear you can actually get away with towing more weight.

 

[Jimkmich]

I have a 2017 2wd Limited. It towed my 2700lb boat fine last year, now it doesn't want to go over 65 without kicking out of overdive or downshifting into 4th gear. What gives?

 

[Chumly]

I have a 2017 2wd Limited. It towed my 2700lb boat fine last year, now it doesn't want to go over 65 without kicking out of overdive or downshifting into 4th gear. What gives?

Don’t tow with overdrive. Switch transmission to S. This should be in your owners manual.