Shopping for a tow vehicle, is the 4runner it?

[onesojourner]

I have had my 1998 3rd gen 4runner for about 12 years now. With the exception of a failed ignition module and a leaky ac system I have put 110k trouble free miles on it. It currently has about 215k on the clock and runs great. A couple years ago it needed some new shocks in the back and I went ahead and added some heavier duty springs in anticipation of pulling a small camper. My primary complaints are range and power followed by cabin noise. Reliability and longevity are why I picked the 4runner a decade ago and that has not changed. My wife has a work car and I work from home so the next vehicle is going to spend most of it's time in the garage for the next few years. It also means it will probably be around for at least a decade or two. One final requirement is the ability to get our bikes in the back so they can be locked up. I need to be able tow tow up to 5500#. What do you guys think? Is the 4runner the right tow vehicle?

 

[chaz]

if your question is about buying a 4th gen., id suggest looking for threads like this. Towing a 6000lb+ airstream with a v6 SR5 - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum

 

[onesojourner]

Just to clarify I am only looking at V8 vehicles at this point.

 

[snivilous]

Ehhhhh maybe to answer your question. This was my girlfriend's 4th gen a few years back:

I think our travel trailer weighed in around 5500lbs empty if I remember right. The 4runner is a 2003 (so doesn't have VVTI/more power like 05+) and we bought it was 215k on the clock, and it towed the trailer surprisingly well. We towed that trailer from the mountains in Colorado to where I went to school in Northern Utah, and then back to Colorado, and then from Colorado to Southern Utah where she now goes to school--so this was all towing across the Rockies and 4000-9000ft. Was it fast? No. It could hold about 70 on the interstate if it was flat, but much of a hill and it started working for it. If you want a 4runner, and you plan to tow around on little highways, I think you'd be fine if you're not worried about going up passes at 60mph. The 4.7 is a workhorse, and you can get them relatively cheap (like I said ours had 215k, and was all stock with no rust for $4700) and they run forever. The only issue we've had with the truck was the exhaust manifold leaking which is a common (non-critical) issue, and we're just now fixing that this week as the truck is approaching 270k and runs great as ever.

The original mods I did on the truck were specifically for towing, I upgraded to the sport calipers and EBC drilled and slotted rotors plus all Fox suspension with compression adjusters in the back and 2" lift Icon rear springs, that topped with dual braking axles on the trailer and an equalizer hitch made the 4runner sit about level and feel fine.

Now with all that said, I wouldn't push it much over that if you didn't have to.

This trailer is single axle (shittily) braked, and the trailer alone is 2500lbs and no equalizer. It towed my FJ40 plus a dirt bike and my 600cc sport bike from Utah to Colorado, but it wasn't happy (relatively speaking, it still towed it up really steep mountains surprisingly well). And we've tried towing my old racetruck (that the Tundra has in the top photo) and the 4Runner couldn't handle that at all--but that load was also 8000+lbs, and why we got the Tundra.

Conclusion, depends how fast you want to go and if that's the most you plan to haul, I personally wouldn't hesitate. Just have realistic expectations, it is a 5000lb truck stock and 15+ years old for the older ones.

 

[MT Runner]

Is the RPod in your picture what you’ll be towing?

If so, you’d be totally fine with the V6 towing that, although I’d personally go with the 05+ To have the 5spd transmission.

The V6 is officially rated at 5,000lbs, but I believe that is with the lighter duty hitch and no aux trans cooler.

I put the class 3 hitch on my 05 V6, an aux trans cooler, brake controller, scangauge to monitor the trans temp, and a weight distribution hitch on my camper and it tows really well, considering it’s not exactly a classic “towing rig”.

The camper we pull is a 18’, 2,500lb dry weight hybrid camper, probably between 3,000-3,500lb with all our gear when we are going somewhere.

 

[jbtvt]

Lexus GX with the 4.7 tows great, airbags though. Be aware that if 4Runner frame is like/identical to the GX you'll need to get an OEM hitch for 6500, all aftermarkets I found were rated for less weight. There are additional bolts in the middle of the rear crossmember that none of them use. You will want trailer brakes of course, brake controller (plugs right in to models with tow package, which also gets you the trans cooler), and possibly a weight-distributing hitch. This would solve any tongue weight issues. Look up vids on how to calculate tongue weight with a bathroom scale if your load doesn't vary, buy a purpose built tongue scale if it does. Blue Ox and Equalizer are good WD hitches, others will still get you some sway. Passed a travel trailer towed by a full-size pickup just the other day that jackknifed, likely from sway, and wound up over the guardrail.

 

[wcjeep]

If you are going to be towing decent weight over long distances I'd consider something bigger. Sequioa, Tundra, any half ton truck?

SUV's have soft rear springs for ride comfort. Towing is less about power and more about frame, suspension and brakes. The V8 4th gen is rated to accomplish your needs. I prefer extra capacity in case of emergency. Bigger brakes for an emergency stop is one. When I see SUV's towing they look squirrelly going down the highway. Half ton truck with same weight has no drama.

 

[jbtvt]

Sketchiest load I ever towed was behind a new Dodge 2500 with the 6.4L when someone else set the load too far back over the trailer axles as I was running the roof aspect of the crane, and the crane packed up and left before I got to inspect the load. Was legit not sure I'd make it to the scrap yard with that one. Another one was with an E250 rated for 7k+, down steep winding roads with a trailer with no brakes and a 4runner on it. I say this only to point out that 95% of towing safely is load placement/tongue weight and maintaining the trailer brakes, tires, etc. I plan my loads behind the GX a little more than with the 2500 but never had a sketchy moment on it, and it's comfortable and reliable. Wouldn't trade it for any truck and I've driven and towed with most models by the big 3.

If you're leaning more towards utility, my pick for a vehicle outside the Toyota fam would be a GMC Savana for reliability, cargo space, and the 10k tow capacity. Whatever you do, stay away from Sprinter vans, and given the emissions nightmares we've had with several of them I'd extend that to any US rated diesel honestly. Good luck.

 

[RonJR]

I have a 2006 V-8 Sport and an Rpod which looks nearly identical to yours. The Rpod weighs in at 3100 dry, so I'm not sure where the 5500# is coming from. Even with all of the tanks full and a reasonable amount of gear you shouldn't be much over 4000#.

The 4Runner has plenty of power to accelerate the combo, and getting to 70-75 mph on the freeway is not difficult. I have OME aftermarket springs in the back, which stiffen the suspension quite a bit and work well for towing. I use a stabilizer (but not WD) hitch, and the trailer tracks perfectly at 75+ mph, even in Kansas crosswinds. I don't normally drive that fast (65mph usually), but I've done it just to see how it feels.

The big issue I have is "hunting" of the transmission. Due to wind resistance (not weight) of the Rpod, 5th gear is pretty much useless, and even a fairly slight grade or a mild headwind will have the transmission shifting from 4th down to 3rd pretty regularly. The hunting is worse with cruise control engaged - if I drive manually I can do a much better job of managing transmission shifts than the cruise control does. (As an aside, the cruise control software on the 4Runner has to be one of the poorest implementations of a control system I've ever seen.)

I've been strongly considering regearing to 4.3 gears from the stock 3.73 ratio. I think that would put the engine in a much better power band at highway speeds. (One thing I should add is that I have 32 inch tires on the 4runner (stock is 30.5), which effectively lowers the rear-end ratio to 3.55 vs. stock. So that doesn't help the hunting problem.)

I like the 4Runner for a lot of other reasons, but if I didn't already have the 4runner and I was starting now buying a vehicle as a tow vehicle for the Rpod, I'd look for a later model Sequoia with the 5.7 liter 385 HP engine. The extra 100 hp and ~100 ft-lbs of torque would be nice.

 

[RonJR]

A couple of things to add:
I was somewhat surprised at the effects of wind resistance with the Rpod. We've had a Coleman pop-up that weighs about 2500# loaded, and the 4runner could tow that down the highway at 75mph without breaking a sweat. Enter the Rpod at 1000 lbs heavier, which is only a 15% increase in gross combination weight, and it was comparatively like throwing out an anchor. Gas mileage plummeted from about 14 mpg towing the pop-up to about 10 with the Rpod. With a 23 gallon tank, this cuts the practical range down to about 200 miles max.

 

[MT Runner]

A couple of things to add:
I was somewhat surprised at the effects of wind resistance with the Rpod. We've had a Coleman pop-up that weighs about 2500# loaded, and the 4runner could tow that down the highway at 75mph without breaking a sweat. Enter the Rpod at 1000 lbs heavier, which is only a 15% increase in gross combination weight, and it was comparatively like throwing out an anchor. Gas mileage plummeted from about 14 mpg towing the pop-up to about 10 with the Rpod. With a 23 gallon tank, this cuts the practical range down to about 200 miles max.

That’s interesting on your mpg’s with the two trailers.
We have an 18’ camper that is roughly 3,000lbs loaded, but is a traditional shape, basically towing a brick down the road.

We have one bigger trip we go on every summer that has some pretty decent size hills/passes to it and I’ve always been able to get 12-13 mpg’s on it. That’s going about 65-70 max and it is hand calculated.

Last year we had a horrendous head wind almost the whole time that had me in 3rd more often than not (I never tow in 5th, just keep it in 4th to avoid the gear hunting issue) and I still got 9 mpgs.

We are actually just about to pull the trigger on an rpod, and I was hoping to see a small increase in mpg’s since it’s a bit more aerodynamic than our current setup.

 

[duffdog]

So, My f350 diesel is broken (again) and I had to tow my 14000lb 20ft race car trailer with my 4runner to sell the trailer and everything inside of it. That was sketchy. The problem was not the accelerating or the turning or anything like that, but the stopping of the trailer. The v8 4runner simply does not weigh enough to stop that trailer. If I have to tow anything heavy ever again I am not considering using the 4runner. Towing something wimpy and light like a 6k trailer should be no problem at all- also, the 800lb OME springs on the rear of the 4runner are the most awesome springs ever IMO. I'm so glad I have them installed.

 

[AuSeeker]

So, My f350 diesel is broken (again) and I had to tow my 14000lb 20ft race car trailer with my 4runner to sell the trailer and everything inside of it. That was sketchy. The problem was not the accelerating or the turning or anything like that, but the stopping of the trailer. The v8 4runner simply does not weigh enough to stop that trailer. If I have to tow anything heavy ever again I am not considering using the 4runner. Towing something wimpy and light like a 6k trailer should be no problem at all- also, the 800lb OME springs on the rear of the 4runner are the most awesome springs ever IMO. I'm so glad I have them installed.

I know the brakes on these T4Rs are not the best with a heavy trailer especially a 14,000lb trailer, but did your racing trailer not have trailer brakes, if it did were you not able to use them, i.e. no brake controller installed on your T4R?

 

[duffdog]

I know the brakes on these T4Rs are not the best with a heavy trailer especially a 14,000lb trailer, but did your racing trailer not have trailer brakes, if it did were you not able to use them, i.e. no brake controller installed on your T4R?

Brakes and controller were installed and working. didn't matter, all 4 trailer tires locked up and smoking with the ABS on the t4r going crazy and still weren't enough to stop the trailer of that weight. Ended up sliding through every stop light when I first started towing it. After a while I just braked way, way before the light and stayed about 300 yards behind anyone in front of me.

 

[jbtvt]

Brakes and controller were installed and working. didn't matter, all 4 trailer tires locked up and smoking with the ABS on the t4r going crazy and still weren't enough to stop the trailer of that weight. Ended up sliding through every stop light when I first started towing it. After a while I just braked way, way before the light and stayed about 300 yards behind anyone in front of me.

Manual adjust brakes on that? Sounds they they might have been in need of a tightening. That or maybe your tongue weight was too high and putting weight that the trailer brakes should've been stopping onto the 4Runner. I tow several different braking trailers with several rigs and when they're adjusted right I can comfortably stop the tow vehicle using just the manual slide on the brake controller, with a decent load on the trailer, and never had serious problems stopping with even a heavy load. 4 12" drums on a 14k should be able to stop just about whatever they're carrying if adjusted properly and 15% of weight on tongue.

 

[duffdog]

Manual adjust brakes on that? Sounds they they might have been in need of a tightening. That or maybe your tongue weight was too high and putting weight that the trailer brakes should've been stopping onto the 4Runner. I tow several different braking trailers with several rigs and when they're adjusted right I can comfortably stop the tow vehicle using just the manual slide on the brake controller, with a decent load on the trailer, and never had serious problems stopping with even a heavy load. 4 12" drums on a 14k should be able to stop just about whatever they're carrying if adjusted properly and 15% of weight on tongue.

I will not be towing something that heavy again with a 4runner. Even my friends 5.7 Tundra had major issues towing that trailer at 7 tons. I think its very dangerous to attempt to tow a trailer that heavy with anything less than a 1 ton or a dually truck. It just doesn't feel right with the trailer pushing the rear of the truck all over the place when you go over bumps. The trailer and everything in it have been sold so I will stick to towing much lighter things, or nothing at all.