Towing A Car On A Dolly, 1995 5sp?

[Tornadom]

A few things to consider that have not been discussed so far:

1). Attaching a trailer or dolly to the Toyota - You had better make sure the Toyota is equipped with a class III or IV receiver hitch; there are no other towing provisions on a 2nd generation 4Runner.

2). Damage to the Subaru - I do not know the flat towing, or dolly towing procedure for a Subaru, but without a neutral position available in the transfer-case I imagine great damage would occur to the center differential with only one axle on the ground. I might be 100% wrong in assuming this, but it is worth looking into if you haven't already.

3). Stopping the beast - A 3,500lb legacy and 500lb to 750lb dolly will nearly double the weight of your rig. While you might be able to tow 4,000 pounds behind a half ton or larger truck without the aid of trailer brakes, I would not recommend it with a 4Runner. If the dolly has a surge brake then you should be fine, if it has electric brakes you will need a trailer brake controller and a 7-pin trailer wire plug on the Toyota. If it is completely without brakes then I hope to hell the brakes on the Toyota are in good shape and nobody cuts you off.

The largest thing I towed with my 4Runner was, um nothing. So I don't know exactly what it is capable of, but speaking as someone who has towed 13,500 pounds worth of horse trailer, horses, tack and living quarters (with an F350 dually) with regularity I can tell you towing is no joke.

 

[jsmarine]

A few things to consider that have not been discussed so far:

1). Attaching a trailer or dolly to the Toyota - You had better make sure the Toyota is equipped with a class III or IV receiver hitch; there are no other towing provisions on a 2nd generation 4Runner.

2). Damage to the Subaru - I do not know the flat towing, or dolly towing procedure for a Subaru, but without a neutral position available in the transfer-case I imagine great damage would occur to the center differential with only one axle on the ground. I might be 100% wrong in assuming this, but it is worth looking into if you haven't already.

3). Stopping the beast - A 3,500lb legacy and 500lb to 750lb dolly will nearly double the weight of your rig. While you might be able to tow 4,000 pounds behind a half ton or larger truck without the aid of trailer brakes, I would not recommend it with a 4Runner. If the dolly has a surge brake then you should be fine, if it has electric brakes you will need a trailer brake controller and a 7-pin trailer wire plug on the Toyota. If it is completely without brakes then I hope to hell the brakes on the Toyota are in good shape and nobody cuts you off.

The largest thing I towed with my 4Runner was, um nothing. So I don't know exactly what it is capable of, but speaking as someone who has towed 13,500 pounds worth of horse trailer, horses, tack and living quarters (with an F350 dually) with regularity I can tell you towing is no joke.

all very true, I don't want to discount what you said. But I think you failed to read this post from the OP:

I don't know why this never popped in my head, but I may just borrow my brother-in-law's Suburban and tow the 4Runner back on a dolly with that.

 

[Nervo19]

Borrow the Suburban or rent a pick up from U-Haul and get the auto transport trailer! They are set up with surge brakes so your tow vehicle does not need special wiring. If you use a tow dolly they are noisy and handle terribly when they are empty. They bounce a lot! You will need to disconnect the drive shaft on the towed 4-Runner or Subaru or you will be needing a new transmission. Then it's hard to get the vehicle off the dolly until you've put the shaft back on. I just towed my "new" 1st gen 180 miles on a tow dolly and the worst part of it was driving up with the empty dolly. My tow vehicle was a 6 cyl minivan and I was worn out (with worry) by the end of the day. Don't count on a car you just bought to drive/tow 800 miles!

Whatever you decide, post back after the trip and let us know how it went...

 

[jangvt]

I'm looking at buying a 1995 4Runner 5sp, and it's about 800 miles from me. I'd like to drive my Subaru Legacy out to get the truck, then tow the Legacy back with the 4Runner.

Is there any trouble towing a car that kind of distance? I'm not sure what the truck's capabilities are. For what it's worth, it has a small lift kit and oversize tires (I'm guessing 33's).

i used a 99 4runner v6 tow a 08 accord v6 with 4runner and accord fully loaded with stuff towed it about 1300 miles with no problem the accord was on a dolly tho

 

[DC runner]

I would not recommend this. Driving 800 miles on a new, used, almost antique truck is enough of a risk.

Grab a friend and have them drive. Everyone on here will tell you that the V6 was extremely under powered. It was a joke. The 3.slooooooow. If it were a 50 mile drive, sure, why not.

Honestly. It is an used 4runner that you ACTUALLY don't know the condition of, don't let your first experience with it be you blowing the HG on it.

Grab a buddy, a parent, a GF an EX.. someone, and have them do the trip with you.


Also. 800 miles away? That is damn near 1/3 the distance of the U.S., nothing in closer? That engine, with 33's, has it been re-geared?





Edit: Now saw you have no option. You can't wait a week? If this were a 3.4L V6 that was put in the 95.5 to 2003/ Sure. Go for it. The 2nd Gen 3.0 3vze IS a unique beast. I will stop bashing it, but I owned 2 of these at different times in my life. 1 early on, near when they first came out in the 90's and the 2nd one within the past 5 years and I was sorry I went back. I had forgotten how they were. It honestly can barley move the runner, by itself.. towing another vehicle for 800 miles, no way!




Amtrak/Greyhound it man. Seriously. Save yourself some hassle. I know we all love our Toyota's, lets be honest with the man. The 3.0 is not the bulletproof that the 3.4 in the later Tacoma's/Runners is. No false hope here, only practical realities based on personal experience.

 

[mikedks]

DC-you got suckered on a year old thread.

I would not recommend this. Driving 800 miles on a new, used, almost antique truck is enough of a risk.

Grab a friend and have them drive. Everyone on here will tell you that the V6 was extremely under powered. It was a joke. The 3.slooooooow. If it were a 50 mile drive, sure, why not.

Honestly. It is an used 4runner that you ACTUALLY don't know the condition of, don't let your first experience with it be you blowing the HG on it.

Grab a buddy, a parent, a GF an EX.. someone, and have them do the trip with you.


Also. 800 miles away? That is damn near 1/3 the distance of the U.S., nothing in closer? That engine, with 33's, has it been re-geared?





Edit: Now saw you have no option. You can't wait a week? If this were a 3.4L V6 that was put in the 95.5 to 2003/ Sure. Go for it. The 2nd Gen 3.0 3vze IS a unique beast. I will stop bashing it, but I owned 2 of these at different times in my life. 1 early on, near when they first came out in the 90's and the 2nd one within the past 5 years and I was sorry I went back. I had forgotten how they were. It honestly can barley move the runner, by itself.. towing another vehicle for 800 miles, no way!




Amtrak/Greyhound it man. Seriously. Save yourself some hassle. I know we all love our Toyota's, lets be honest with the man. The 3.0 is not the bulletproof that the 3.4 in the later Tacoma's/Runners is. No false hope here, only practical realities based on personal experience.

 

[wantahertzdonut]

I'm surprised it came back up but I planned on restarting it again since for me it's somewhat relevant.

The guy selling the truck sold it to someone else for a much higher price than I was willing to pay. I was after it because it was the nearest 5sp truck to me. I decided to bag the search and kept plunking along with my Subaru.

Recently a 2wd 5sp truck went up for sale near to me on the local Craigslist but the seller won't answer their phone. So probably a no-go, but there are suddenly a few 5sp trucks within a few hundred miles that I may pick up. I don't think I'll need to tow a car back however.

One thing I would like to know is has anyone updated their A/C to 134a refrigerant?