Towing a pop-up trailer with a '95 4R - yes or no?

T

T4R4ME

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I am currently considering getting a larger pop-up camper trailer and am leaning towards a Jayco 1406 with surge brakes. The empty weight on this trailer is just under 2,000 lbs and maximum loaded weight (GVRW) is 3300 lbs, just under the 4Runners limit which I believe is 3,750, but have to double check. I know legally I would be okay to tow a trailer such as this, but am wondering how practical it would be.

With the v6 4R being such a dog, I think I would be a bit concerned going up hills. I've towed a U-Haul dual axel enclosed trailer a couple of times with it and it did okay, but this was a rather short move and didn't involve many hills.

A couple of weeks ago, I rented a small U-Haul Sport Trailer for a camping trip to Clark's Fork in the Stanislaus National Forest in Northern California. It was just full of some luggage, camping chairs, and groceries, and the 4R had a difficult time making it up some of those larger hills. I had it floored, ECT was on, RPMs were up over 5k, and I was still having a difficult time maintaining 45mph.

I'm wondering if this is something I should even attempt, or should I give up towing a larger trailer like this with the 4R. Thanks!!!
 
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I've had three of those 2nd Gens, and I personally wouldn't try towing anything that size. My last V6 had trouble crossing the Cont. Divide with nothing on the back, while little econoboxes whizzed by me. I don't think I'd go much over 1500-1800 behind one. In its defense (my last V6 truck), I was running 31's with stock gearing, so it was slightly undergeared, but not ridiculously so.
 
When I bought my '94 it had a receiver hitch and wiring installed but after driving it for a year or so now I'm thinking about taking it off. I have no intention of pulling anything with it. It has a hard time pulling itself over a good hill much less doing it while pulling a trailer.

Gets around ok but tow vehicles they are not.
 
that is alot of weight for the hills. i have no problems pulling huge amount of weight in the city with no hills but if you plan on using it mainly in the hills. better regear to like 5.29 and even than it might not be enough. im on 32s with 4.88 gears. i have to stay in 4-5k rpm range in 3rd and sometimes in 2nd with just a 8x10 trailer with a 300lb quad and camping gear.
two of my buddies with rebuilt 30 over 3.0 had no problems but wasnt pulling as much as i was. they were also 5 speed with 32s but with 4.10 gears. i think my engine was just tired and need to be rebuilt soon. maybe than ill know if it is my auto trans or the engine or both lol
 
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I'm running 32's also. Thats not even something I took into consideration. I'm not going to regear, thats just getting into too much work for something that isn't completely necessary. The other thing I'm considering is getting an rv. But considering I haven't worked in a couple of years, I'm trying to do this on a budget for now, and at least start out with a trailer and see how much we really do want to go camping more often. Perhaps I need to start looking at smaller, more light weight trailers.
 
light weight will help. regearing helped for sure. the trick is the get as much speed as you can before the hill. speeding required. try to stay in your powerband. seem to pull much easier around 3500-4500. depend on the grade you climb but a few i been on was making me nervous. now i dont mind staying in high revs but with 230xxx miles on the original hand gasket. i might just blow it :(

we both the 3.0 auto but your runner is heavier than mine as well.
 
T4R4ME said:
I'm running 32's also. Thats not even something I took into consideration. I'm not going to regear, thats just getting into too much work for something that isn't completely necessary. The other thing I'm considering is getting an rv. But considering I haven't worked in a couple of years, I'm trying to do this on a budget for now, and at least start out with a trailer and see how much we really do want to go camping more often. Perhaps I need to start looking at smaller, more light weight trailers.
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if you want to tow anything with 32's and a 3.0 it is necessary. well maybe not NECESSARY, but it would make things a LOT easier.
your engine will thank you.
 
you can try and find a set of used factory 4.88 gears front and rear. came on 92+ 4runners with automatics and 31s from the factory. i got a used 4.88 IFS diff when i regeared a factory elocker for my modified rear axle housing.
 
As ToyoTech mentioned, it is vital to maintain over 3000 rpm with the 3.0 when pulling a hill. I've watched it many times where, even without a trailer, once I fell below 2900-3000, I began to lose momentum and speed. On the same hill, if I increased my speed just enough to get the rpms higher, I could climb the full distance at the same speed in 5th gear. Just for reference, I looked up the 3.0 on K&N's website, where they dyno engines to show the performance gains of their filters--you only have 125 ft-lbs to work with (at the wheels)! Small sedans usually have more than that, let alone nearly 2-ton trucks BEFORE adding anything on back. It all comes down to power-to-weight ratio.
 
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