Towing/Handling/Working with my 4 runner suggestions

[Boaz]

Hey Guys,

I am strongly considering starting a small lawn and landscaping business to do side work and hopefully/eventually work into a full time gig. As of right now I am planning on (too keep start up costs low) buying a small 6x10' trailer,single axle...something big enough to haul tools, wheel barrow and one or two mowers(TBD). Also would haul light loads of mulch (5-6yards max). As of now I have a stock SR5 with new (P) 265/75/17 Bridgestone Dueler Revos. I have wanted to eliminate the mush and nose dive for awhile anyways so towing seems like the best excuse to beef up the suspension. My runner already has the towing package and is already wired for towing. I towed a 10' trailer last week with 6 yards of wet mulch and power wise it was OK, but the handling was pretty mush and the rear end was sagging like a mofo.

So I was eyeing the OME kit with 884 springs in the front and 2899 springs in the rear with the OME recommend shock. I might also do the antman mod with the airbags as well in the rear.


Are there any other better options/recommendations? I might have to step up to a LT tire once the Pmetric revos wear out.

Any advice or pointers would be much appreciated.

 

[Boaz]

Here is the trailer I towed a few times.... loaded with 4 yards of top soil. Towed ok, but just spongy and didn't handle well.

 

[FatDave]

I think you might have 17s instead of 16s, but that's just me being picky.

Stock 4Runners are built to tow. If you don't like the softness of the factory suspension, there are plenty of options to be found on this forum.

Regarding sag... Each model has a tongue/hitch weight limit. See your manual. The picture of the trailer you included looked overly front-loaded, which can cause rear end sag. 60/40 front/rear weighting is good -- a 5,000 load will put 500 lbs of weight on your hitch.

BTW, rear loading a trailer is the best way for it to wag you out of control.

Happy trails.

 

[RubiconSS]

Not sure. You may hear it here you may not. I will say it.
I have done many BUT the three(3) O.M.E. suspensions I did were hands down the Best, Highest quality suspensions I ever installed, drove on and wheeled.
OME is the cats as$ . Better than I ever expected for ride, handling and articulation.
Bargain ? Well, depends on how you look at it. I will spend $$ for the best and IMO OME - Is.
In light of all you want to do, I think it will work well. Go HD and good luck with your entrepreneurial venture, God bless the risk takers.
Lived my life on the thin branches.

 

[brockeverly]

I regularly tow a 3000# camper. It has been MUCH better since installing my OME lift. I have Airlift bags, but really do not need them with the Toytec Superflex rear springs unless I have a lot of weight in the rear and roof. I have towed my v8 swapped S10 Blazer with it as well, taking it up to (or over) the max rating and had no issue. It was not particularly happy towing it, but I never felt it was too much.

 

[ATL4R]

Hey Guys,

I am strongly considering starting a small lawn and landscaping business to do side work and hopefully/eventually work into a full time gig. As of right now I am planning on (too keep start up costs low) buying a small 6x10' trailer,single axle...something big enough to haul tools, wheel barrow and one or two mowers(TBD). Also would haul light loads of mulch (5-6yards max). As of now I have a stock SR5 with new (P) 265/75/16 Bridgestone Dueler Revos. I have wanted to eliminate the mush and nose dive for awhile anyways so towing seems like the best excuse to beef up the suspension. My runner already has the towing package and is already wired for towing. I towed a 10' trailer last week with 6 yards of wet mulch and power wise it was OK, but the handling was pretty mush and the rear end was sagging like a mofo.

So I was eyeing the OME kit with 884 springs in the front and 2899 springs in the rear with the OME recommend shock. I might also do the antman mod with the airbags as well in the rear.


Are there any other better options/recommendations? I might have to step up to a LT tire once the Pmetric revos wear out.

Any advice or pointers would be much appreciated.

I'd advise against those 2899's in the rear if you plan to use the vehicle without a big trailer in tow at all times.


I think you could even get by with the lightest spings recommended by OME, the 2889s.

-OME 2889: 0-440 lbs Additional Load Medium 3” lift coils: Uses 60080 rear shocks

-OME 2898: 440 lbs Constant Load Heavy 3” lift coils: Uses 60080 rear shocks

-OME 2899: 880 lbs Constant Load Heavy 3” lift coils: Uses 60080 rear shocks



The good thing is rear springs are only $160 bucks or so and can be swapped out in less than an hour if you think you need stronger/weaker ones.

 

[Boaz]

I'd advise against those 2899's in the rear if you plan to use the vehicle without a big trailer in tow at all times.


I think you could even get by with the lightest spings recommended by OME, the 2889s.

-OME 2889: 0-440 lbs Additional Load Medium 3” lift coils: Uses 60080 rear shocks

-OME 2898: 440 lbs Constant Load Heavy 3” lift coils: Uses 60080 rear shocks

-OME 2899: 880 lbs Constant Load Heavy 3” lift coils: Uses 60080 rear shocks



The good thing is rear springs are only $160 bucks or so and can be swapped out in less than an hour if you think you need stronger/weaker ones.

OK that makes sense to me. I didn't catch that the added weight needs to be constant weight (like a rear bumper/spare tire/water/gas).

 

[EasylyConfused]

I realize you probably also have ulterior motives for modifying the suspension on the 4runner, and I can't really offer any advice on the suspension upgrades as I’m riding around on the stock suspension, but I'll chime in here anyhow from a business perspective as I too started a very successful lawn care company, only with a Sienna pulling a snow mobile trailer.

My advice is to save your money, don't upgrade the suspension on the 4runner, if this business is going to become anything, you are not going to want to use the 4runner as a work truck. Stick it out till you can buy a cheap POS pick up. Lawn care, and worse yet land scaping will destroy any vehicle you use, and although I do not doubt the durability of the 4runner, you will regret the decision when your $30K+ SUV smells like fermented lawn clippings after sitting in the sun all day. Save it for when you run around to provide quotes to your potential customers. I'd recommend saving your nickels until you can afford a bare bones 1500 or F150 for under 5K with less than 200K km (or equivalent miles since you're in the US) and installing the biggest transmission cooler you can find. Once the truck pays for itself, then start looking for a bigger and nicer truck. If you work hard, and don't low ball on price, soon you will be rolling around in several new 3500/F350 pickups pushing 10' plows and towing 200 series bob cats. There is a tonne of money in landscaping and lawn care if you keep your costs under control, but get the right tools for the job. A 4runner is awesome, but it doesn't have a bed you can hose out, and pulling a 5K lb. trailer all day every day will do its toll.

I'm not sure of the cost of the suspension upgrades you are considering but I would consider those the down payment on the truck if you are honestly contemplating being at all serious about starting a lawn care company on the side. By all means use your 4runner now, but use it as is, it can pull 5000 lbs. in the short term as long as you don't abuse it too much. The stiffer suspension is a nice to have, not a necessity at this point. The only modification I would suggest would be a transmission cooler if it doesn't already have one, but I'm fairly certain they all come with one standard.

And the best advice I can share is that if you buy cheaper used vehicles and equipment after they have gone through the most rapid period of depreciation, you can often sell a piece of equipment that you bought at the beginning of the year for very close to what you paid for it at the end of the year. I did that with a couple of pick-ups. I bought them in the Spring when everyone was selling off their gas guzzling 4X4's, then sold them for 1-2K less in the fall when everyone was buying up 4X4's for the winter. After a summers worth of service they more than paid for themselves. This worked well in the 12k-15k range. Once I started buying more expensive trucks that didn't work as well as they tend to depreciate much quicker and furthermore it didn't make as much sense to buy and sell them each season as I got into snow removal. I also bought a couple trucks at auction, fixed them up, used them, then had them saftied and sold them at the end of the season for a small profit, although I was always worried one day that would backfire on me and I would buy a complete lemon. The same can be done for equipment. Always consider the seasons (supply/demand) when you buy your equipment too. You’re going to find much better better prices on used commercial lawn care equipment this fall then you will in the spring and then you will have all winter to get the maintenance and repairs out of the way before the season starts. Then when you are going to upgrade next year, you will be able to sell that equipment for much more the following spring then you would selling it off in the fall, especially if you put a little time in over the winter to clean it up. I never sold a trailer I bought used, for less then I paid for it.

If you have any other questions relating specifically to starting a lawn care/landscaping company please feel free to send me a message. I'd also recommend checking out lawnsite.com and plowsite.com. Like any other forum, they will make you want the best and biggest (and the majority hate start-ups for being too unprofessional), but if you don't get too sucked in, there is heaps of great information on there.

Sorry for detracting from the "4runner" aspect of the forum, but I hope you find my advice useful even if a bit out of place.

 

[Boaz]

Easyly I sent you a Pm.