Towing with extra weight / sliders and skids

[CAN-03runner]

I'm wondering if people have ideas, theories, tested concepts etc...

About towing with added weight. Is is a better practice to lessen the weight of the tow vehicle of unrequired accessories like budbuilt skids and rock sliders? Would that relieve some if any strain from the tow vehicle.

Or would the extra weight of HD skids and rock sliders help by making the tow vehicle heavier and better suited to stopping a loaded trailer.
Trailer weight hovers around the max of the tow vehicle.

In general, do you want to lessen the weight of your tow vehicle or make it a little heavier is the general question.

To make it 4runner related, I've pulled a uhaul car transporter with a 1st gen 4Runner on it several times with my 4th Gen V8 very comfortably for about 40-50 miles. If I go for a longer distance say 250-300 miles best to be heavier or lighter up front.

 

[brockeverly]

The extra weight takes from the GCVW for sure, but with a heavier TV there is generally a marked improvement in controlling a trailer. I do not worry too much about it with my truck and camper and do nothing to decrease the weight, if anything I add more with all the crap we carry, but YMMV.

 

[OrdnanceMarine]

Anything you're towing that's approaching the max rating for your 4Runner better have a good set of trailer brakes that will do their share of the stopping. If this is the case then the less weight wherever you can get less weight is good. If you aren't equipped with good trailer brakes and want the ratio between the weight of the tow vehicle and trailer to be as favorable as possible you really can't add much weight to your 4Runner to make much of a difference anyway.

Vehicle capacity weight according to my '07 Owner's Manual puts the max at 950 lbs for a 5-seater and 1050 lbs for the 7-seater. Your tongue weight should be 10-15% of trailer weight AND you have to deduct the tongue weight from the vehicle capacity.

So, if you're towing what we'd consider a medium-weight trailer of 3000 lbs with your 5-seat 4Runner you've got 300-450 lbs of tongue weight which brings you down to 500-650 lbs of vehicle capacity. Add only two people at an average of 150 lbs each and you're down to 200-350 lbs of capacity. 200-350 lbs on your tow vehicle isn't going to make any real difference to the towing characteristics of your rig.

 

[CAN-03runner]

Anything you're towing that's approaching the max rating for your 4Runner better have a good set of trailer brakes that will do their share of the stopping. If this is the case then the less weight wherever you can get less weight is good. If you aren't equipped with good trailer brakes and want the ratio between the weight of the tow vehicle and trailer to be as favorable as possible you really can't add much weight to your 4Runner to make much of a difference anyway.

Vehicle capacity weight according to my '07 Owner's Manual puts the max at 950 lbs for a 5-seater and 1050 lbs for the 7-seater. Your tongue weight should be 10-15% of trailer weight AND you have to deduct the tongue weight from the vehicle capacity.

So, if you're towing what we'd consider a medium-weight trailer of 3000 lbs with your 5-seat 4Runner you've got 300-450 lbs of tongue weight which brings you down to 500-650 lbs of vehicle capacity. Add only two people at an average of 150 lbs each and you're down to 200-350 lbs of capacity. 200-350 lbs on your tow vehicle isn't going to make any real difference to the towing characteristics of your rig.

I totally agree with you about the trailer brakes. I pulled the trailer/1st gen combo already a few times with the stock hitch but I just installed the upgraded hitch that bolts to the 2 sides rails of the frame. I must say that I felt comfortable, as long as I kept my speed in check. And the brakes...important for sure. Pulling is not the problem. Once I take the foot off the brake, the truck pulls all the load slowly forward without gas input. Pulling the load, not a problem. Stopping is the issue for sure. With the trailer I pulled I really felt the brakes working. Without them, I don't think I would have felt comfortable and I wouldn't pull that weight without trailer brakes. Everyone...use trailer brakes.:surfer:

 

[OrdnanceMarine]

How much do your skids and sliders weight, by the way? My final thought would be that taking the time to remove and reinstall your armor for towing is probably a lot of work without gaining a whole lot. I think your truck probably weighs in around 4500 lbs so dropping 100-200 lbs of weight realy only amounts to 2-4% of the TVs total weight.

 

[brockeverly]

How much do your skids and sliders weight, by the way? My final thought would be that taking the time to remove and reinstall your armor for towing is probably a lot of work without gaining a whole lot. I think your truck probably weighs in around 4500 lbs so dropping 100-200 lbs of weight realy only amounts to 2-4% of the TVs total weight.

IIRC, my BudBuilts weigh in at around 50# each. Not at all worth the work.

 

[brockeverly]

Vehicle capacity weight according to my '07 Owner's Manual puts the max at 950 lbs for a 5-seater and 1050 lbs for the 7-seater. Your tongue weight should be 10-15% of trailer weight AND you have to deduct the tongue weight from the vehicle capacity.

That is interesting. My 2010 numbers are below, seems that the 2010 is a bit more realistic with allowable weight than the 4th gen v6.

Curb Weight - 4675
GVWR - 6300
---------------------
1625# worth of cargo / tongue weight

 

[TechWrench]

I'm wondering if people have ideas, theories, tested concepts etc...

About towing with added weight. Is is a better practice to lessen the weight of the tow vehicle of unrequired accessories like budbuilt skids and rock sliders? Would that relieve some if any strain from the tow vehicle.

Or would the extra weight of HD skids and rock sliders help by making the tow vehicle heavier and better suited to stopping a loaded trailer.
Trailer weight hovers around the max of the tow vehicle.

In general, do you want to lessen the weight of your tow vehicle or make it a little heavier is the general question.

To make it 4runner related, I've pulled a uhaul car transporter with a 1st gen 4Runner on it several times with my 4th Gen V8 very comfortably for about 40-50 miles. If I go for a longer distance say 250-300 miles best to be heavier or lighter up front.

I don't think the amount of weight for the skids/sliders is going to make any significant difference. And I don't think the extra weight will help at all with braking, in fact, as far as the brakes go, making the vehicle heavier will only give the braking system more work to do. If you have the trailer load balanced properly, and the trailer brakes work and are adjusted properly, then you should be good, as long as you are comfortable towing that kind of load. Safe braking with a trailer means increasing following distances, looking further ahead for potential problems, and stopping sooner than later. Many people forget the increased stopping distances needed, and drive as if there isn't a trailer behind them, until it's too late.