4Runner is pretty awful for towing...

I just got back from a 3100-mile trip from Washington state down to the AZ/Mexico border. On the way down, I faced 20 mph+ headwinds and averaged 15.7 mpg with 33" tires going the posted speed limit.

On the way back, I rented a 6'x12' U-Haul cargo trailer to transport a Harley Davidson Road King motorcycle and a 57" plasma TV. Trailer weight was 1900 lbs. With the Harley, TV, and other items, total weight was 3000 lbs.

On the return trip, winds were minor, but still a factor. Averaged 12 mpg. But, I was unable to go the speed limit most of the way. To avoid the transmission dropping into 3rd gear, I had to keep the road speed to 68 mph or less in an 80 mph zone.

I was getting passed by semi-trucks constantly for the entire 1400-mile trip back home.

It was embarrassing, frankly, to get blown by lesser vehicles the entire way. Before this trip, I was contemplating a 17' RV camper. Now, I would never consider ANY RV camper for the 4Runner beyond a 30-mile road trip.

Looking at the Tundra for an upgrade...

 

….yep!

Buy a diesel to tow. Buy a Toyota to play (or mall crawl).

 

Got rid of my Tacoma back in the day for the same reason, now back into the 4runner because we have another vehicle to tow. The tacoma would struggle with a small teardrop camper less than 3000lbs… I know chevy gets a bad rap, but our suburban will tow our 5,000lb boat at 80MPH with zero problems, and still get 12-13MPG. There’s just something about a v8 for towing… or like Cory said.. a diesel!

 

That is a huge box you were pulling, plus the bigger tires, so it's not surprising it struggled. Wind resistance is something that gets overlooked when towing. I have a 7x14 single axle open trailer with a mesh tailgate and plank floor that I use for hauling building materials and farm supplies and the 4Runner pulls it with very little effort. Living in the flatlands also helps for sure. If I were to tow every day, I would consider something else, but driving around a full size truck for the 2-3 times a month I tow doesn't make sense for me.

 

I towed a pop up camper across the country and back a couple years ago, wasn’t fun, but it did it. I wouldn’t expect a big Uhaul trailer would be good. That’s a nice big wall you are pulling behind you.

 

Towing with a load leveling hitch makes a huge difference because it effectively transfers the center point of the weight forward to the vehicle’s chassis. Not saying 4Runners aren’t bad for towing, but dragging 3000 lbs of box is far from optimal.

 

Were you in S4?

Also, Toyota recommends 65 MPH max for towing. And, it's the law in some places. And, it really just makes sense to keep the speed down when towing. Towing a trailer that big at 80 is just asking for trouble.

I've towed the exact same trailer. Even on 295's and stock gears, no problem at ~ 55-60MPH in S4.

I would definitely agree that it's not great for towing. But, it's really not bad. It's actually better than my Tacoma was, despite a lower towing capacity.

 

I tow my 21' boat, ~4,200lbs - FL to NJ twice a year with my 4Runner's. I have also done this a Ford Expedition(twin turbo 3.5l V6) and Chevy Suburban (5.3l V8). Both have 9,000LBS tow ratings. I found that the biggest concern/difference was the 4Runner's short wheel base and the 4Runner getting pushed around a lot by the wind and passing big rigs. I agree with you that pushing over 70MPH while towing any kind of weight is not an easy task for a 4Runner (but +70MPH starts to get a bit reckless for towing - BTW the UHaul trailer is only rated to be towed at 55MPH). The 4.0l V6 torque curve is not ideal for towing - below 3000 rpm, there's not much there. From 3000 to 5500 rpm, it's full on - the 5 speed trans doesn't help. Plus your 33" tires also didn't help the situation. Our stock gear ratio is 3.73 going to 33" tires effectively has you at a 3.59 ratio. Toyota designed the engine, trans, gear ratio's for going off road not for long distance towing. I will say I love local towing and using the 4Runner at the boat ramp - the short wheel base make launching and retrieving a piece of cake.

 

Yuppp, towed my buddies overland trailer that was maybe 2k pounds if that. Got 11mpg.

 

I have a 5x8 carry on trailer I use to tow my 2016 Suzuki king quad 750 atv with. Not much weight at all by any means, but in the summer with the ac on in slight hills I think the 4 runner was a smoother ride vs my 01 Tahoe, granted that has 201,000 miles on it and one less gear.

 

I have got to agree with just about everyone who commented. Especially the post saying to buy a diesel for towing, and using the 4Runner for play and around town trips or long trips without towing. I would never get rid of my Runner, that's why I bought a diesel to tow my tow-able rigs around. I do like the Runner at the boat ramp though, where maneuverability comes into play. I have the 4th gen, 2007 Runner and I absolutely love the vehicle. It was never designed for long distance towing, so hang onto it and get a truck. If you sell it, or trade, you will be doing someone a big favor, but not yourself!

 

The only issue I had was lack of power/torque.

I know how to load a trailer properly to avoid trailer sway, and the 4Runner was never unstable or sketchy. In that regard, it was wonderful.

Just needs more power.

The U-Haul trailers are not "designed to only go 55 mph". They have those decals on their trailers for legal reasons and has nothing to do with the design of the trailer. Some states also restrict the speed of a trailer without brakes, but, the 6x12 I rented had hydraulic surge brakes.

Going only 55 mph here would be maddening...

 

More power wouldn't make it safe to tow at 70-80 MPH.

 

Off topic but looks beautiful. I prefer a solid 65-70 mph Atleast myself.

 

Why do you think the 4Runner isn't safe to tow at 70 mph?

 

So it wasn't "pretty awful", just not as fast/powerful as you wanted?

The physics of adding 18 feet, two axles, and 3,000 pounds are not immaterial. Toss in a rental trailer with inexperienced (prior) operators and a questionable maintenance record, and the risk increase isn't linear as speed increases, it is exponential. I agree that slow is boring but towing at the upper limits of the vehicle/trailer/driver/conditions is a gamble.

 

The manual recommends not towing above 65.

I would say it depends on what you're towing, to an extent. But, 65 is the speed limit for towing in a lot of places. I assume this is for safety reasons.

It probably doesn't feel sketchy until it's too late.

Having enough power doesn't make it safe. I cringe when I see people with diesel trucks towing 5th wheel campers at 80 MPH. Having 900 lb/ft of torque isn't going to make it stop faster.

 

Tow ratings are determined by layout, wheelbase, track width, suspension and many other factors, not just power. https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1502-sae-j2807-tow-tests-the-standard/

 

Towing at 55mph in that setting would require a change of mental state. The skipper of a double hulled oil tanker doesnt get upset he’s only making 15 knots.

 

If I might add that rear axle and suspension geometry is awful for even slightest trailer sway. Everything back there acts jelly like when unsettled. I will not tow any lengthy distance or speeds over 45 with fully loaded trailer driving 4Runner. If I have to, I'd rent pickup with rear leaf springs and proper anti-sway setup.

 

Reminds me of the time my wife and I moved her mom from KC to Denver maybe 30 years ago. I had a 1988 4Runner with the 22R-E and 5-speed manual. We towed that same U-Haul trailer, but the taller version of it. Trailer was pretty full, 4Runner was full. I have no idea what weight I was pulling. But driving into the wind, that trailer was like a parachute. The 4R handled it fine, but 50-55 was about all she could muster aside from downhills. And averaged 11mpg, foot on the floor maybe 30% of the time. But never a whisper of complaint, temp gauge stayed steady. I was impressed with the abuse it handled.

 

As a former owner of a dump truck company, CDL holder, and having been towing for decades, I am pretty confident in my ability to discern what is safe and what is not when it comes to towing.

The 4Runner towing 3,000 lbs of tandem axle, low center of gravity cargo trailer, with a properly proportioned load, is perfectly safe to tow on straight, well-maintained paved roads up to 80 mph. I hit 80+mph a couple of times on downhill stretches and it was totally stable and controllable.

If I had another 100 hp, I would have had no qualms about maintaining the speed limit of 75 mph on the interstate.

When I hit the twisty Idaho mountain roads, I went 5 mph under the speed limit just because I didn't want to tip the bike over. I still ended up laying the bike on it's side just before New Meadows, ID. I pulled into an Idaho DOT site and spent 45 minutes getting the bike upright and secured.

No issues the rest of the way home.

 

argh!!! Nooo! What happened? Any damage?

 

It looked like the rear tire skipped sideways and the bike just slowly went over and rested on the right exhaust pipe and foot rest. No damage.

 

I love how everyone is a professional driver here.

So, you owned a trucking company, but can't understand why a brick shaped SUV gets bad mileage while towing a brick shaped trailer at speeds above what is recommended by the manufacturer?

Ok.

 

I've towed with several 4Runners and a Tacoma (leaf springs), and the 4Runners have been better for me.

I'd love to hear your explanation of what's wrong with the rear suspension geometry. Maybe you can explain it to the engineers at Toyota so that they can get it right on the 6th gen.

 

I towed this fishing boat 966 miles home from Rainy Lake, MN a few years ago. Midway through the trip the rear end of my 4Runner was sagging like mad. Other than poor gas mileage, I had no issues.

If I was going to use the 4Runner to long distance tow regularly, I get a set of Firestone Airbags for the rear springs to prevent the rear from sagging.

Otherwise for local short distance towing of uhaul trailers and the boat, the 4Runner is just fine.

 

I wish they had some technology that my Tahoe did in 01, it wasn’t air suspension but the rear shocks automatically leveled its rear end back up within a few miles of driving. Seemed like the perfect set up & had coil springs vs leaf springs.

 

It would tow better with a load leveling hitch than the airbags. Both will level the vehicle, but with air bags you are still dragging the bulk of the additional weight on the hitch and trailer’s axle, whereas the proper hitch shifts the center of weight forward of the hitch. It makes for an entirety different (better/safer/more pleasant) towing experience.
https://rvlife.com/how-weight-distribution-hitches-work/amp/

 

I am planning to tow my aluminum Crestliner in the spring for fishing. We will see how it does. The boat itself only weighs 1500lbs thankfully. All in with motor, trailer, gas, equipment I am probably around 3k lbs

I figure if a 4.0 V6 90s Explorer could tow it 30k miles surely a 4Runner should be able to. My trips are about 40 miles each way so nothing crazy and on flat land.

The 4Runner made sense for me since it fit in the garage so much better. If I was not in the city I probably would have got a pickup. Even the Tacomas and Colorados length add up quickly in the garage