Towed a deep V boat from Wisconsin to Ohio

Bought a boat up in northern Wisconsin and after outrageously high shipping cost I decided to just go get it myself..

well I’m down in south east Ohio and the boat is north west of Green Bay.. 667 miles one way.. drive involved going to Columbus, Indianapolis and then Chicago and on up thru Milwaukee etc…. (Roads from west side of Columbus thru north Chicago are all under construction and horrible at best).

anyways my 2022 SR5 premium bone stock got avg 21.8 mpg trip up and avg 20.5 mpg trip back.. boat being towed was a 16ft alumacraft deep v deluxe on an ez loader 19.5 ft trailer.. boat and trailer weighed in at 3350lbs dry.

the 4Runner barely squatted an inch when the trailer was on it. The ride was actually an improvement from being unloaded.. plenty of power and held cruise easily at interstate speeds …. No issues other than two trailer tire blowouts because of Illinois and Indiana poorly maintained roads and when the tires did blow I had to stop the 4Runner from trying to keep pulling like nothing was wrong (both tires blew while downpour and at night).

great experience with overall towing experience and the yota didn’t miss a beat..

 

You replied to my recent thread ha ha. Agree that the 4R is way more of a tow vehicle than it's given credit for. I was worried about the transmission during my trip but it never seemed to want to get out of lockup in 5th gear, even pulling some decent east-coast inclines. The torquey engine is a beast, and Toyota did a great job of keeping the transmission from diddling between gears when towing, with the caveat of not being in a hurry or trying to keep up with 70-80 mph traffic.

 

There have been threads here expressing serious disappointment on the 4runners towing performance. But it seems those were coming from folks pulling large (but relatively lightly loaded) enclosed trailers that probably doubled the frontal area of the vehicle, and who were towing at 75+

Sounds like it does just fine towing the weight as long as most of the load is tucked in behind the vehicles aerodynamic wake.

@universalfrost , sounds like you had a pretty epic towing adventure with the blowouts, lol. Did they both at least happen at the same time? Would really suck to get soaked twice in one trip!

 

Dang those are pretty impressive MPG’s. I was only able to take my boat out once since buying the 4Runner, and I was only able to get 13-15mpg’s. That’s towing at 65mph, one small hill each way, and my 18’ bass boat with trailer is only 2200 pounds. Given it’s probably more in the 2500 range with all the added graphs, trolling motor, and all the fishing gear.

I’m also doing the same just not with a boat. I was getting quotes to ship two motorcycles and they wanted 1800-2400 per bike! So I decided to drive and pick them up myself! I guess I’ll find out cross country towing mpg’s when I pick them up in CA and bring them back home to TN in a couple weeks! Would be great if I was able to obtain the same numbers as you!

 

I’m one of those cargo trailer towing fools (self admitted). The V-nose (6x10) is almost two feet higher than the 4R.
At first the mpg was figured out by the distance/gallons used, simple math from what I remembered in my high school days back in the 70’s.
The best was 14.**, the lowest was 11.**. The dash display shows different results.
And I’d say that 99+% was done in S-4, with some S-3 in there because of the grade changes along the I 15
freeway between SoCal and MT.

And glad that you had a safe drive.

And also on edit. The 4R tows really well, whether it’s on 4” of unplowed freeway snow or triple digit temperatures.

 

My V nose enclosed trailer is taller than my 4Runner. It’s a 5x8 that total weight is about 900 lbs and usually I haul less than 250 lbs. I haven’t made any trips with the 4Runner and trailer, but, gonna make our 2000 mile trip to Pennsylvania in September. Just hope we get some good mileage.

 

I have a 5x12 v-nosed trailer (14’ from the v to the back). It pulls and I barely know it is there unless I am loaded and even then I barely feel the extra weight. It is perfect for those trips to the trash, lowes, moving, or whatever. I moved from my apartment to my house with it and had no problems and that thing was loaded.


I have even had a huge pop up camper that I pulled up through the mountains in Arizona and the 4Runner did it. But man I wish I had a regear at the time. Camper weighed in around 4k lbs if I was to calculated the added weight from the scales. Plus a fully loaded 4Runner (4 young kids and 2 adults).

 

This is reassuring. I still am planning to pick up my boat 18.5 Crestliner with my new ORP (well one year old)

The boat weighs 1,450lbs itself being aluminum. Another 450 for the motor and maybe 800 for trailer.

Previously I towed with 90s body on frame Explorer with 3.73 axle. It did good just not winning any races and I am in MI so mostly flat.

I got a new B&W bumper hitch for the 4R just have not had time to get boat due to family health issues.

I am hoping to get boat soon. I bought a new four pin extension for the lights and hoping that length works. That’s my only unknown at this time is what I need for lights. Need to get to boat storage fifty miles away first.

When you guys use S4 do you start off in that or do you gradually increase speed and change gears. This is new to me. My old Explorer just had drive and overdrive.

 

I most always bypass D and go straight to S-4. I up shift and down shift all the time. Over 90,000 miles and still have the factory brake pads.
This summer will be new tires, new factory pads and have the disc’s turned.

 

So dumb question. Can I just shift into S4 from a dead stop out of park?

Or do I have to shift s1 through 3 and stop at four?

I am hoping I can start at s4 and just drive and slowly get on freeway.

Sorry for dumb question just have not done it yet.

 

Straight to S4. Usually what I do.

 

OP can we see some pics of your new boat and rig? Are you a walleye guy in Ohio? Great fishery!

 

When you shift into "S" mode, it goes into S4 by default. It will still drive like normal, just won't go into overdrive.

 

It's nice to see some good comments about the 4Runner and towing. I find mine tows just fine. Leave it in S4 and don't try to be in a hurry and you're fine.

It seems like the majority of complaints are from folks trying to tow at higher than recommended speeds. The manual (and the law in some states) recommends 65 MPH max for towing.

 

It helps to think of S mode as selecting “gear range”. By putting in s4, you are just telling the transmission that you only want to use 4 gears. Similar thing by selecting for S3, S2, S1.

The “car care nut” channel guy does not recommend that it be used to as a way to downshift and upshift like you would a manual. If you need a lower gear, that’s fine, but dont drive it pretending it’s a manual. It’s tough on the clutches because it doesnt slip the torque converter as much to smooth the downshift. That said, I would drop down a gear if road conditions called for it, just not as standard operating procedure.

 

if you put it in S4 (whether you’re at a stop or driving, it doesn’t matter) the 4R will still upshift/downshift on its own but will never go over 4th gear. In other words, it’s not manual shifting, it’s just telling the truck what the max gear you want to use.

similarly, in S3 the truck will not go over 3rd gear, etc…

so to answer your question, you can put it straight into S4 from park, that’ll just tell the 4R “do your thing but don’t go over 4th gear”
Also there are no such thing as dumb questions, I’m sure there are others that will have the same question and won’t need to ask because you already did

edit: got beat by the post above, oh well

 

Cool thanks guys. Appreciate the feedback. This makes more sense now.

My buddies with trucks have "haul mode" they press when they hook up their trailer. They teased me about getting a 4R but I figured for my boat being as light as it is its more than sufficient. My logic was if an old Ford Explorer body on frame did the job surely a 4Runner should be able to hopefully this proves true.

It was odd though as the old Explorer you could get a tow package with the beefed up trans cooler/battery/ 3.73 rear axle. The 4R comes standard with the 3.73 rear axle but no options for towing. The dealers just said its rated for the 5k with the new SAE towing rating which is some new industry standard for "real life" towing.

 

nope separate incidents... but both were instantaneous ... i was keeping a constant watch on the trailer tires from up front to catch them if they started to go flat, but both of these were instant blow outs and i am guaranteeing that it was do to the small car sized pot holes from chicago to indianapolis ...

 

will get some pics shortly... and yes.. im a walleye guy.. hence the deep v boat.. .grew up out in midwest (dakotas, minn, etc) so thats really what i know how to fish... interestingly enough the previous owner had this boat setup like he was bass fishing the banks etc... im looking at getting this boat out on the great lakes and also some of the larger inland lakes here in ohio, michigan, etc. ..

for the others.. i just left my transmission in drive... didnt move to any of the selectable ranges as i didnt have any real hills to deal with until i got close to home (im way south east on the ohio river and borders WV and can get very hilly especially in my last couple of miles, but the 4runner handled those hair pin turns with steep incline and decline like a champ.. it really down shifted a lot when i was going through some of the hills and it was not too low, not too high gears.. it was just right .. lol...

 

I have a 6x10 enclosed trailer (with a steel frame) that my son and I use to go to track days with our motorcycles and gear. I'm guessing we are towing about 2,000 lbs. in total, and on a 4 hour trip we were getting around 11-12 mpg on a 4 hour trip having hilly terrain.
I had a 2016 Tacoma with Manual before the 4Runner, and the 4Runner is far better at towing this package then the Tacoma was.

 

OP just fyi some my fishing buddies with boats have had a lot of issues with Carlisle tires lately not saying that was your issue.

Some are switching to Goodyear Endurance (made in USA) and had good luck. The roads stink here also in metro Detroit. I just bought Maxxis as the Goodyear was not available in my size.

Just thought I’d share for what it’s worth.

 

yeah the tires on the trailer when i bought it were carlisle bias ply USA TRAIL ST175/80D13 (load range c).... they held up fairly well and if the roads were half decent they most likely would have lasted the trip... i replaced them after they blew with some from Tractor Supply labeled under the GoodRide ST600 (these are factory on carry on trailers) same size ST175/80 DX13, but load range D and had extra sidewall plys (4 IIRC)... at $169 per tire and rim it was steep... but i needed them for the trip back so beggars cant be choosers... longer term im looking at some radial tires and wheels from eTrailer , but that will happen later this fall/winter when i do a complete refresh of everything (rewire, etc..)... i am doing bearings and seals hopefully this weekend if they get in...

 

OP you know ironic you mention D rated tire. My trailer is Shorelander and lots of places wanted to sell me D load tire

I contacted Shorelander and they advised against it for my trailer saying it was too stiff of a sidewall for the load of boat. They said I should stick with C load tire because the D would be stiff and cause too much bounce.

I am no expert but perhaps that is part of the issue you had on your journey.

It seems like the weight we have is comparable

 

Not a dumb question at all Mac.
And what others have said, works.
Just please don’t be one of those drivers that roll on to the freeway at a snails pace.
Use the acceleration lane (the on ramp) to your advantage and try to match the speed of traffic that you are merging onto.

 

That’s a nice setup Alan. I can almost hear the sounds of those bikes echoing through the trees. Beautiful.
We had a ‘14 Tacoma, 6 sp. before we traded it in for the ‘16 4R and bought the trailer in 2018.
Before we moved out of CA., I was pricing new trailers that we were looking at and found the same one in MT. for a $1,000 less. New.

 

i had c rated on the trailer when i bought it.. i put d rated on when the c rated blew because of the needed stiffness and greater load capacity... idealy this trailer would have had two axels and not one... im actually looking at a different trailer right now with twin axles , as this boat is at max load capacity for the ez-load trailer it sits on .

 

Wow I have never seen 16/17ft boat on a tandem axle. I know it’s safer better tow. I would not be able to use that the way my boat is in the backyard. I have to un hook and pivot it to park behind the house. Those tandems don’t pivot well at all. If you have have a lot a space though they work great. They ride nice

 

its the width and depth of the boat (along with weight distribution) that comes into play... my last boat was a 19.5ft fish and ski and similar weight but it was spread out more evenly... (plus the tires were larger 235's) same axles though... this boat its wide and tall / deep and weight is very concentrated at rear of center line which is right at the single axle (based on actual weights take on scales)...

 

all of this brings up an out of topic question for me. Can you sit in S5 to prevent your transmission from gear-hunting when on cruise?

 

No. It’s O/D. And will drop a gear at the slightest grade change.
It’s a fuel efficiency thing to maintain a chosen speed.

Even when I’m not towing, a strong headwind drops mine out of S5 to S4.