4Runner is pretty awful for towing...

A couple previous posts suggested the need for a diesel vehicle. What does it matter what the vehicle likes to drink?
It's about hp, torque and suspension, which can be achieved from a gasoline engine. If I was going to be towing a giant 5'er all the time, then I might consider a big manly dually diesel.

 

This and a proper hitch height. That nose down, squat in the rear end is not helping at all either. And pretty sure uHaul's policy is a 55mph tow rating as well. As for the rig, its just not geared to tow more than 2k. Manually shift to keep it out of OD.

 

Please elaborate. I understand hitch height and weight distribution in particular, however, not sure what you mean by nose down squat in rear end.
I think I totally agree with what you're saying though.

 

Many years back, I bought our family camper used at a dealership 90 miles away. Towed it home with our 4th gen. Limited experience towing, no experience in properly setting up a vehicle for it. Kids in the back seat. Rush hour traffic in Southern California. It was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life (despite being employed as a driver in one job and owning/operating a company that required full-time driving of cab-over trucks).

Sharing here for others who may come across this thread. I'm not an expert, just sharing my experiences.

Size and wheelbase of the tow vehicle matters. Longer wheelbase is more stable and harder for the trailer to push around than shorter wheelbase. Not directed at the OP, but look at the size of the tow vehicle vs the trailer in the pic he shared. The trailer is bigger than the 4runner. Consider the size of your trailer and frequency that you're towing it. Shortly after this maiden voyage, I bought a 2nd Gen Tacoma because the added length and wheelbase could give us an edge in size and overall towability.

Weight balance matters. On that first trip, tongue weight was high and the trailer was severely nose down (meaning tongue was too low and front end of the tow vehicle was unloaded). It's not just about tongue weight, as others have alluded to on this thread. Where is the weight balance on your trailer relative to it's axle? What's the impact of the added tongue weight to the weight balance on your tow vehicle? A weight-distributing hitch is a great solution here, and some of them also come with anti-sway which is an added plus. For our part, I never went with a full WDH but found that proper hitch ball height (via different height on the receiver) and airbags got the trailer level, returned weight to the front end of the tow vehicle, and restored some of the safer driving characteristics to the Tacoma.

Weight itself is often overlooked. Adding a 3,000 pound trailer to your 4,500 4Runner means you'll need roughly 66% more stopping distance unaided (70 to 0 takes 319 feet under ideal conditions based on the metrics in this C&D article). Our trailer had electric brakes and I tuned the brake controller per the guidance in the manual to ensure it was engaging quickly and effectively when needed.

Tires and tire pressure matters. Rolling resistance on the rear wheels of the tow vehicle increases significantly once it is hitched up and carrying the load. Those recommended PSI figures on the door jamb are for comfort of the passengers, not specific to towing, particularly at long distances or higher speeds for an extended period of time. Flex of the tire sidewall and overall load rating of the tow vehicle tires should be evaluated (that's why higher load-rating tires often have more sidewall ply and are less comfortable to passengers). We ran the trailer tires at near cold PSI max and the tow vehicle rear tires at 5 PSI under cold max.

You're fighting physics when towing. The faster you go, the more potential you have for trailer sway (good primer on that in this article). Goal is to provide a stable platform overall so the effects are minimized. Speed, size, wheelbase, weight balance, tires properly configured all help combat sway and mitigate surprises. Good luck. Drive safe.

 

In this picture, and it may just be the angle, it appears the front end of the trailer is several inches lower than the rear. Also, assuming he does not ahve a leveling kit, he is squatting probably 3" in the rear of the vehicle. Handling characteristics, airflow, increased downward pressure on the driving wheels (rear) are will affect quality of pulling that trailer. Guessing the bike is loaded to the nose of the trailer. Using an vertically adjusting ball will improve a lot of the ride and pull ability.

https://www.bulletproofhitches.com/collections/2-hitches/products/2-0-medium-duty-4-drop-rise

 

Adding a Magnuson Roller Rocker Supercharger gets you 77 more horses & 75lb-ft of torque.

This is pretty good video that reviews towing a 3,500LB load travel trailer with ~550LB's of tongue weight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ5ts--yyps

 

Lots of good advice here.

I've done about 4K miles of towing with my 4R in the last year. Towed vehicle weighs between 2000# and 2500# depending on load. I also have bikes and camping gear on the 4R roof rack. Wife, two kids, and 80# dog in the 4R.

Notes:

• I tried all three stingers I have to get the towed vehicle near level
• Trailer tires at 55psi (pop-up)
• Rear 4R tires at 45psi (C-load KO2 in oem size). Normally run at 40psi.
• Installed helper bags in rear springs and inflate them to where 4R sits at same stance as when not towing
• I use a Redarc controller for the electric brakes on the trailer. Very smooth and unobtrusive.
• I load the pop-up deliberately (things in the right place), keeping weight as close to the axle as possible.
• I use a scale to set tongue weight right at 10% of tow load. Yes, I'm that geek. Everything I love is in this rig.
• I'd be lying if I said I kept it to 65mph all the time. It's stable at 75mph but have only done this once or twice. Was stable.
• We've done Tioga Pass and Sonora pass across the Sierra Nevada three of four times with this setup. Also took a long trip up to Oregon this summer.

Performance

• Have had a couple quick stops on I-5 with heavy braking and we stopped quickly with no wagging.
• Turns and sweepers over passes are stable with no wagging.
• Fuel is burning at 12mpg
• S4 is your friend to stay out of overdrive
• Five speed is not optimal (understatement alert!) for towing. Lots of hunting if you use cruise control. Don't.
• Closer gear ratios, especially between 3 and 4 could save so much revving and drama through the mountains
• Power is _barely_ sufficient, but I'm used to a more powerful vehicle. If you're patient, you'll be fine.

Conclusion: I trust this setup and feel safe and secure with it. It's not ideal from a noise and speed perspective, but I can adjust.

Jason

 

We tow a 3,000 lb , 17 foot camper, no sweat. Easy peasy. Brake controller is a must. No special hitch was required for our set up.

 

FWIW my 4th Gen 2007 Limited V8 tows like a boss. It's got the factory 7K lb tow package on it IIRC. We've used it at least a few times to go out of state to tow home another project car or truck. I haven't towed anything heavy more than a couple hundred miles to know whether the tranny is up for a long haul or not but she handles down the highway keeping with the flow like a normal drive. Starting, stopping and cornering are the only times I'll get a slight reminder what I've got back there in case it slipped my mind. Adding PowerStop's Z36 towing pads and rotors in the 4Runner definitely made a noticeable difference when bringing her to heel with a load behind her.

 

I miss my 89 v2500 Suburban for towing, actually, was great for just about everything except parking in the city.

 

I agree with this.
And we're gonna hear a lot of "stories" in the next few months about 4R's not getting flawless gas mileage based on usage.
I didn't buy it for the savings on gas. I bought it for not having to go visit someone to fix stupid issues, like most other vehicles.

 

The V8 Gen4 4Runner is a known amazing rig. Wish I had one as a 2nd car for heavy hauling.

 

While not necessary for the size trailers we've been discussing on here there is a big difference between towing with a diesel vs a gas engine. Most diesels create their maximum torque at much lower rpms than most gas engines. When I went from an 01 f250 with the 7.3 powerstroke to my 07 Tundra 5.7 the difference pulling my camper was considerable. The tundra handled it fine but it had to work a lot harder and at higher rpms than the diesel. That's in spite of the fact that the Tundra has much more horsepower and slightly less torque.

 

I'll buy that. I'm just used to pulling my 5x7 utility trailer, usually with one of my 4Wheelers. They are about 750 lbs.
Have no experience with anything larger, except for one time.
I pulled a Uhaul flatbead car trailer carrying my son's tacoma from Cincinnati Ohio to North Carolina. My pulling vehicle at the time was my 99 Ford Lightning and it hardly knew it was back there.

 

My 19' Escape travel trailer weighs about 3500 lbs loaded and tows well behind my 4R. You can definitely feel it on long or steep grades but I am satisfied with the overall towing performance. I previously towed the same trailer for a number of years with my FJ and the towing characteristics were similar. I towed the Escape all over western Canada and US across many mountain passes without incident.

 

Dave--that is a great looking rig you have! I am not much of a camper myself but your 4R and camper look sweet. Hopefully I get to put up some pics of my boat and new 4R this summer. I can't wait for nicer weather.

 

That's a nice looking travel trailer! Where did you get the side mirror extensions?

 

Got the mirrors quite a few years ago, so I am not quite sure where it was from. They are the Milenco Grand Aero mirrors. I believe Amazon carries them.

 

This is my camper I tow with my Pro. Weighs 3k. No weight dist hitch was required, I do run a brake controller. Tows well.

 

Never considered my 4runners as a tow vehicle , I have a LC200 and it tows ok , I have towed with my previous 5th gen 4unners under 3500 lbs and it was ok but the 4runner are underpowered with out the trailer .
If I’m towing with a Toyota its going to be my Tundra Crewmax tows really well power and longer wheel base , my LC200 has the 5.7 but longer wheel base makes all the difference .
Anyone have. Magnuson Supercharger on the 5th and Tow ?
I had on a tundra a few trucks ago , was great except you had to run high octane gas .

 

I am glad you can still buy a vehicle like this. For me in the city with a 2 car garage having a vehicle that can still tow a lighter boat is great.

In a perfect world I would love to have a full size pickup but most days it is not needed and it would always have to sit outside which for me would stink.

I hope Toyota keeps making this where it will tow the 5k. I wish I knew better back when the V8 was made.

 

Hate to bust your bubble bro, but your truck is squatting; not level. That is not right, not safe. If that RV ever gets squirrelly you are going to be at the mercy of physics until you can slow down enough to get it to stop swinging. It is just a matter of time until you find out the hard way. The couple hundred dollar investment of a load leveling hitch with anti sway is worth the peace of mind that your trailer will always be rock solid behind your truck. It is not worth the chance you are taking, especially if you have others in the vehicle with you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCDt4tjxp-E

 

Toyota is like Mad Max the big V8 intercepters are done … i think Toyota will never produce a V8 again , besides not being politically and ecologically correct these days … the green people think we are the bad people with the gas guzzlers they throw vegetables at … LOL

 

This is why I bought a popup tent trailer. Weight is around 1400 lbs. plus my V8 tows it like a champ!

 

The only thing I've towed with my '04 V8 is a john boat. Looking into small campers. Should I be concerned?

 

You’ll be fine.

 

Just keep it well within the 5000# rating. Most people seem to prefer to stay around 3500# (loaded) or less.

Also, tow in S4, not overdrive. And, keep speed below 65.

 

Actually bro quite safe, i took it to a tow shop and they even determined it was fine as is. Meaning they actually refused to sell me a hitch that I didn't need. Tows like a dream champ.

 

It’s fine until it isn’t. Best wishes to you.

 

Thanks same to you bro