Looking at T4R for towing

Greetings,

My wife and I have a small travel trailer (R-Pod 190) that has an unloaded weight of 3,000 pounds and we have been towing it with a Jeep Wrangler (3500 pound tow capacity). On hills it goes into overdrive at 5200 Rpm. This doesn't seem sustainable. We are planning at cross country trip (avoiding Interstates) and want to change our tow vehicle.

Is the Toyota 4Runner TRD a good option? How does it handle hills? Suggestions/thoughts?

Thank you!

 

Welcome. There's a on here that tow, I'm sure they'll come in with experiences.

 

I’d consider something else if towing is your primary reason for a 4Runner. It will do it, but folks complain about its lack of power.

 

I too would keep looking if cross country, no interstate is the planned route.

 

As long as it’s up to temp and operating normally, revving up for an extended period of time, especially on hills is fine.

Unless you go ham with a much, much more powerful vehicle you’ll certainly see revs with the 4Runner too on hills.

I dragged a cargo trailer in my 4-cylinder Kia known for killing its bearings halfway across the country and it was spinning at around 3.5-5k RPM the entire time. Fuel economy sucked, but oil analysis after indicated that it “didn’t notice” the towing and was continuing to wear well.

If higher revs on hills is the only concern with your Jeep’s towing I’d stick with it.

 

Our 4R downshifts with no load. With 3k lbs add'l weight it would suck. Best to look for something with better transmission and differential gearing. In fact, the Jeep, depending on what trim, has more power than a 4R.

 

Great input thus far. I'm also concerned about towing capacity of Jeep at 3500 being too low once we're loaded.

 

How about a couple year old Tundra 5.7L V8 or Ram 1500 5.7L Hemi V8, key word here is V8. Welcome to the forum.

 

You’re gonna want a used 2nd gen sequoia or tacoma. You’re only upgrading 1,500 lbs & no trans cooler if you get a 4Runner. That’s not worth it.

You’d be better off getting a tacoma, than a 4Runner, that has the trans cooler aka tow package & pulls 6,500 lbs. I tow with my 4Runner but I won’t be next summer. I'll use my tacoma. I want a used 2019ish sequoia but using it maybe 5 times a year isn’t money smart for my family right now