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95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners 4th gen pickups and 3rd gen 4Runners

Towing with your 3rd gen.

Old 02-25-2010, 05:13 AM
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Towing with your 3rd gen.

Hello all, i believe this is my first thread start. Anyways. My question is about towing with your 3rd gen. I see alot of people towing smaller stuff around with them (dual snow mobiles, dual ATV's, ect) and the rear suspension seems to squat really bad. Was wondering what i could do to solve some of the squat issue, and make the 4rnr more "tow" ready

In the future i plan on towing a featherlight one car trailer and my 2500lb car. on rare occations. And my ATV with a small trailer often.

Thanks for the help guys

FYI i plan on sometime doing a 3" lift to it. so if there is a lift that will help with this, feel free to share

I also am already running 33" tires on my Limited. (17's inch rims)


Last edited by NickP; 02-25-2010 at 05:14 AM.
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Old 02-25-2010, 05:41 AM
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Lift with new coil springs and a trailer hitch with the proper drop and it shouldn't sag.

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Old 02-25-2010, 07:44 AM
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I have a '99 limited.

I towed a Bass Tracker boat (1,800 pounds) for 200 miles last year. Lot of hills.

It sucked
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Old 02-25-2010, 07:46 AM
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May also want to look into airbags. I am not sure how much they cost, but they came on my 3rd gen when I bought it from the previous owner and it will eliminate the sag when i tow.
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Old 02-25-2010, 08:07 AM
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I'd invest in a transmission cooler, good ceramic brake pads, synthetic diff fluid (75w-90), and maybe airbags in the back. Are you going to be going up any mtn passes? Might be a bit of a struggle with 33's and a trailer, if you're not regeared.
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Old 02-25-2010, 08:39 AM
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Originally Posted by canterm
May also want to look into airbags. I am not sure how much they cost, but they came on my 3rd gen when I bought it from the previous owner and it will eliminate the sag when i tow.
Usually around 150-200 range for a set of 2 airbags

As of towing, I towed 10'000 lbs trailer with my 4th Gen (V6 version) and I think my 3rd Gen is capable of making to about same level, may be a bit less.
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Old 02-25-2010, 09:24 AM
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wow dude u pulled a 10000lbs trailer with ur 4th gen, that's pretty dangerous, i hope you had trailer brakes
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Old 02-25-2010, 09:31 AM
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I agree with firefighter. That is dangerous even with trailer brakes. I recommend not towing anything right at the tow limit, much less DOUBLE. If you towed that thing for an extended period of time, I'd take a close look at your drivetrain, frame, etc. 4Runners were not meant to tow that much.
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Old 02-25-2010, 10:31 AM
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If you're looking at doing a 3" lift, I would fully recommend a Sonoran Steel lift. I have system 7.2 and even under a fairly heavy load it doesn't sag much. Steve at Sonoran Steel would be more than happy to answer any questions regarding towing... I don't tow much when I do. He does very high quality work, and as far as lifting 3rd gens goes, you couldn't do much better.
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Old 02-25-2010, 01:21 PM
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I towed 45000lbs on 62" tires and with 24" of lift.
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Old 02-25-2010, 01:28 PM
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Originally Posted by DailyDrive
I towed 45000lbs on 62" tires and with 24" of lift.
Do you ever have anything useful, much less correct, to say?
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Old 02-25-2010, 01:30 PM
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yeah same here, i put a flat bed on my taco with a 5th wheel in the back and i tow semi trailers through the Tennessee mountains, that tundra brake upgrade is awesome
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Old 02-26-2010, 01:03 AM
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Red face

I have noticed that the 4Runners have a lot softer suspension thus when you put anything on the back they really sag even with new stock springs .

My 2000 tacoma came with a factory towing package and with the same piece of equipment does not sag at all.

If towing is only a once in a while thing I would go with airbags for when you need them.
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Old 02-26-2010, 01:59 AM
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Originally Posted by NickP
Hello all, i believe this is my first thread start. Anyways. My question is about towing with your 3rd gen. I see alot of people towing smaller stuff around with them (dual snow mobiles, dual ATV's, ect) and the rear suspension seems to squat really bad. Was wondering what i could do to solve some of the squat issue, and make the 4rnr more "tow" ready

In the future i plan on towing a featherlight one car trailer and my 2500lb car. on rare occations. And my ATV with a small trailer often.

Thanks for the help guys

FYI i plan on sometime doing a 3" lift to it. so if there is a lift that will help with this, feel free to share

I also am already running 33" tires on my Limited. (17's inch rims)
Obviously you didn't search.
There's 12 pages total..or 200+ threads about 'towing' and 'tow' in this sub-forum alone. Some are a recent few pages long with plenty of info. Please start there or here. Thanks!


And for the love of everything sweet, it's called a 4runner! Nothing else.
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