landrunner

I have pulled over 9000 lbs with my 89 4runner 3.0 twice. Highway speeds were not a problem, it had plenty of power. braking sucked of course. I would not do it again because it tore the hitch out from under it and completely mangled the rear end of my frame.

WORMS

Those box tralers are a pain to haul...but your yota should do fine as long as you keep in mind that it is a small truck and watch how you load it, try to keep the heavy stuff over the wheels. When you are loaded down you are just gona take off slower, but once you get your speed up you'll be fine.. breaking is more of a problem that takeing off.

sb5walker

The danger in towing with a pickup isn't the towing, it's the stopping. Be sure the trailer has good brakes THAT WORK and make sure there's plenty of weight on the hitch to keep the truck's rear wheels firmly on the ground with good traction. The weight in the trailer will try to break loose the truck's rear wheels and push the rear of the truck around the front of the truck in a hard stop. Also be sure the truck's rear brakes work well and are adjusting properly. Be sure the parking brake levers (bellcranks) are not frozen in their brackets on the backing plates - that's fairly common and will prevent the rear brakes from grabbing.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

These Toyota Trucks and 4Runners would not be my first choice to really tow anything above a welder on a trailer. Say About a 1000 pounds give or take 500 pounds.

As stated it is not the pulling but the stopping one has to worry about since I have yet to own a automatic transmission I can`t say other than a add on transmission cooler is a must.

I have on a few times been forced to drag another project home from only at most a few hundred miles. One of the most important things is to plan your route and figure it will take at least twice as long if not more.

I avoid the interstate Highways unless there is no other option but that is a personal thing. I drive my own game and think nothing of coming off a hill (east coast mountain) in first gear never touching the brakes til I stop at the next light.

Since I have been hauling stuff since I could drive it is second nature to check things every time I stop. Chains /Straps, tires and lights anything that catches my eye

To me this is not a timed event the idea being able to get there and get home without breaking anything or anybody is the idea.

I have noticed even with the best of friends you are ready to kill each other till it is all over. That is why I just as soon go alone.

Bottom line If it needed doing with no other option I know I could get it done if need be.

93toyrunner2

My towing experience was due to an emergency situation. I had to get my 01 with a broken rod to the house, hauling it with my 93 3.0. I was able to maintain 60 MPH on the highway, but braking was nerve racking. There was brake chatter, and I had to anticipate stops ahead and brake early. The worst part was when I hit I-85 through downtown Atlanta, during which I had to stay at 25-30 MPH in order to be able to brake without incident.

4toy89

I just installed my tow package last night so im kinda excited to see how it tows. Although I did forget the small issue of the 4 inch lift and not having a drop down hitch... which im gonna need to add to my list of things to get. Also I want to tow something heavy before and after the installation of my exhaust system and see the difference.

olharleyman

I hauled this set up for 50 miles but would not suggest it to anybody that doe's not know how to tow or has little experience towing , now U Haul will not rent you a trailer to haul a 4runner/Tacoma with a 4runner because it is too equal weight wise and not allowed according to their towing scale. Braking was not to good and without sway bars it got a bit dicie going down hill the trailer tried to pass the truck but aside from that for a 3.0 with 35's I was happily surprised at how well it really did but again I would avoid this combo again if I could

calvinh

I've towed 3500 pounds or more on several occasions with my 97 3.4 auto with no issues aside from the obvious braking issues. I've only had problems with overheating once and it was doing it without a load also. New cooling system and tranny cooler and I'll pull my trailer anywhere with it.

Greg_Canada

The 3rd gens are rated for 3500lbs stock or 5000lbs with the towing package.

riptide

UPDATE!!!

Truck did fantastic. However, I didn't leave until later in the evening and temperatures had cooled significantly. I drove this myself so take off my big co-pilot who got stuck at work, bout 230 pounds, kept it in OD and engine temps were slightly above normal. Stayed at 55 and often accidently hit 60+mph, motor seemed to pull it with ease, but, it was screaming with such high RPM. Being auto I don't have a tach, so I couldn't tell you exactly, but 4.56 gears, I just didn't like it. I did the math and got about 11MPG. I got cocky on the way back since it was actually chilly outside and at night, turned OD back on and, for some odd reason, there seems to be 2 more gears it was using, instead of just a 1 OD gear. If I kept it between 62-68 I could keep it in the second to last gear, which sounded like the motor was much more at ease, and I'm sure helped the gas mileage. Hitting 70 which was damn near impossible with the hills, is when the final gear kicked in and was useless. Any hills it would dog down fast and downshift. I just stayed away from that speed.

I occasionally put my hand on the center hump right over the tranny to see how warm it felt, and it was barely warm. I could feel the temp going up when I was playing around with the final gear and it was shifting a lot.

Kept an eye on the coolant, oil, and tranny fluid. All still looks to be good as new.

Really, I could see adding several more hundred pounds before needing to turn off OD. Truck does pretty good... even braking was easy breezy. Seriously, I didn't have to brake back even nearly as far as I thought I would have. I barely had to think about it. Probably because I'm a grandpa braking way back as it is already.

Only complain is the sway. There were some serious winds that caused me to slow down below 55 more than once. I controlled it pretty well, but was certainly unsettling.

93toyrunner2

Excellent. Yes, driving a loaded trailer on the expressway and getting blasted with side winds can make a person a little tense at times!
I would recommend changing your fluids (at least engine oil) if you felt that the engine was overworking on the way there.

wmayota

We used to haul loaded hay trailers on occasion when my dad had his '90 22re. Talk about sketchy.

TNRabbit

Sway can be GREATLY diminished by having sufficient tongue weight...LT tires make a HUGE difference, too.

Magnusian

Do you remember how you hooked them up? Did he just use the rear bumper as a drawbar?

wmayota

No. There was a hitch. Where we live it is really hilly and a Yota has no stopping power or weight to hold back a loaded hay trailer. They buck a lot, too.

94Yo-toe

I pull my 1990 Rinker v-180, 19' Ski boat with a 3.7L i/o on a single axle trailer with my 1994 Ext. Cab Pickup 3vze 5spd 4x4 with 4:30 gears and Mickey Thompson Baja claw 33x14.50x 15's on 10" wide, 4" offset rims with NO ISSUES. Breaking doesnt even seem to be any problems. And thats with the cab loaded with me and the wife, and the 2 dogs in the back, the bed has a tool box in it thats LOADED with tools and we have bags/supplies in the bed. NO IDEA what that all weighs.....But I will say this, I have personally loaded the bed down with 2662lbs of garage door springs and rolled out!

bob200587

This thread makes me scared to be on the road with some of you. Geez.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I concur.

Lots of things one CAN do. It still doesn't negate it being stupid.

:wabbit2:

94Yo-toe

I TOTALLY see where you are both coming from. Take in mind I am not doing 70mph and driving carelessly. I am a responsible driver and attentive to issues as they may unfold as well as able to respond to them appropriately IF they were to occur. What we have here is fundamental attribution error, becasue I say I am doing things such as driving my truck with over a ton's worth of garage door springs in the bed, you assume I am a hillbilly pushing the limits of my truck in an unsafe manner. When in fact that was not the case. The load felt stable, the truck slowed down appropriately because I understood the differences in the physics of driving a truck with the suspension loaded down by the load, and slowing that heavy amount of moving mass. Obviously you should never intentionally put yourself in a situation that would require you to lock the brakes up with that kind of load. The truck obviously sagged with the weight, but it was not rubbing tires. The trip was on roads never going over 35mph and only for about 12 miles through the city to a scrap yard. There is something to say about the fact it was city driving as well, more fatigue to the drive line with the stop and go, yet throughout it felt very stable. These trucks (89-94) are considered "Commercial Grade" in almost every other part of the word. In my research the only difference between a "1-ton" version of that gen truck/runner, is the heavier rear springs and the free floater axle....that's it. So its not completely outlandish to load my bed down with that amount of weight under these conditions.

94Yo-toe

Here's a reference for the hilux 1-ton differences
http://www.brian894x4.com/Hiluxdifferences.html