Results: Surprising.

Equipment: '95 4Runner.U-Haul 5x8 Enclosed Trailer. Empty Weight:1,090

Total weight was 2,100 for the trailer, and 700 in the car. Average speed was 70, but any hills was torture, and the average MPG was 14 lol.

Overall it went way better than expected, I originally was going to get a 6x12, which is what we usually use to move, but I was afraid the 3.0 wouldn't make it down.

Who else has towed with the 3.0?

 

I did it with my 91 extra cab but with a tandem axle u-haul trailer. Truck + trailer was 9500lbs (a little over gross!). Truck has a 3.0/auto and I got 17mpg doing 65-70mph. In all fairness though my 3.0 is a toyota I4 turbo diesel.....sorry, couldn't resist!

 

I towed an 87 4runner with my 95 4runner 3.0 5sp. ~300 miles on I95 from Florida to SC. I could run 70 all day long. I couldn't go 71 to save my life. I didn't even check mileage, it was BAD. Temp. stayed perfect. She done good!

 

i towed a uhaul 8 months ago 6x12 with my runner, but my 5.29's helped alot

 

you guys sure that the engine oil and ATF stayed cool enough with all that load?

 

mine did. I've got a chevy V8 swap radiator from NWOR (damaged special) + an additional cooler. Trans temp gauge never got above 185*.

 

I can't drive 75 mph for 340 mile trip running empty without the trans temp light coming on! I tried towing my 6x10 utility trailer with a few scoops of topsoil on it at 50mph for 30 miles and it still overheats. I've got the stock trans temp cooler and everything. Good to hear that everyones rig doesn't behave like this.

 

sounds like you need to replace the stupid radiator and install a trans cooler
make sure you're running an OEM toyota thermostat too... aftermarket FTL

 

Engine never overheats, just the trans. I have a new engine radiator and tstat. I do think I need to add another trans cooler.

 

The factory trans cooler in the radiator isn't that great. The chevy/4 core set up I put in is much better, but I still ran another cooler inline after the radiator. I also ran a foot switch and a relay to manually lock up the torque converter when ever I want, which helps alot with temps too. I don't know how good that mod would work with a gas engine though, with the low end torque of the diesel it makes it nicer to drive but a gasser may need to spool up more like the torque converter lets it. Is your TC locking up at all? If you are on a highway trip at 75mph the TC should lock up at 50mph and stay locked. You'll notice this on the tach, it seems like you're shifting into '5th' gear, my rpms drop about 500rpm. If your TC isn't locking up that will cause it to overheat.

 

The Chev 4 core setup sounds interesting. What's it from? Is it a direct fit, or need some bracket work? I know that my TC is locking up. I can hear/feel it. When I'm tooling down the road, I can lightly tap the brakes and it's unlock, rpms will climb 3-4 hundred and the loc up and tach back down again. I see that local Uhaul sells trans coolers and install for next to nothing, so I may just let em do it and see if that fixes me. For now I just do all my towing with our 01 Sequoia 4x4 Ltd

 

The radiator is from NWOR and is for swapping a V8 chevy in. The toyota diesel I have has the inlet/outlet in the same spots. I was able to get this one for $150 (IIRC) cause it was damaged in shipping to NWOR (I believe they sell these for $600 or so, solid copper, 4 core, auto). I spent $40 at a radiator repair shop and it's all good. I did have to get a different fan out of a junkyard that was spaced a little more towards the engine and I had to tweak the mounts a little to make room for it but it wasn't that big of a deal. If I were you, I'd just do the external trans cooler (I'd first hook up a trans temp gauge to see what's really happening). I'd try it both with the factory cooler and without and see what keeps you cooler.