My goal of having a heavy duty ride that could handle some weight was put to the test today. I wouldn't take it out on the open road at high speeds (nor recommend it), but with the Old Man Emu 901-HD springs, Firestone Air Lift bags and a brake controller, it pulled my sister's 6000lb gw, 29', slide out trailer to it's new home with only about 1-1.5" of squat. Picture of it with full weight as she drove.

 

Looks like a pre-head gasket thread!

 

load levelling drawbar and hitch setup would've cut your squat to maybe .5" even without the airbags

 

now try to pull it up the grapevine or other steep grade lol

 

hey james!

that is an awful lot of weight for the 3.0 to pull and stop. i pulled a buddies hard body trailer a couple times last season and it was hard on my truck and my concentration.

you sure wouldnt want to do that on a regular basis, that would definately kill your motor and trans in a hurry.

lee

 

Surprisingly it pulled it and stopped quite well. I was in no hurry and just eased up to speed. It was a one time thing though. I know that the driveline and suspension were never designed for such a load. It was only about 8 miles on flat city streets.

 

I do have a tranny cooler and remote oil filter with cooler.

 

Your 4Runner is not rated to pull that much weight period. Great your ride and suspension didn't implode but pulling any trailer over your vehicle's acceptable load/tongue rating any distance for any reason is ILLEGAL and endangers everyone on the road around you. You should know better!

 

Good read here, although it is RVs, not a 4Runner.
Think brake fade here...
http://www.kirotv.com/fatalflaws/index.html

 

Agreed! Not trying to harsh on your mellow but that was just flat out dangerous!

 

The trailer was just purchased and was empty, so I'm sure it was well below 5000lbs. I'm sure the 6000lb gvw rating takes into account 2000lbs of luggage and gear weight. The trailer has it's own brakes too. I did this early in the morning when there was no traffic on the road and I had a chaser vehicle. I "know" it's not recommended and I would never do this on a regular basis or in traffic, I was just impressed with the OME springs. I guess I forgot to mention it was new and empty.

Not to mention that most mods (even ones promoted on this site) to 4X4's are DOT illegal in almost every state. It's illegal to drill into or weld on a vehicle frame. That's why body shops are not allowed to section or repair frames that would require cutting or welding to fix. Just because they might not be caught or enforced doesn't make them safe or legal. I'm not saying mods can't be done in a safe way, nor that I've done ones myself, but most mods done for 4wheelin or rock crawlin are not designed for the road.

I'm not trying to make issues of anything or anyone or am I making excuses for myself, just thought I'd explain better.