okay guys, my grandparents just won an 18ft bumper pull travel trailer at A local casino.

My grandfather is about 90yrs old with Congestive Heart failure
My grandmother is also almost 90yrs old.

so they are NOT going to use it..and have offered it to me for FREE to live in while i'm working and going to college.

this is a $15,000 trailer, and is BRAND NEW.


my question is though...will the 4runner be able to handle it?

http://www.crabtreerv.com/rv/keyston...Hideout_19_FLB

i haven't seen it yet, and won't see it until the end of the week. but i think it should look SIMILAR to that..and the weights should be a LITTLE less..the one in the link sleeps 6, mine only sleeps 3, but everything else is pretty much the same.

i do have a 1/2 ton dodge (my dad's) 4x4 but i'm not taking it to college with me..atleast not the ENTIRE time i'm up there..lol

i'd like to have opinions!!!!!

i thought about converting to Disks in the rear eventually..this could just speed up the process

i'm not sure if it has trailer brakes or not...will find that out soon.

if it doesn't have trailer brakes, can i put them on there? lmao i have NO knowledge of that kind of stuff...sorry guys

 

That's pushing it... I am going to bet the trailer will have brakes. How many hills are you going to go over? how far? How offten are you going to tow it? Are we talk Colorado or Kansas? 4200 dry so figure about 5200 wet. It's going to be maxing out your 4runner but it may be able to do it. Can you have your dad row it out to where you need it and leave it?

 

Shipping Weight 4,163 lbs

towing capacity on the v6 4runners is 5,000 I believe gonna be close, especially when you get your personal belongings in it.

Hitch: 405 lbs.

gonna need a hitch rated for 500 Pound Tongue Weight and 5000 Pound Towing which means a class III, but you have to watch, I have seen some class III's only rated for 3,500 tow and 350lb tongue.

Using a weight distribution hitch might be a good idea since your so close to the tow rating.

 

looking at the brochure it says here:

Safety Chains
- Break Away Switch
- Electric Brakes on all Wheels
- Carbon Monoxide Detector
- L.P. Detector
- Smoke Detector
- Fire Extinguisher
- GFI Electrical Outlets
- Tinted Safety Glass
- Radial Tires


ratings that are listed in the brochure differ from the website:

Shipping Weight 4315

Hitch 425

 

i have a class III hitch rated for a little over 5000# i believe.

the tow would be about 45 miles..in eastern Oklahoma..a few hills..but nothing severe.

it would probably not be moved for a WHILE..and if it did get moved..it would only travel like 45 miles at the most.

what's this weight distributing hitch you speak of?

 

oh, i was browsing through the brochure but didn't see any thing about trailer brakes.

thanks for pointing that out!!!

 

A wieght distribution hitch has 2 bars coming off it that lead back to chains on the trailer. You tighten the bars witch actualy will pull up on the front of the trailer displacing a couple hundred pounds of toungue weight. Thiers a percentage I just cant remember what it is.

 

yup daddy is right the weight distribution hitch allows you to basically stop the arse end of the truck from squatting under load.

 

According to my Toyota 2cnd gen manual, maximum towing capacity is 3500 pounds.

 

I would not tow the trailer with a 2nd gen 4 runner. Borrow your dad's truck and do it right. The 4 runner does not have the wheel base to have any stability to tow that thing. You would be swaying all over the road with your back springs maxed out and your front end wanting to lift off the ground.

 

i towed a 21ft bassboat with my '86 toyota...it weighed about as much as this travel trailer...didn't have any problems with it?

the trailer will get towed initially with the Dodge.

what i'm wanting to know though is will i be able to move it with the 4Runner IF I HAVE TO?

so far the answer is yes, but it will be difficult.

wish i had some springs that had a higher load carrying capacity lol..i imagine the runner with be riding on the bump stops.

now if i was taking this thing across the state, or across the nation...then yes i would most definitely tow it with a bigger truck..hell i would probably go buy a dodge diesel just so i can have one again lmao

 

Oklahoma and trailers don't get along to well.

 

3,500 lbs. is the max tow rating. The same as the 2010 RAV4 with the 269 HP V6. You could tow that trailer but it would be no fun, stressful and not safe.

 

I have a 91 4Runner. My old travel trailer weighted in at 2900lbs dry. By the time I had all the kit that I needed (not wanted) I was pulling 3350lbs. I know this because I stopped in at one of those weigh scales and got it weighed. I was only pulling it about 50 miles. It was very hard on my truck, hard on the gas, next to impossible to see in the back even with the extended mirrors and was a pretty stressful trip each time. So to answer your question, IMHO, I wouldn't do it.

 

find a buddy who has a full size rig if you can to be on the safe side; you could tow it and make it 45 miles carefully but anything pushes that thing out of it's max, i.e wind, quick stop, crap in the road etc... it's going to be an expensive free trailer...

towed 4000 lbs with my taco accross country at 70mph but even that was pushing it hard. my front brakes suffered a bit and I had to slip the clutch to get it going even in 1st gear and handling was OK; the things you do when you were 23...

 

yea i decided against it..lol the trailer is pretty big..and i HATE not being able to see behind me...and the roads going up there are CURVY.

however if i have to move it across town, then i will do it with the runner