Question guys:

I have a 1990 v6. runner in very good mechanical shape. Ive owned 3 runners and I have never towed anything, never really needed to. Well Im looking to drive from TX to TN to visit family and friends and take a little vacation. I want to take my motorcycle along, since it will be my vacation and the area of TN im from is down right gorgeous country.

So, I have the 4x4 version and just put on a reciever hitch. How does my truck handle towing? Do I need to install a Tranny cooler? As of right now, I can tell you that my tranny runs fine. Other than being old, it always shifts and O/D works perfect. I can click it on/off on the highway and the convertor always locks up, or vise versa. I have not changed my Oil in awhile, and might before my trip. I have never seen the TEMP light come on.

On my last runner, a 91 same specs, it did.. it also was probably a shot tranny. I drove it cross country last year from maryland to TX with no issues at all.



So, any suggestions? Cooler? Good to go?

Other than the typical, 90 v6, SLUGGISH. I love my truck and have learned to live with 0-60 in 7 to 8 minutes.

 

If all you are towing is a Bike, you will be fine.

 

what he said. a bike is real light so you wont have any problems. once you start getting into the couple thousand pound range, even 1000 pounds, i'd think about a tranny cooler. just keep an eye on your temps to be safe but you'll be fine. i towed a 5000 pound boat with my tacoma, granted its the 3.4, but still pushed the "limit" and it was ok. have fun on your vacation

 

Well, a tranny cooler is a good investment whether you tow or not.
A motorcycle is little more weight than a fully loaded set of luggage so....
You've got options though for towing the bike: a small trailer to carry it or a 'stinger' that you put the front tire of the bike in and let the bike's rear tire roll on the ground.
If you're going to be pulling a trailer at all, I recommend getting a trailer with brakes. You can get one with hydraulic brakes that work whenever you begin slowing down, or one with electric brakes that takes a special controller in the truck to operate the trailer brakes. Either one costs more but gives you a bigger margin of safety.
On the other hand, if this is something you will not be doing often, the added wear on your truck's brakes is probably negligible and may not justify the cost of a trailer with brakes.
I just tend to err on the side of caution.

 

I was going to go with thw stinger, but darn it.. my bike is shaft driven and the manual specifically says do not tow with the back wheel turning. very bad. It wont happen to often, so at least for this trip no brakes.. but I am thinking about the cooler. Costs 60 bucks and is easy to install. Kinda stupid for me not to.

 

cooler is worth it! the most common cause of auto trans deaths on trucks is towing