Hey guys,

I am thinking about buying a boat about 1800 miles away. I would be towing it with my 2000 4runner SR5 - 5speed, 6 cylinder. The combined weight of the boat and trailer is about 4500. The tow rating is 5K. I have a heavy duty hitch (class 5 i think), and currently tow a boat that weighs in about 3k.

I'm a bit nervous about trailering something that close to the max. The trailer has surge brakes, so that will help a lot. the 5speed will make things easier too, but like I say, that's a heavy load for the old 4runner. Other than a fresh oil change and new plugs, etc. what else should I think about doing to prepare? I had the gearboxes and tranny fluids changes out just a few hundred miles ago.

Appreciate any advice.

Joe

 

Go the speed limit. Manual tyrannies are good for towing. Make sure your suspension is in check.

 

should be fine.
make sure your breaks are good too!

 

your rig will pull it no problem, but the ride will not be the greatest...i pulled roughly 4200 pounds of scrap brick, lumber, etc. from a new house site once and the only problem i had was the rear end sagging so bad from the load...just be sure those brakes are in good check...or if you'd be towing this boat in the future with this rig, look into some of those helper air-springs that go inside the rear coils, like the ones i think firestone makes...and fyi, we have class 3/4 hitches, as class 5 hitches have a larger than 2" receiver...out of curiosity, what type/brand boat is it?

 

check out jcwhitney.com they got some airbags for pretty cheap, i got them on my 91 and they work great!

 

FYI Surge Brakes can be scarry and dangerous. If you jab on the brakes, like in a panic stop, they will lock up and the boat will want to pass you. Also going down hills, if you downshift the trailer will want to push you causing the brakes to apply. Once I was driving a 56k# truck, towing a 10k# trailer with surge brakes, going down a long hill. I used the trucks engine to control my speed and the trailer applied its brakes. The trailer was smaller than the truck and I couldn't see it. My friend, who was following my in another truck called me to tell me that the trailer was on fire. I couldn't see or feel it. I was almost off the hill so I accelerated and yanked the tongue out, releasing the brakes. I drove it out and the brake fire went out. (never stop when your brakes are on fire, you'll burn the vehicle to the ground)

 

Surge brakes can be weird. Make sure the tongue weight is correct. I would recommend air bags for the rear to keep the suspension working.

Good luck,
Paul

 

lots of good advice here - thanks. I was worried about the rear springs -- as you all know, they can be problematic with the 4runners. I believe the hitch is a curt class 3, not a class 5 as I said earlier. I do remember that the capacity is 5k. I have heard stories about the surge brakes also, especially on long downhill grades -- I need to make sure they are adjusted properly before we head out. Gerdo, that's good advice on the brake fire scenairo -- which I hope never happens to me. Mike, it's a 20 grady walkaround, 200 hp outboard with a sweet aluminum i beam trailer with the surge brakes.

Here's the thing, with the 3k boat trailer package I tow now, the 4runner is great -- you would hardly know it's back there. One thing I do notice is when letting the clutch out with the load, you can actually hear the clutch wearing -- kind of like a hollow metal on metal sound. I know it's the clutch plate slipping a bit. Truck has only 52k miles on it, but I wouldn't want to blow a clutch on this trip. What do you think?

Joe

 

If your clutch is slipping with a 3k Lb boat, you'll probably toast it with a 4.5K Lb boat. Might be worthwhile to replace it before the trip.

 

grady's are pretty awesome, as my uncle had a 25 footer we'd take offshore all the time...but as for that clutch sound you mentioned, definitely look into a replacement. i went with a centerforce unit and it's been great for me

 

I will be the odd guy out and say that you should look at another tow vehicle (from UHaul or friend's Tundra). Towing that much weight in a smaller SUV for 1,800 miles is not smart, IMO. If it were closer, maybe it'd be okay, since you know the area. But going out that far and hauling through various terrain that you're not familiar with could spell disaster. If you decide to go, best of luck to you. If it were me, I'd not risk my truck, boat or potentially my life. My 2 cents.

 

How much does shipping a boat cost? 3600 miles is $500 just is gas. Add tear and wear, lodging, food and days of very stressfully driving. You are looking at over $1000 easily in direct costs if nothing goes wrong. If someone can get it shipped for $1500-2000 it doesn't make sense to trash your 4Runner.

 

These are all good points. It would cost me $1.36 per mile to have it hauled up here, and they don't flatbed it, they use your trailer. The clutch and the 4runner have 54K miles on them. The clutch doesn't slip, but I do hear a not-good sound when I first let the clutch out on a grade, when not in 4-wheel drive, so for instance, stop light on a hill when I have 3k load on the back- that kind of thing. Uhall would charge me 690.00 one way to rent a truck (gas would be extra). Finally, I just realized, I made a mistake on how I descirbed the situation. it's 1150 miles each way, not 1800. I calculate it would take 18 hours of drive time down, 21 hours back.

Still not sure what to do here. Now I am thinking I will fly down and back and have it hauled.