Towing with a 5th gen

Nope, my old man has a tundra and tows it with trailer brake, weight distribution, and all the other goodies. Minus the air bags. Holding off on those, he is going to trade his 16 tundra with over 100k miles for a ram diesel (1,000ftlb) and get a larger trailer. I just move the trailer with the 4runner around a camp ground where they have storage and hookup sites.

 

I was wondering if your towing that ! I would have like to get a larger trailer but limited with the 4R and storage will only fit a 16' on prem.

 

I have a Travel Trailer weighing approx 4K lbs I have E2 wd with sway control and brake controllerTrailer is 22ft long and about 10 ft tall
Your height and wind resistance will be your largest battle.
I have had no problems to towing this package with 2018 SR5 average Mpg 10
Typically the runner sticks in 4th gear and doesn’t hunt for 5th.

 

I just bought a camper- 3000 dry weight, 21' long. Its flat where I live, but when going over overpasses or a bridge, the 4runner goes to 4000rpm. then drops way back on descent. Is this ok? there is no "tow" button to lock the car in lower gear.

 

If you drop it into sport mode it will show 4 on the indicator, you will have all gears up to 4. If you want 5th just bump it up. Hope this helps.

 

Looking at the picture I'll say you are in no position to counsel anybody.

 

I am not yet a 4Runner owner, I have a 2020 4Runner TRD Offroad on order that is supposed to arrive in August. I have towed extensively with my 2010 FJ Cruiser and find the Escape Trailers to be lightweight, high quality, and easy to tow. I have a 2013 Escape 19' that we purchased new and a 2013 Escape 15B that we purchased used a couple years ago. Both trailers are great, but the 15B is definitely a bit easier to tow. I am hoping that the 4Runner will have similar towing capabilities as the FJ.

 

Cool trailers. I've been pleased with the 4Runner's towing. I put $80 firestone airbags in the rear coils and it's honestly easy to do and worth it if you plan to tow a lot, even with WD bars. I tow a teardrop without bars, but it does have brakes, and it's planted and easy.

 

Check out the RedArc Tow Pro Elite V2 or V3 or something, it's super clean and has a Toyota specific plug mount for your dash.

 

I would recommend the Tekonsha P3 has worked great in my 2012 4runner limited pulling a travel trailer loaded to about 3500 lbs, never taken into the mountains tho

 

The big limitation of a 4 Runner is the short wheel base, when compared to say a Tacoma. Your Escape 15, imho, is perfect. Your Escape 19 is pushing it a bit. When everything is going well, it’s no problem. But when something happens and you need to take control of your vehicle, a trailer that is bigger than your vehicle will tend to make the decisions for you. Can it be done, though? Probably, as long as everything is perfect and predictable. When making decisions about towing, the focus is almost always on “can it do it”. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it. Insurance companies assess this if something bad happens, and call it contributory negligence.

 

Don't want to be disagreeable, but I have been towing the Escape 19' since 2013 with the FJ Cruiser which has a wheelbase of 105.9" (compared to the 4Runner wheelbase of 109.8") and have had absolutely zero issues with maintaining control of the trailer under a wide range of conditions (wet, wind, sudden braking, etc). I use a WD hitch and have a wireless brake controller installed. The Escape 19 and 15 are wonderfully designed trailers that are well balanced, lightweight, and tow well behind a mid-sized SUV such as the FJ. Given that the 4Runner is very similar (or slightly more favorable) to the FJ in dimensions and towing capabilities, my expectation is that the 4Runner-Escape combination will work out well. If you go onto the Escape Trailers Forum, you will also see that there are many 4Runner owners who are successfully and happily towing their Escape trailers with the 4Runner.

 

Great, DaveW! It’s nice to know both trailers work well with a 4 Runner. You should know, since you’re using them. Escape trailers are well made and very light so they’re obviously a good choice.

 

Pulled our small 15' Escape Trailer on the weekend for the first time with the new 4Runner TRD OR. Handled quite well and easily towed.

 

Perfect trailer for a 4 Runner! Your camping spot looks beautiful too.

 

This camping spot was not terrible, but was actually in the "Overflow" campground in Jasper National Park in Alberta. There was a great views of the mountains, although much of this campground is like a big gravel parking lot. It is currently tough to get campsites in the National Parks as there are some closed campgrounds and those that are still open are very busy and mostly fully booked. Seems that Covid19 is causing people to go to their local provincial and national parks since it is challenging to travel out of country or even out of province on vacations.

 

At least you have a nice vista of the mountains, DaveW! I’m envious. We had a B.C./Yukon trip planned this year and had to postpone it. A few of Ontario’s parks are open, and some National parks but anything close to population centres is full, just like everywhere. So far, we’ve just been doing day trips, and it’s been un uneventful summer. Which, during a pandemic and seeing the US covid situation is definitely not something to complain about!

 

I"ve been towing my wife"s Rzr atv"s to go riding for about a year, with a 14-ft and then 18-ft utility trailers. Recently upgraded to this 2013 18-ft VRV toy hauler camper that makes the girls' lives in the wild really nice now. If you tow, you absolutely need a transmission cooler and no overdrive, and life is great in any terrain. I've towed for lots of years and just love this machine, and I have a lifetime drivetrain warranty and hope to get to 300k some day since 4Runners are #1 to get there.

 

We pull an InTech Flyer Explore with my 19 TRDORP. I use the RedArc TownPro Elite brake controller and it works excellent while having a factory look, fit and finish. My camper is 1900lbs unloaded and generally loaded it is ~2200-2300lbs - well within the 4Runner’s ability. It tows straight as an arrow at speed and requires no sway control or WDH. Just returned from a 2000 mile road trip to mountain bike in Missouri and NW Arkansas and both performed awesome.

I did install Firestone air bags which helped immensely with the soft rear springs when loaded.

I used 4th gear on long pulls but otherwise left it in Drive to do its thing. We averaged about 70mph and 12mpg.

 

@mikeymtbs That RedArc TowPro Elite and the clean mounted knob are sweet, am I right? One of my favorite mods for pulling the teardrop.

 

Sweet for sure. It works great and now that RedArc has a 4Runner specific harness, it only takes 20-30 min to install.

great mod!

 

I’m gonna tow a Forrest River No•Boundaries 10.6 this weekend on a camping trip.

I think it’s small enough (13’) and light enough (under 3k fully loaded).

It seems like a great Overlander and I’m excited to test it out. We’re renting one for a trial.

I’ll report back with pics and any news about how my 2020 did pilling it.

 

A friend of mine pulls a NoBo 16.7 (dealer plan only) off road with her Gen5 and they absolutely love it.

 

We almost bought a NoBo 10.6 but the build quality on the one locally available was so bad that I couldn’t bring myself to spend the money. The ramp door wouldn’t line up and close, the switch was falling off, one corner of the roof rack had collapsed. The dealer was embarrassed and should have been.

We ultimately came across, and bought, the Intech Flyer Explore. Similar style and size as the 10.6. Hugely better build quality, aluminum frame, etc. check them out.

 

How much does that nobo weight?

 

It is just under 3500 empty and i think the single axle is rated for 5000 loaded

I regularly tow between 2400 and 4900 depending on which trailer each trip, with no weight distributing hitch or sway, but i do own a tongue scale and check it every trip. My VRV gvw is 7000 but 3000 empty and i know my gear and keep it under 5000, and check on CAT scales every so often as a double heck of my math. I have firestone air bags but never installed them since loading right keeps my rear body drop under 1 inch almost every trip, which i also check every hookup

The 4R does great but you need a trans cooler even on that low end. I monitor trans temps and can quote by load and ambient temp the peak trans temps ill hit. A Tacoma cooler from same year is almost a perfect boltup match except a bit of plastic trimming driver side air guide. Worked with toyota parts guy who is a good friend now to get set upbefore second time i toweed.

A tricky note is T4Rs require brakes with trailer above 1655 lbms buried in owners manual, regardless that PA only requires them at 3000. If you get into an accident without running within T4R specs, insurance companies have a reason not to cover you, ive read on forums.

Also as mentioned above, there have been River Forest and other brand complaints with build quality of individual units so check what you end up buying closely and dont take delivery if not fixed before you pick it up.

 

Forgot to paste this in.

Best feature she loves is rear kitchen to keep floors clean to grab a bite or something she needs. I'm the same from my previous trailers.