What ...

[falcooon]

do you tow with your 4 runner. Any issues?

[khaug]

Originally Posted by falcooon

do you tow with your 4 runner. Any issues?

I regularly tow my old Porsche 911 track car on an aluminum open trailer long distances to drivers schools. Car+trailer weigh ~4,000#.

My '98 4Runner Limited would totally lose its brakes when descending long, steep downgrades, despite the 4-wheel trailer brakes and using second gear. You really need to be aware of this and plan for it. Once you're on the move downhill and your brakes begin to go away, there's not much you can do but pray! Otherwise, the '98 was a reasonable tow vehicle, as long as you didn't mind long uphill pulls at 5,000 rpm in 2nd gear on Interstates in the mountains! Never overheated, got decent gas mileage, handled well. Still drove like new when I traded it in last fall @75K miles, including ~25K tow miles.

My '03 V8 Limited is even better. No issues at all, so far (except 1-2 mpg less than the '98 when towing). I'm heading down to Virginia next week, so we'll see how it does in the mountains.

-Karl

[ToyotaDan]

Originally Posted by khaug

I regularly tow my old Porsche 911 track car on an aluminum open trailer long distances to drivers schools. Car+trailer weigh ~4,000#.

My '98 4Runner Limited would totally lose its brakes when descending long, steep downgrades, despite the 4-wheel trailer brakes and using second gear. You really need to be aware of this and plan for it. Once you're on the move downhill and your brakes begin to go away, there's not much you can do but pray! Otherwise, the '98 was a reasonable tow vehicle, as long as you didn't mind long uphill pulls at 5,000 rpm in 2nd gear on Interstates in the mountains! Never overheated, got decent gas mileage, handled well. Still drove like new when I traded it in last fall @75K miles, including ~25K tow miles.

My '03 V8 Limited is even better. No issues at all, so far (except 1-2 mpg less than the '98 when towing). I'm heading down to Virginia next week, so we'll see how it does in the mountains.

-Karl

What gas mileage do you get? I was towing a pontoon boat, about 350 miles. Averged 8-9 mpg. However, I was told I should have kept it in 4 and not drive. Not sure. My pontoon boat is just under 3500lbs.

[GreenTundrota]

Originally Posted by ToyotaDan

What gas mileage do you get? I was towing a pontoon boat, about 350 miles. Averged 8-9 mpg. However, I was told I should have kept it in 4 and not drive. Not sure. My pontoon boat is just under 3500lbs.

8-9 mpg really depends on the terrain and the speed. If you are towing through the mountains or on the highway at 80 mph then yeah, 8-9 is resonable especially with the wind resistance a pontoon boat has.

However, over normal terrain with appropraite towing speeds (<60 mph) then 8-9 with the V8 is not good.

I towed my boat which is considerably heavier (4000 lbs) with my V6 4 runner and got about 14 mpg (although I only had to go 40 miles and it was not on the highway so that's really not all that acurrate)

Now as for being in 4 (as opposed to Drive) that is good practice. It keeps the transmission from hunting between the overrdrive and 4th gear as you climb hills or what not. It also will help keep the tranmission temperatures down.

Hope this helps.
Eric

[khaug]

Originally Posted by ToyotaDan

What gas mileage do you get? I was towing a pontoon boat, about 350 miles. Averged 8-9 mpg. However, I was told I should have kept it in 4 and not drive. Not sure. My pontoon boat is just under 3500lbs.

Hi. We're back from VIR (1560 miles total), and averaged 14.4 mpg for the trip. That includes a few miles (probably <100) with the trailer off, but is otherwise highway tow miles. Worst tankfull was 13.8 mpg, best was 15.1 mpg.

I keep careful track of miles and gallons, correct for the 2.5% odo error in the truck, etc., so I think these figures are pretty accurate. I cruise at 70 mph on Interstates and use 91-93 octane when towing. I-77 in southern Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, which we were on, is very hilly. Our GPS reported elevation changes of 3,000' during the trip.

Toyota advises to tow with 5th gear locked out. I don't do this unless I'm in hilly terrain with the truck unlocking its torque converter or downshifting frequently. In the flat Midwest, 5th gear works just fine and is worth about 1 more mpg, in my experience. I think it's also easier on the truck, assuming it stays in torque converter lockup.

Oh yeah, brakes! No problem at all this year descending the long 9% grade that would totally fade the brakes on our '98.

-Karl