Towing with a 92 4runner with an auto trans

[Slime green cat]

How do the auto trannys in the pre 96 4runner stand up to towing ?

I just bought a 92 4runner V6 auto , and plan to tow my Yamaha Rhino (1200 lbs) on a 5x10 utility trailer (1000 lbs) , throw in some gear and myself , and I figure a total load of about 2500 lbs , maybe up to 3000lbs on occasion .

Is this too much to ask of the auto trans in this rig ?
I have had a few 4runners and several Toyota trucks , but all 5 spds .....never owned an auto

I heard once that the auto's in these were weak ??? anyone hear of this ?

This truck does not have a hitch , so obviously it doesn't have the factory tow pkg , wich I guess is sort of a good thing , so the motor and tranny have never pulled , so they should be in good shape .
Did the tow pkg on these include a tranny cooler ? I might have to add an aftermarket one ....what do you guys think ???

I will only be towing every other weekend , and mostly only an hour or two from home , but will be venturing into the mountains , so there will be some long hills to pull .

So what do you think ?? am I going to be replacing tranny's every 6 months ? or is it up to the task ??

Thanks for any input

[Slime green cat]

Anybody ???

Someone must have had one of these at one time , and did some towing with it ??

I want to get a hitch on it asap , but if it is not going to handle the load , I wont waste my money on a hitch I will just swap vehicles with my wife when I am going to tow (hers is the same truck , but with a 5 spd)

I would rather not have to be swapping trucks , switching car seats , cd's for the road you know how it is

So , will my auto tranny do the job ??? should I go ahead and install the hitch ???

Help .........

[tomhole]

Might not be a large 4Runner following on here. At least ones that tow. Might want to try rv.net as there are a lot of folks that tow stuff with all manner of vehicles. Might get lucky. Sure wish I could help, but I must plead ingnernce on your questions.

Tom

[Slime green cat]

Originally Posted by tomhole

Might not be a large Pathy following on here. At least ones that tow. Might want to try rv.net as there are a lot of folks that tow stuff with all manner of vehicles. Might get lucky. Sure wish I could help, but I must plead ingnernce on your questions.

Tom

Pathy ??????
My question is about my 92 4runner ...... not a pathfinder

Thanks anyways

[tomhole]

Sorry, lost my mind for a moment.

Tom

[celica]

I have a 92 4runner with a V6. I tow with mine all the time. Mine is a standard though. Wright shouldn't be an issue as the limit is 3500#. You will want a cooler for the tranny. After the cooler you should be fine. I have towed 5000# in mine before. go to yotatech.com There are a ton of 4runner people there. It is most 4runners actually., I am on there as well.

[Slime green cat]

Originally Posted by celica

I have a 92 4runner with a V6. I tow with mine all the time. Mine is a standard though. Wright shouldn't be an issue as the limit is 3500#. You will want a cooler for the tranny. After the cooler you should be fine. I have towed 5000# in mine before. go to yotatech.com There are a ton of 4runner people there. It is most 4runners actually., I am on there as well.

Thanks for the reply Celica
After several days with no replys , I happened to stumble on Yota tech .
I posted the question there and got a reply in 5 minutes , and several more in a day or 2 .

I am going to try my luck towing without a tranny cooler , and if I like the way it tows , and decide to keep this 4Runner , then I will put a cooler on before the heat of the summer and my trips in to the mountains

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by Slime green cat

Thanks for the reply Celica
After several days with no replys , I happened to stumble on Yota tech .
I posted the question there and got a reply in 5 minutes , and several more in a day or 2 .

I am going to try my luck towing without a tranny cooler , and if I like the way it tows , and decide to keep this 4Runner , then I will put a cooler on before the heat of the summer and my trips in to the mountains

I owned a 99 auto 4runner & towed my 22' toyota boat with it.(3000lbs)
I did not put a tranny cooler on it and i burned the transmission oil.
The oil turned brown quite often and it should always be red. I put a tranny cooler on it and it was fine.
So, if you're going to keep it, put a tranny cooler in it. I think i paid about $90 or so for mine installed.
Solid rig though.

[Slime green cat]

Thanks for the reply , sounds like I should get the tranny cooler sooner than later .
I didn't know they were that cheap , for that price I will throw one on right away

[Marazzito]

I had a 90 4runner 4WD with the tow package and towed several times with it. You can take it all the way to the max 3,500 lb limit with out a problem. I would recomend a slight lift in the rear to correct the natural sag that is very noticable wile towing. I had a 1.5" HD Downey rear springs in mine with Rancho RS9000's, leveled the vehicle and towed much more stable.

[Slime green cat]

Originally Posted by Marazzito

I had a 90 4runner 4WD with the tow package and towed several times with it. You can take it all the way to the max 3,500 lb limit with out a problem. I would recomend a slight lift in the rear to correct the natural sag that is very noticable wile towing. I had a 1.5" HD Downey rear springs in mine with Rancho RS9000's, leveled the vehicle and towed much more stable.

Was yours an automatic ?

[Marazzito]

Yep, with factory tow package. Sorry for the late responce.