Follow Up: 4 Runner Towing Reality

CommuterCruiser wrote:
Hi all -- I posted a week ago or so and got several opinions on how to determine if our Toyota 4 Runner can tow a travel trailer and if so, what the GVWR limit should be for safety.

Toyota says it can tow 5,000 lbs. This forum told me to check the vehicle GVWR inside the drivers door - 5,580 lbs. Then we were advised to go to a CAT scale and get the truck weighed. 4,920 lbs with both of us, a full rod of cloths and two big plastic bins of clothes, David's boat tool box, kayak racks, several boxes of books and miscellaneous other stuff. In short, probably a similar amount to what we'd be carrying if we were RVing.

As I understand it, now we take the vehicle GVWR minus the total vehicle weight with stuff loaded -- 5,580 minus 4,920, which is 620 pounds. That 620 pounds has to include the trailer tongue weight which should be 10-15% of the trailer GVWR plus the weight of the weight distributing hitch. Do I have this right?

So what recommendation would you have for a max GVWR we should be looking for in a travel trailer?

Any advice or help appreciated. The dealers keep telling us we can buy anything up to 6,400 pounds (the Trailer Life Towing Guide rating for our truck) and we're not sure they're being realistic. So we're looking for real life advice.

THANKS so much! Jan & David

I used to tow a 5000 lb. TT (650 lbs. of tongue weight) with a late model V6 Nissan Frontier (1400 lb. payload capacity). The Frontier V6 has slightly more hp/torque (than a 4Runner) and is rated as capable of towing 6000-6500 lbs--very comparable to your Toyota. For my tastes (braking & handling), this Nissan Frontier was at its very limit towing 5000 lbs. (with 650 lbs. of tongue weight).

IMO, tongue weight is more of a limiting factor than tow weight in your scenario. You cannot simply use the TT manufacturer's "empty" tongue weight to make your choice. "Loaded" tongue weight can change radically (both up and down) depending on the design of the TT and how your gear is loaded. FWIW, it's much easier to make a reasonably accurate guess at overall, loaded tow weight.

For example, you could very easily purchase an "empty" 4000 lb. TT (maybe 5000 lbs. loaded with gear/water) and have your tonque weight easily soar way over 800-900 lbs. even though the "empty" tongue weight was only rated at 450 lbs.

FYI, most Cat III hitches (which is probably used on your 4runner) are typically limited to 500 lbs. of tonque weight and 5000 lbs. of tow weight when not using a WD hitch, and 600 lbs. of tongue weight (and 6000 lbs. of tow weight) when using a properly adjusted WD hitch.