How do you know how much you can TRULY pull?

“Our highlander says it will pull 5000 pounds.”

How much weight will your Highlander carry? Tongue weight on a 4000 pound TT will be 500 or so pounds. What’s the weight of people and stuff?

Toyota rates it at 5,000 pounds, and a special tow package is not required anymore. So that suggests the necessary cooling is now standard for that year.

Besides the tongue weight considerations by Valhalla above, being rated for that weight it does not necessarily mean it will tow that weight well. The 3.5L motor makes good high-end power, but is pretty lackluster on the low end. So a good headwind will probably drop the transmission by a couple gears just to hold your speed. Bigger issue is being FWD. Wet, steep roads will be a problem with that setup. Like you may not be able to get going if you hit a red light on a steep hill in the rain.

I saw a Highlander pulling a trailer like ours rated at 3,750 lbs and most likely hitting 5,000 lbs with all the wifey stuff. I also trust Toyota on what they say their vehicles could do.

This might not be as relevant since 4runner is one class up and 4.0 liters engine but there is an article somewhere titled This Little Engine Could -- or something paraphrased.

I don't know however how it willl manage those 9,000 feet climbs or the braking power coming downhill.

jaycoman89 wrote:
did anyone say why you shouldn't pull 5k?

That's the thing, there were really no specifics given for those that said no.
One said chance of the tail wagging the dog. Another said no way of controlling the rear end if the trailer starts rocking. Also
"2wd highlander is not geared for this payload. It could destroy your transmission"
"I wouldn’t. It will not be a fun experience with it floating all over the road"
"If it doesn’t have a separate transmission cooler(no tow package), might be issues with transmission."

I'm sure if you read the official Toyota documentation, they have disclaimers baked in, so no worry about litigation.

If it says it can pull 5,000lb, it should be able to pull that much. Pulling is only one factor to consider.

The issue that is often missed is payload. With marginal tow vehicles, like a lot of SUVs, they don't have much payload, so they run out of payload before they reach the tow rating.

Doing a quick check online, looks like you have a payload of 1455lb.
- Assuming a 15% tongue weight, that eats up around 750lb
- Maybe 200lb for the hitch, running boards and other misc bolt on gear.
- A family of 4...say 500lb
- cooler and other gear in the back of the truck...say 300lb
And suddenly, you are at 1750lb loaded in a 1455lb payload SUV.

It's less common but you also should consider individual axle weight ratings (GAWR), Combined truck and trailer (GCWR) also frontal area is often assumed to be limited.

Of course, if you took a stripped out model with driver and otherwise empty truck, you could probably keep within the other ratings and pull a 5,000lb trailer...so technically, the tow rating is possible.

See if Toyota oh and small print (*,1,2) etc with that tow rating. I know Honda did at one time. 5000lbs if it was a boat or flat bed trailer, but only 3500 if a box or travel trailer.
IMHO, you shouldn't have a problem with a 4000lb gvwr trailer, even the ideal tongue weight 400+ lbs should not eat into the Highlander cargo carrying capacity.

Enjoy your RV

Ken

I have often said to keep the trailer GVWR within the tow rating. The issue often comes down to payload capacity. Many already load the tow vehicle to max GVWR and then want to connect a trailer. The tow rating includes only a 150# driver and a full tank of fuel. All additional passengers, options and equipment in the vehicle reduce the payload rating to carry the hitch weight. Anyway don't go crazy with extra in the vehicle and go have some fun.

If Toyota says it will do it go for it. You have to realize some folks think you need a 1 ton truck to pull a pop up.

did anyone say why you shouldn't pull 5k?