My 6-cyl 4runner can!

gmw photos wrote:
A weight distributing hitch is an excellent addition for safety. I would not rule it out just because you read on a forum that you can't use it on your model of car. Research it on the Toyota website ( in your reading on it, be specific about what year your vehicle is ), and do some reading from several sources then come to a conclusion whether to use one or not.

You are absolutely right, and I hope he doesn't just take my word for it. I was going along happily with my rig (4Runner; 4000-lb trailer; 750-lb tongue weight; WD Hitch) when I started seeing forum comments about the 4Runner not being suitable for a WD Hitch. I didn't want to believe it, and for a time I just ignored it. But it kept coming back up here and there. I started to research it. I looked into it THOROUGHLY over a period of months. For my 4Runner - the V6 2010 model - there was no question about it. Two separate e-mail communications with the factory verified it: don't use a WD hitch.

The hitch receiver is bolted to the frame rather than being welded. The four bolts take the brunt of the forward-rotational torque that is applied by a WD hitch. I towed over 3000 miles with no problems. But after I learned the limitations, I could no longer do it.

The remedy was fairly costly: trading in a great vehicle that I had only owned for a year and a half and buying a more expensive truck. But I am glad I did it. Now I know I'm safe, and I'm not putting anyone else at risk by ignoring the engineers at the factory.

Granted, SOME 4-runners do not have this limitation, but there are relatively few of them out there. They are the older V8 models. Great vehicles, but no longer in production.

The problem I had, and the OP may have as well, is that 12% to 15% of the trailer's weight, which is the target range for tongue weight, put me over the 500-lb limit for the 4-runner's hitch without WD. I was screwed either way.

-Speak