Seeking advice on dry weight / towing capacity

Your max towing capacity, of 5000 lbs, does not include aftermarket accessories, passengers, or cargo. Many manufacturers allow for a 150 lb driver, only. That's not how people go camping.

As you add weight to the vehicle (with fore mentioned items), both, it's available payload and it's towing capacity are reduced, pound for pound. If you put 700 lbs of people and cargo in your vehicle, it's true max towing capacity would be 4300 lbs.

The weight of hitch / anti sway equipment (80 - 100 lbs) and trailer tongue weight ( on average 12 - 13 percent of loaded trailer weight) are counted as cargo weight in the tow vehicle.


There's a tire / loading sticker on your drivers door jamb. It will have a number for max occupant / cargo weight (AKA payload). That is your vehicles capacity to carry the combined weight of accessories, cargo (including hitch and tongue weight), and people. Only you can determine your true towing capacity. We don't know who or what you're carrying with you.

Also note: Some smaller SUV's have a limit on the square inches of frontal area of a trailer. Check the towing section of your owners manual.

For the trailer:

Advertised dry weight is what the trailer weighed, when it left the factory. Some manufacturers include the weight of battery and propane, some don't. Sometime there is optional equipment installed by the dealers, their weight is not included in dry weight.

Average load of dishes, pots and pans, cooking utensils, bedding, BBQ equipment, camp chairs, groceries, and water, etc is about 800 lbs.

Tongue weight is not a constant number. It goes up and down during every trip. Depending on location (in relation to trailer axles), your holding tanks can have a significant impact on tongue weight.

With 3000 UVW, your loaded weight could be 3800 to 4000 lbs. Hitch equipment and tongue weight would use up to 600 lbs of your payload.

Look at the smaller RPods. Or possibly an Aliner. Both should be adequate for your 4runner.

Thank you both!
SoundGuy- that's pretty much what I've been looking at (online only, so far); but I was really hoping we could go up to 3500 - I know, I'm just dreaming.
downtheroad - thanks for the encouragement! This is something we really want to do - we used to love tent camping, but I just can't handle it anymore (due to chronic illness). One of the main issues is, we need a bathroom... having a hard time finding a pop-up with a toilet - I know they're out there, so I'm not giving up. But of course I would prefer an actual travel trailer over a pop-up. But it is what it is - we also can't afford a new truck/towing vehicle right now - well, we could, but then we can't afford the camper... :)

Think towing capacity AND payload. Your TV is marginal (and old) except for very light TTs.

Welcome to the Forum....I'll be straight up on this...you really don't have a very good vehicle for an RV.

BUT,
don't give up on this. There are some options out there that will work..
We started with a similar vehicle and a popup (tent trailer). Loved it and decided that RVing was for us....that led to bigger trailers and bigger tow vehicles...

Lot of adventures and great memories and 5 trailers later we are still excited about RVing...
We do occasionally see folks camping using a 4-Runner They seem to be having a great time...

Good luck with it.

magster33 wrote:
We have a 2004 Toyota 4-Runner, V6, which has a towing capacity of 5,000 lbs. My question is, when shopping for a travel trailer (we realize we'll have to start with a smaller one), what would be the maximum dry weight you would recommend?

3000 lbs max, as indicated on the yellow Recreational Vehicle Trailer Cargo Carrying Capacity sticker affixed to the front street side of the trailer. This will restrict you to small 17' and under, single axle travel trailers or hybrids.