Toyota 4Runner

Hello,
I tried searching, but didn’t find much.
I’m considering a 2 year old 4Runner. 4 WD, 4.0l V6.
The boat is a 20 foot bay boat. I don’t ever tow very far. Most of the time it’s only 2 miles to Lake Lewisville. But, on occasion I tow up to Texoma. (1 hour each way)

Thoughts on 4Runner?
Bryan

The 4Runner will easily handle the rig. Should tow up to 5000 lbs with no problems. If you are concerned take rig to a public scale & get it weighed. Rig might weigh 3000 lbs.. One suggestion NEVER TOW IN OVERDRIVE!!!! Daniel

Cool. Thanks. I know my current rig is well under 5K. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but would like to hear from several real world users. ThankYou for the OD tip. I don’t use OD when towing in any vehicle I’ve owned.

A coworker towed a 19ft pathfinder with no problem. I recall him saying that he averaged 10 MPG and he would drive 70. The 4 wheel drive will help with those wet and steep ramps. My wife has a 20 4runner and I will pull my 18ft kenner some day. I do regret not getting the 4WD.

My 2020 can't hold OD most of the time and turns 3k rpms on interstate to do 78mph. So plan on turning a LOT of RPMs while towing. I debate whether or not I even want to pull the waverunner with mine. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have picked something else. My $.02.

PS - The engine has been the only disappointment. It also gets really bad economy. Everything else is great.

Don't know about the new ones, but I pull a Champion 188DCX sporting a 200 HP Yamaha OX66 with a 2003 2 wheel drive 4Runner with no problem.

Well, I can tell you the big three all have stronger engine options for towing. If you're ok turning 4k, more power to you

ThankYou Everyone for the replies so far. I drive an F150 now. Have had trucks my entire adult life. I don’t NEED the bed of a truck anymore, so I’m looking at other options that fit our lifestyle.

Bryan

Never towed with a 4-runner but towed with a couple Chevy 4.3 v-6's. The have what it takes, but dont have the grunt of the v-8's or turbo options. It will surely do the job though. Most of the time I found that responsibly driven the 4.3 v-6 while it worked harder would get better fuel mileage towing our old 20-foot bay boat than my 350 v-8. If you dont want it to run 4000+ rpm dont put the skinny pedal on the floor and it will do fine.

It's pretty sad, redchevy. Not sure that old pushrod didn't have better low end torque. The Toyota 4.0l reminds me of the prior generation chevy 5.3l. The specs look pretty good but in the real world, it doesn't even start to run until 3500 rpms.

I guess I should have asked how fast do you want to go?

You know I was never real wild about the performance of my 5.3 chevy. But the vast majority of that was my own fault. I got out of my old 350 v-8 into a 6.7 cummins. The diesel would drag a house in OD without a second thought. So when i got my 5.3 after driving it empty i knew right away it wouldnt tow in OD but tried to tow in 5th gear most of the time and it did ok but often wanted to downshift etc. If I let it run around 2500 rpm in 4th gear it did pretty well but my mind didnt like that so I always tried to force it to work around at a lower rpm in a higher gear. In my mind at the time 2500 rpm seemed like double or more what it did empty and must be doing damage, now i believe if anything i probably did more damage lugging it down.

It is what it is and it wouldnt be my choice at all, but that engine will hum along at 3000 rpm all day long. Heck the 4 cylinder in my wifes escape turns like 2700 at 75 mph in top gear... its turned a lot of revolutions in its day. I run walmart brad sysnthetic oil in it and it runs like new with 140,000 miles on it.

No doubt.

Good info Folks. I don’t tow the boat on the highway very often, so highway rpm’s aren’t a concern.

When I bought my F150 (2013), you couldn’t get a 6.5’ bed with a four door cab. So I ended up with a truck with suicide rear doors. Not traditional doors. It worked just fine…. Until we had grandkids. The suicide doors with anybody in the backseat, doesn’t work at all in a parking lot.

So now I’m in the market for a vehicle with 4 real doors, shorter than a full size truck, narrower than a full size truck, and can handle a 20 foot boat. I drive a total of about 6000-8000 miles a year. So mileage isn’t a concern.

From what I have seen the lighter weight of the 4 runner is the biggest problem with towing. I had a cousin with one and it would slide uncontrolled while backing down the minnow bucket ramp at lake fork when it was wet. Scary when your behind the wheel. K.D. on here had one and it would fishtail when he pulled the boat over 65mph. No way you are making an emergency stop on wet pavement in one. They pull fine though. But for these reasons I will stick with fullsize vehicles for all towing.

No way they will ever truely compete with a full size, but the fishtailing is 100% a trailer set up issue. When you downsize tow vehicles you loose more hitch it and forget it ability.

I personally would not do it. Anything 20’ and up is full size territory in my opinion.

I picked my Champ up in Lafayette. I towed it back to Rockwall with my Tacoma. No problems at all. LA does not have weight on trailer titles so I had to weigh it before registering. With 1/2 tank of gas (95 gallon tank) and no gear it weighed 4650 lbs hitched to the truck. I ran 75 on interstate all the way back. Tacoma had the 4.0. I never had any problems launching and never used 4wd. I think you will be fine. I bought a Tundra not long after buying the boat. It was time for a new truck and wanted a full size again. I hated to sell the Tacoma it was a great off road truck. I could out run the mules on the deer lease.

75mph in what gear and at how many rpms? Just asking since it can barely carry its own bloated butt much less an extra 5k lbs. At 75 I'm about 3200 rpms in 4th and about 4500 in 3rd. I drop to 3rd fairly regular with no trailer.

I towed an 18' Ranger with my '06 Tacoma with 4.0 without any issues. The four runner can weigh 400+ pounds or more. Maybe yours has a different rear end ratio ? I could tow on the hwy in 5th a lot of the time

Maybe I got a lemon but there seems to be a lot of similar complaints.

I towed in 5th. I don't recall RPMs but normally at 75 it would be in the low 2s. I had an 18' Ranger 375 before the Champ. I can't honestly say you did not know it was back there but really did not feel it once up to speed.

I have a 2020 4Runner and it tows my 21' Legend well enough. I keep my boat at a marina so I don't tow often. Longest trip was 3.5hrs and that was when I first bought the boat. Gas mileage and acceleration were awful, but it handled fine.

We have the same vehicle in a limited package. We love it. It's a dog, but I know it will run forever. And like you said, I absolutely would not pull anything with it. It can barely get out of it's own way! We do love it and plan to keep it for a long long time.

Anybody that tows AT the vehicles MAX weight probably isn't going to like the experience.

Not sure if it was brought up already, but does your boat trailer have single or dual axles. The dual axle will help with the tongue weight and distribution. That's the key for the tow vehicle to behave properly.

I personally don't like towing anything unless it's with a full size. Footprint / wheel base as well as braking come into play for me. It's how well your tow vehicle will behave when you have to do an emergency / short stop. I was spoiled with a F350... weight, wheelbase and brakes made all the difference. The engine is just getting you up to speed.

The two mile trip to the local lake may be fine... but going to Texoma is where I'd think twice if you're on the road for a while.

We've had two 4 Runners, a 2004 V8 AWD and a 2010 V6 Limited AWD. My wife just loved the old V8! When it came time we drove all the "new" 4 Runner models and the Mrs just didn't want the V6. So, we ended up with a then 3 year old CPO AWD Lexus GX460. That is one sweet little V8 SUV! The only downside is Lexus calls for premium fuel. The three year old copies coming off lease seem to be great buys. We've had ours two years now, it's five years old with nothing but routine maintenance we get done at the local Yoter dealer.

I'll be towing my ZX20 to Ray Hubbard soon. What little I've towed with our 4Runner TRD ORP yes it was slow but so was my Silverado Z71 with the max tow package. I think the 4Runner actually takes off better than the Chevy did but not by much.

Not sure this helps. I have 2016 tacoma limited 4x4 V6. I towed both 2007 16 ft tracker and new G3 17 Bay...have to tow using the ECT. Trucks has been rock solid with the "tow package"....7,500lbs.

It gets 12 mpg when towing.......You decide...I love the truck....just not its towing capabilities....would I sell it, no...next vehicle will be a towing machine.