Pulling a 6'x12' enclosed trailer with 3rd gen 4Runner

jcramsey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Location
Marion, NC
Bad idea or no big deal? I'm looking to move some stuff out of our house and up to my folks place in NC before we list it and was looking at the 6'x12' double axle enclosed trailers from Uhaul. It will be full, but probably no more than 1500 lbs of cargo. I dont plan on hauling any of our large, heavy stuff...mostly just clothes/toys/random attic junk.

Is a 2000 4Runner capable of handling this without toasting the trans or melting the brakes?
 
It'll be fine, but it'll be heavy. According to the UHaul website, those trailers weigh 1920lbs, so you'll be lugging some weight and probably be super slow. Surge brake will generally take care of the stopping duties to a sufficient extent, just make sure it's working correctly before leaving the lot. One good thing is they are only 5ft5in (like me with shoes on! :D ) so the wind profile will be pretty minimal behind 68-69" tall 4runner. Keep it near the speed limit and don't be in a hurry and you'll be aight.
 
jcramsey said:
Bad idea or no big deal? I'm looking to move some stuff out of our house and up to my folks place in NC before we list it and was looking at the 6'x12' double axle enclosed trailers from Uhaul. It will be full, but probably no more than 1500 lbs of cargo. I dont plan on hauling any of our large, heavy stuff...mostly just clothes/toys/random attic junk.

Is a 2000 4Runner capable of handling this without toasting the trans or melting the brakes?
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I’ve got a ‘97 3rd gen with 5spd, have hauled a 1800lb popup camper (no brakes) cross country with no issue, and a 3500lb popup (Trailer electric brakes) all over the state with no issues. Brakes were definitely a help.

BRAKES are what you do want on the larger trailer, and the UHauls do have surge brakes on them, and my last experience with them they worked pretty well. (Test before you get to confident)

Pay attention to the shifting, of it starts to hunt get out of OD and you’ll be fine. 65mph would be the fastest I’d go pulling like that. If you added an external trans cooler, you’d be golden.

May need a 2”-4” drop ball mount to tow level, and I’d recommend trying to keep the trailer as level as possible.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Keep it near the speed limit and don't be in a hurry and you'll be aight.
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I read this as...the wife and kids are staying home for this trip.

CasterTroy said:
Unless you're pulling up/down Fancy Gap, and or Black mountain....it shouldn't be detrimental to anything
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Just going to Marion, NC so thankfully not getting into the big climbs.

Blkvoodoo said:
I’ve got a ‘97 3rd gen with 5spd, have hauled a 1800lb popup camper (no brakes) cross country with no issue, and a 3500lb popup (Trailer electric brakes) all over the state with no issues. Brakes were definitely a help.

BRAKES are what you do want on the larger trailer, and the UHauls do have surge brakes on them, and my last experience with them they worked pretty well. (Test before you get to confident)

Pay attention to the shifting, of it starts to hunt get out of OD and you’ll be fine. 65mph would be the fastest I’d go pulling like that. If you added an external trans cooler, you’d be golden.

May need a 2”-4” drop ball mount to tow level, and I’d recommend trying to keep the trailer as level as possible.
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Glad to hear some real world experience with a third gen pulling those weights. I need to see if the PO added a tranny cooler. I’ve got a decent list of mods that were done before I got it...hope that’s one.
 
jcramsey said:
I read this as...the wife and kids are staying home for this trip.



Just going to Marion, NC so thankfully not getting into the big climbs.



Glad to hear some real world experience with a third gen pulling those weights. I need to see if the PO added a tranny cooler. I’ve got a decent list of mods that were done before I got it...hope that’s one.
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by this age hopefully the (anti)strawberry milkshake mod has been performed and the bottom tank cooler has been bypassed and it has a plate cooler or similar in place in front of radiator
 
make sure the weight is distributed correct.To much weight on the tail end w create the tail waggin the dog affect.
 
Blkvoodoo said:
by this age hopefully the (anti)strawberry milkshake mod has been performed and the bottom tank cooler has been bypassed and it has a plate cooler or similar in place in front of radiator
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It’s got a plate cooler on it, but they didn’t bypass the bottom of the radiator. It’s got a lot of the other common mods done...and I suspect they probably put in a new radiator when they did the trans cooler. Gonna dig through my stack of maintenance papers from the PO to see if that’s the case.
 
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Not something I wanna do regularly, but it got the job done with no issues.

6E155867-D2D7-4B00-97A6-C5386E30D2A7.jpeg
 
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