Towing with a FJ40 (1 Viewer)

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I need to tow my 2500 pound tent trailer on occasion an I have a reciever built into a home made bumper but I am not sure I trust it with this much weight, please let me know what you use, thanks, Larry
 
2500 lbs.. not a big deal. just be careful..
 
I need to tow my 2500 pound tent trailer on occasion an I have a reciever built into a home made bumper but I am not sure I trust it with this much weight, please let me know what you use, thanks, Larry

Drum brakes? :confused:
 
I actually built it I have pic's at home it's all quarter inch steel butted to quarter inch plates bolted to the rear frame piece, I may take it to a certified welder and have them reweld the plates to the standoffs just to be sure, thanks, Larry
 
That's a good size trailer to be towing with a 40. I'm sure it can pull the trailer, it's just that the 40 is not a great towing vehicle for anything but short trailers. With the short wheelbase, you'll not have a lot of control beyond going in a straight line at slow speeds if the trailer is too big.

Back when I had my 40 I used to haul firewood in a home-made trailer based on an old pickup bed (yeah...real redneck). It wasn't the most stable thing I've ever driven :eek:

How big/long is your trailer?
 
That's very heavy for a tent trailer. I've pulled my 2500lb hardside trailer with trailer brakes on 1000 mile trips with the FJ40 and survived, but the more I read the less comfortable I am with the idea. There's definitely a risk of the tail wagging the dog with that scenario.

(Also, the springs never recovered :D)
DSCN1118 (Small).JPG
 
should be alright, i pulled a 21 ft boat, very stupid i was young what can i say
 
I towed my 16 foot boat (maybe 1600lbs total) once with my 69 fj40 from sea level to 7500ft and back. It was the worst experience driving of my life. Downshifted into a 15mph corner on wet pavement. It must have been just enough to lock the tires for a sec. The boat decided it wanted to go straight as I was turning. I ended up jack knifing the vehicle, breaking 3 feet off the front of the boat trailer, the boat hit me in the arm through the drivers side window, and insult to injury the boat came off the trailer turning on its side and dumping my cooler full of beer.
I will never tow any trailer over 10 feet and 1000lbs max. I do tow a 8ft trailer with a 650lb utility quad all the time with no problems.
 
The 40 is not a very good tow vehicle with its short wheelbase, but almost anything will work if you are very, very careful.
 
The trailer is a fleetwood evolution, I pull it with my FJ Cruiser and it pulls fine, it's kind of heavy for a pop up but it goes where I like to go. It sits tall but it pulls well.
fleetwoodEvolutionresize.jpg
 
By the way that other picture looks like roaring mountain in Yellowstone park. i actually won't tow a long ways. just to the bottom of some of the trails I use, 200 miles max.
 
By the way that other picture looks like roaring mountain in Yellowstone park. .

yep. I haven't gone that far since 2003. Now just out to hunting camp and back <50 miles.
 
With my first 40 I used to tow a 7x14 ft utility trailer fully loaded with firewood. The fire wood was piled as high as I could get it, without it falling out. I have no idea how much it weighed, but it was a real problem stopping. Looking back (I was around 19 at the time) it was a miracle I wasn't killed. There was one time I was bringing out a load of wood from a remote area. I was driving along the forest service road and went to slow. The nut to the trailer ball had came undone and fell off. I hit a little bump and the tongue & ball flipped out of the hitch. The trailer rammed into the back of the cruiser and scared the c*ap out of me.. Fortunately the trailer didn't push me off the road or tip me over. I ended up putting the ball back into the hitch and using one of my logging chains to tie it down. I took all the back roads home at 15mph. Lucky for me it I lived in a rural area and I wasn't but a few miles from home. There was no traffic. :D
 
I tow my 17 ft bass boat on a regular basis with no problems, and a hunting gear trailer up into the mountains for my elk hunts.

However, short wheelbase is a problem towing almost anything long and heavy.

I have drum brakes, but keep them maintained and adjusted, so stopping is not a problem.
 
1100 mile from Southern Cal to Northern Idaho. Once!!! never again!!!
web 40 w trailer.jpg
 
Last spring did a 12 mile pull with a 18' flatbead trailer loaded down with 6K of wet sand:eek: 40 w/drum brakes...SHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiT! never again :doh:
 
here's mine, (1968 Holiday),
it's about 2000lb, 13.5ft, it tows okay, but you definately know it's back there. I think that your tent trailer will be fine, lower C.O.G., disc brakes and trailer brakes.
If I had an fjc to tow it with I probably would... the 2f isn't really a powerhouse on the hills.
camper2.jpg
 
Put a diesel in your cruiser, beef the rear crossmember and go for it. The diesel enforces slow speeds.

That's two 1000 lb. lathes on my 1700 lb. trailer. Total 3700 lbs. (est.)

ps: IDave, can I inherit your cruisers when you croak? They're the best ones I've seen.
 
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