Has anyone towed an FJ-62 on a trailor with their stock FZJ-80? Just wondering how your experience was?
97' FZJ towing a FJ-62
- Thread starter Aseif007
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tucker74
Moderator
I towed my SOA FJ55 home with mine when I bought it - prolly weighs a little more than a 62. You should be fine as long as you keep it slow and don't have far to go ... looks like your trailer has brakes. Mine started swaying over 55 mph - but the center of gravity was much higher.
Tucker
Tucker
- Thread starter
- #3
Ya, it was fun. The 80 does not make a very good towing vehicle. It was way way under powered, and the brakes were very very soft with the load. The 80 wasn't designed to tow so its OK. In the past we had towed an FJ-40 on a trailor from Oregon to California with a 94 FZJ and it wasn't that bad, but it had the older tranny. In the future I would use a different vehicle for towing an FJ-62. Is this the same experience others have had?
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Aseif007 said:
I have a completely different experience.
I flat towed my 60 home from Chicago with my 80 (like in the pic above). The 80 had mostly bald tires and did a fantastic job. I was not the fastest car on the road, but never did I feel un-safe.
Keep the Overdrive off and the ECT button in. Plan to brake WAY in advance to keep it safe.
My trip was just over 8 hours like that and it was fine.
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- #5
Doc,
That is interesting. I have towed with a 94 and it was better. Do you think the different trannies make that much of a difference ?
That is interesting. I have towed with a 94 and it was better. Do you think the different trannies make that much of a difference ?
tucker74
Moderator
Mine's got the A440F as well ... 4Runner tranny in a Cruiser 
Tucker
Tucker
Aseif007 said:
Perhaps, I don't know enough to comment on that. The terrain I pulled on was mostly flat, but there was one pretty hilly portion- about 40 miles of up and down, and it still did fine. I was able to keep it at the speed i wanted to, although it was only 55 mph.
That picture could have been taken at my house about a year or so ago. I towed my Grey FJ60 with my Black FZJ80 on a tandem axle trailer like that. The FZJ will do it, but in hindsight its not the safest option, mainly I think because in a panic stop situation, you are not going to get things stopped quickly. Take it nice and slow and pay attention, best of luck.
No, the tranny doesn't make that big of a difference. Maybe your 80 just wasn't dialed in.
- Thread starter
- #10
"No, the tranny doesn't make that big of a difference. Maybe your 80 just wasn't dialed in."
So a dialed in 80 is a good tow rig? I just think the FZJ doesn't have enough power, or braking for a load that big. But like I said before, it was not made to tow so its not that big of a deal.
My 80 is running great, idles/shifts smooth, gets 300+ miles per tank, just passed California smog last month, has new diff/t-case/tranny synthetic oils, new plugs, cap rotor, fan belts, wires, PCV valve, air filter, front brake pads. Next on the list is the coolant, brake fluid, and power steering so I am not sure what more I can do to dial it in?
So a dialed in 80 is a good tow rig? I just think the FZJ doesn't have enough power, or braking for a load that big. But like I said before, it was not made to tow so its not that big of a deal.
My 80 is running great, idles/shifts smooth, gets 300+ miles per tank, just passed California smog last month, has new diff/t-case/tranny synthetic oils, new plugs, cap rotor, fan belts, wires, PCV valve, air filter, front brake pads. Next on the list is the coolant, brake fluid, and power steering so I am not sure what more I can do to dial it in?
I'm not saying the 80 is a good tow rig. I am saying that a properly tuned, such as yours, 80 should be "able" to tow the load described. You are not driving a powerstroke or a saturn.
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- #12
My biggest issue was with starting off. It was at a snails pace. I was not expecting to tow like a diesel, but I was expecting to be able to acclerate a little while merging on the freeway. It got the job done, don;t get me wrong. I just wouldn't want to do it again if I was planning on driving over 100 miles.
<- 3FE = no thanks.
That is what the Duramax is for. I could have a good 0-60 time on that beast towing 10,000 lbs.
That is what the Duramax is for. I could have a good 0-60 time on that beast towing 10,000 lbs.
- Thread starter
- #14
Ya, the 3FE is not the most powerful motor. I would not have attempted the tow with an FJ-80.
I towed a 2 axle UHaul trailer that was fairly loaded, from Chicago to Los Angeles in my 95 LC. For the first 50 miles, that speed limit sign on the trailer intimidated me then I got more confident, eventually getting up to about 70 all through Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.
The rude awakening was going up the hill on I70, outside of Denver, I was lucky to do 30MPH. Terror set in when I crested and hit the first long downhill. I put in in second gear and made sure I didn't gain too much speed on the subsequent downhills. After a little while, it became apparent to me how well the LC handled with the trailer. When I got near LA and was on some of the steep downhills on the 14, I was moving along with traffic.
The LC lacks the oomph of a Cummins or other big torque motor, but it is a really deft handling truck when towing. I made that trip at the height of summer when daytime temps through most of Utah, Nevada and California were over 100 degrees. The truck never overheated or faultered in any other way and I ran the AC the whole time. I was the only person in the truck, but all the other gear I had stowed probably weighed more than passengers.
Confident as that may have made me, I'd be very daunted by what some of the pics show other people towing. Probably ok from Illinois to Iowa but cross country might be scarier than I'd want to find out.
The rude awakening was going up the hill on I70, outside of Denver, I was lucky to do 30MPH. Terror set in when I crested and hit the first long downhill. I put in in second gear and made sure I didn't gain too much speed on the subsequent downhills. After a little while, it became apparent to me how well the LC handled with the trailer. When I got near LA and was on some of the steep downhills on the 14, I was moving along with traffic.
The LC lacks the oomph of a Cummins or other big torque motor, but it is a really deft handling truck when towing. I made that trip at the height of summer when daytime temps through most of Utah, Nevada and California were over 100 degrees. The truck never overheated or faultered in any other way and I ran the AC the whole time. I was the only person in the truck, but all the other gear I had stowed probably weighed more than passengers.
Confident as that may have made me, I'd be very daunted by what some of the pics show other people towing. Probably ok from Illinois to Iowa but cross country might be scarier than I'd want to find out.
