FJ 80 towing

[Haskins1111]

Hey got a quick ? I have a 62 and was wondering if the 80 is any good at pulling a boat or small camping trailer. My 62 is alright when it is flat ground but when you get to a hill, you might as well get out and walk. So i was thinking of buying a 80 but then realized they have the same motor. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Brentbba]

Search a little for lots of info on this. Long and short of it is that the FZJ80 has a towing rating of 5000lb. I tow 3500lb and do just fine except that hills can be a little tough, but I get there.

 

[cruiserdan]

Only the 91-92 80's have the same engine as your 62. 93 and up have a much more powerful engine (1FZ-FE) that can be further tweaked to develop double the power a 3FE produces.

 

[tech_dog]

I've been towing a 5000 lb boat for a decade using a stock 94 FZJ80. It's always done a great job, and I've never had any kind of tow related repair.

It also handles steep and sandy boat ramps with a lot of authority.

T.

 

[COMITX]

FJ55 with a '92 FJ80

Does anyone have thoughts on towing a Pig with a 3fe powered 80? The brakes ont the 80 will be fine. The Pig has a built in "Y" shaped tow bar that is permanently attached to the front bumper. The trip will be from Austin to Denver.

 

[TX_TLC]

I have used one of those tow bars to pull a buddies 40 with my 80 across town...that said I COULDN'T IMAGINE using it to tow a 55 (much heavier than a 40) any where near highway speeds. Have you considered useing a flat bed car hauler?

Let alone using a 3FE...

That said, I wouldn't use Uhaul after the accident of the fellow mudder caused my a faulty repair by Uhaul. He was pulling his 55 and both the 55 and the 80 rolled.

 

[Rusty Phillips]

Does anyone have thoughts on towing a Pig with a 3fe powered 80? The brakes ont the 80 will be fine. The Pig has a built in "Y" shaped tow bar that is permanently attached to the front bumper. The trip will be from Austin to Denver.

Austin Tx to Topeka Ks, maybe if I had to, but Austin to Denver? No.

you would be a slow moving hazard going uphill and have marginal brakes on the downhill

 

[KliersLC]

that thing will push you around like it is cool. your brakes will not be fine, you have drum in the rear which are prone to fading under conditions like that. MAYBE if you got one of those braking systems that use the rear vehicles brakes, but I'm not sure of the specifics on those. In any case, be careful, there a very few things that suck worse than wrecking two cruisers at once.

FWIW,
Dan

 

[COMITX]

Thanks for all the replies guys. The trip sounds way to risky to me. I'll either sell the pig or rent the trailer. My only concern with the trailer is they are pretty big, if I recall. It may not be that much of a better solution that the flat tow.

 

[KliersLC]

You can do it safely, but resign yourself to going 40 mph period.

 

[NeverFinis]

you will have to have brakes on the 55. It is illegal to tow something over 3000lbs without brakes.

 

[fuelgeddes]

I would not tow it on a flat bed trailor behind an 80 for that long. I pulled a 40 on a uhaul trailor for about 150 miles and I could not wait to get done with that. The combined weight for your pig plus trailor is way to much for the 80. Good luck getting there, take some pictures if you do it for others.

 

[alia176]

Towing a pig with a car trailer will be difficult and Uhaul won't let you do it. Of course, you can get creative to get the trailer from uhaul but the safety margin is nil. The tow rating is 5,000 lb but your tow weight will be around 6500 lbs or more. As you can imagine, the 80 (even with the mighty 1FZFE engine) will suffer at elevation.

Unfortunately, no one else will rent you just a car trailer. Is a tow dolley an option here? It'd be a slow tow but at least the total weight will be reduced. Perhaps you can rent one of those gadgets that you place inside the vehicle and applies the brake on the Pig when you slow down in the 80? It's just a thought!

Good luck.

 

[KliersLC]

Towing a pig with a car trailer will be difficult and Uhaul won't let you do it. Of course, you can get creative to get the trailer from uhaul but the safety margin is nil. The tow rating is 5,000 lb but your tow weight will be around 6500 lbs or more.

Good luck.

Oh but they will....I am (barely) living proof