Towing limits for modified rig (1 Viewer)

[erse]

Looking for some advice on towing a camping trailer with my 88. It has a Vortec in it now and should have enough oomph for some travel trailer adventures. My off road camping trailer has some limits according to I guess a bathroom is sometimes desirable .
Planning on renting a smallish camping trailer in January for a weekend experiment. The question is what is or how to judge a safe weight limit for a completely non stock rig?

It has OME medium springs on it if I remember correctly and a diamond axle which is beefy. Brakes are upgraded to discs all around. Just curious how others would set a safe limit for towing/camping adventures

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[hoser]

Really tough to say but take a look at the SAE requirements and drive it down to the Davis Dam!

SAE J2807 Tow Tests

 

[bigredmachine]

I would think that the limit to what you can tow would be more of the braking aspect then having the get up and go. I would guess probably around the 4k mark for towing would be a good bet with 10ish percent for the tongue weight. if you know someone with a trailer that you could borrow you could always load it up and test different weights to find wht your comfortable with

 

[franklin40]

i’ve towed about 5000 at 90km per hour very comfortably. i had well set trailer brakes though which are a must.

 

[erse]

i’ve towed about 5000 at 90km per hour very comfortably. i had well set trailer brakes though which are a must.View attachment 1837362
View attachment 1837363

What springs do you have on there? Looks pretty level

 

[erse]

i’ve towed about 5000 at 90km per hour very comfortably. i had well set trailer brakes though which are a must.View attachment 1837362
View attachment 1837363

I will definitely double check that these travel trailer rental options have a good brake set up. Thanks

 

[kcustom73]

As much as brakes on the trailer make a difference, the brake controller is as important. I've tried different version over the years but the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 has been my favorite so far. You can also look into sway control and weight distribution hitches to make the drive safer.

 

[franklin40]

What springs do you have on there? Looks pretty level

i have OME mediums. after all that weight thought they feel a little softer so i may need to add my “heavy” leaf back in. i hauled a lot of cars this past summer and i think that softened my rear springs a litttle. good trailer loading to have most of the load over the axles play a major part in tongue weight as the look of it being level. it actually compressed the rear suspension a bunch to get it “level”

 

[gregnash]

I was curious about this too after towing a 4k lbs trailer with the wife's 4Runner this summer. After looking at the "recommended" towing capacity of the standard FJ6x series, we are right about 3500lbs. I figure that part of that towing capacity comes from the torque associated with the engine/drivetrain but the other is the load capacity of the frame and the attached hitch.

I would believe that with the vortec upgrade and upgraded brakes you could tow up to 5k lbs as long as you had a good brake controller installed with the trailer. As many people have said before, you never want the tail to wag the dog.

 

[HemiAlex]

Heavy springs, a brake controller, airbags, a load leveling hitch attachment and a vortec wouldn’t scare me at 5,000 lbs.

 

[David*BJ70]

i’ve towed about 5000 at 90km per hour very comfortably. i had well set trailer brakes though which are a must.View attachment 1837362
View attachment 1837363

It also depend of your actual FJ60 weight.

My built overland 60 weight 6600 and I don’t see me pulling a heavy trailer...

My modestly load cdn M101 is well enough

 

[franklin40]

i’m also running a tuned 1hdt. very different from a height mileage 3fe

 

[workingdog]

The brakes are the biggest liability. They suck on a 60/62. With good electric trailer brakes (not surge brakes) it will make up for it. The other issue will be the trailer pushing the back end of the 60 around. If you want some added comfort, upgrade the front rotors, calipers and the master cylinder/booster from a T100 pickup. Massive improvement in braking. There are threads on here various places.

 

[tclark]

I don't think the power has much to do with the towing ability, or it's at least way down the list. As others have said braking, weight distribution, etc are the limiting factors. The short wheelbase is a factor too.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, We run OME heavies, good BFG tires,stock brakes and engine . 2 tons and under we have no problems . Mike

 

[emac]

I would also be concerned with the tranny

 

[workingdog]

He has a 4L60, he'll be fine.

 

[SteveH]

The short wheelbase is a factor too.

This x10. You can't fix this (easily). It also matters whether you're towing boat to a boat ramp in Iowa, or coming down I-70 from the mountains in Colorado.

 

[erse]

The short wheelbase is a factor too.

This x10. You can't fix this (easily). It also matters whether you're towing boat to a boat ramp in Iowa, or coming down I-70 from the mountains in Colorado.

Yeah its more about camping trailers at this point but anywhere west or east of here and you do start to encounter some significant incline/decline action

 

[Cruzerman]

I think it is possible to tow a small camp trailer. However, I believe these rigs are only rated at towing 3500 lbs. If something were to go very wrong, and you were towing more than 3500 lbs., I think you may be opening a liability can of worms. JMHO.

If you are going to be towing something regularly, get a rig that was built for it.