2013 Toyota 4Runner Towing 21'???

[vanwinkp]

Is there anyone on this site that has used/or currently pulling a 21' Escape with a 6 cylinder 2013 4Runner 4WD with factory installed tow package?

If so, please respond.

Thanks!

Bobby Van Winkle

[Brian B-P]

That is a very specific combination - there is unlikely to be anyone with exactly that rig. There are members with a 21' and some year of 4Runner.

The two closest 4runners towing 21's that I found in a search of the Members list:

jrb1947 (2016 4Runner Limited)
keager (2014 Toyota 4Runner)

You could try sending them private messages in case they are not watching the forum.

[Rossue]

There are also those who did it with Gen1 21's and moved up to a stronger tow, including Bill and Earline and Catchlight- who posted a detailed description of why they moved to a Tundra.

[John in Santa Cruz]

i have that same engine in my 2008 tacoma (but mated to a 6 speed stick shift instead of a 5 speed automatic). The 5th generation 4runner's are pretty similar to the 2nd generation tacomas, except the 4runner has a coil spring rear instead of a leaf spring like the tacoma, and I've heard the 4runner's factory hitch is not suitable for WDH, as the reciever is not bolted to the frame.

my 2nd gen tacoma 4.0L v6 with 6-speed and airbagged rear suspension towed my 21 just fine on our first journey, 1800 miles home from Dallas to Reno to Santa Cruz, and that included going over the Sierra on I80, and the Santa Cruz Mountains on highway 17. I did pump up my airbags, I did not use my WDH or swaybar, and it drove just fine. highway MPG ranged from a awful 9.6 to around 13, depending on speeds and winds. going 70-75 into headwinds west of Dallas produced the 9.6 :-O

I also have LT tires and when I'm loaded/towing, I pump them up to 45 front, 50 rear PSI. I ran the airbags at 35 PSI when we were running fairly empty (minimal gear in truck or trailer). The rig was basically level.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

... I've heard the 4runner's factory hitch is not suitable for WDH...

That's the previous generation of 4Runner (4th generation, model years 2003-2009), not the current generation (which includes Bobby's 2013.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That's the previous generation of 4Runner (4th generation, model years 2003-2009), not the current generation (which includes Bobby's 2013.

ah, I'll try and remember that. and indeed, my Gen2 Tacoma most closely aligns with a Gen4 4R... but 4R gen4 to gen5 was a fairly minor upgrade, mostly the same power plant and transmissions and suspension and stuff, it was mostly a face lift and increasing electronification of things.

are there reasonable suspension upgrade options akin to my RideRite airbags for these 4R's ? I like having the ride stay stock when I'm driving around empty, but being able to stiffen things up when I'm heavily loaded. ah, I see riderite has bags-in-your-coil springs... I tried to self-install a bag-in-coil like that in my old Volvo 740 wagon's coil spring rear, and it just never felt like it fit right so I took it out, but I'd have to assume a firestone kit marketed for that year 4R will fit better.

[vanwinkp]

Brian-thank you so much for your response to our question-I didn't know how to access those who might have similar towing vehicles. Thank you!

Bobby

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

... but 4R gen4 to gen5 was a fairly minor upgrade, mostly the same power plant and transmissions and suspension and stuff, it was mostly a face lift and increasing electronification of things.

I think in this case the significant (although not visibly obvious) change was that the rear frame crossmember / bumper support bar is stronger, at least in torsion. A small but important tweak done at the time of the body changes, of a part not shared with the Tacoma.

[Great Eggstrications]

I have some amount of experience towing with a 2012 4Runner Trail, which has the same drive train as your 2013: 4.0 liter V-6, 270 HP @ 5,600 rpm and 278 ft.lb. @ 4,400 rpm, and the Aisin A750E/F 5-speed automatic transmission. The power specs would suggest that you need to keep the revs up to get much out of the engine, and my experience agrees with that. Happily, the 4.0 liter V-6 seems to have a good reputation for durability, so I wouldn't hesitate to keep it spooled up.

A nice feature is that the transmission has the ability to limit the upshifts, by which I mean that you can selectively lock out certain higher gears. By using the "S" option, you can e.g. select "3", and that will make the transmission not shift any higher than 3rd gear, useful for manually keeping up the revs going up hills, as well as keeping it in lower gears for engine braking going down hills.

I believe that the tow ratings for our respective 4Runners are the same: 500 pounds tongue and 5,000 pounds trailer gross weight. I've towed a 2001 Chalet Alpine A-Frame 6,900 miles and a 2015 Escape 19' (2,850 pounds empty, dry, with options) over 8,100 miles with the 4Runner, and am quite happy with its towing performance. I know that you're asking about the Escape 21', but I think that my experience with the 19' might be useful to you. Per the Escape web site, the (2nd generation) 19' has a tongue weight of 256 (generally considered to be an understatement) and a total dry weight of 2,950, and the 21' has a tongue weight of 360 and a total dry weight of 3,210, so the 19' gives us an extra cushion on the weights. One thing to keep in mind is that the 4Runner (mine at least) has a GVWR of 6,300 pounds, with limits of 3,000 pounds on the front axle and 3,446 on the rear axle (slightly de-rated due to the e-locker rear differential). The load carrying capacity (including passenger(s) and driver) is 1165 without locking rear differential (SR-5 and Limited), and sadly only 835 with locking rear differential (Trail). So when the trailer tongue and driver weights are factored in, there is really only a small amount of available capacity for passengers and cargo. This was one of the reasons we went with the 19' rather than the 21' - we really wanted to keep the tongue and total weights as low as we could, and for us at least, the size benefit if the 21' wasn't worth the weight penalty; we really didn't want to upgrade our paid off and very low mileage tow vehicle.

Issues and Concerns

1 - Transmission Cooler - As far as I know, in 2012 and 2013 at least, there was no 4Runner "tow package". They all came standard with the hitch, 7-pin wiring harness, tranny cooler (built into the bottom of the coolant radiator), and a small engine oil cooler. With only the standard tranny cooler, I was seeing excessive ATF temps when towing up even moderate grades with mild ambient temps. I was even seeing ATF temps approaching 230* when climbing long steep grades when not even towing anything. Installing an external tranny cooler dropped the ATF temps by 20* - 25*, so I could take on even the steeper and longer passes in the Washington Cascade mountains and generally maintain towing temps < 220*, although I still stop "to take pictures" and let the tranny cool down by idling in neutral for a while when gets up to 220*, just to be nice. Interestingly, the ambient temp seems to make little difference: Going upstream along the Columbia River on Highway 84 in Oregon, I was seeing the same tranny temps with ambient temps of both 68* and 97*. Stay out of 5th ("D"), even with the mpg penalty, unless the tranny is running nice and cool - in 5th the torque converter unlocks and the ATF temps shoot up 20* right away. Another thing that's really apparent is that it really helps to keep the engine reved up - I'm guessing here, but it seems like the pump that circulates the ATF through the cooler is driven by the input side of the tranny, not by the output side, so the ATF circulation rate through the cooler is a function of the tranny input speed (i.e. engine rpm's).

2 - Rear Suspension Sag - The rear suspension of the Trail version sits a bit higher than the other models, but even with that I was getting too much rear suspension sag when hitched. I ordered a set of Timbren bump stop / helper springs which eliminated the problem. Once the suspension is compressed 1" or so, the Timbrens contact the differential housing, thereby increasing the spring rate. With the Timbrens, the 4Runner sits dead level when hitched. I was initially planning to go with air bags, but being in the middle of dealing with a ruptured disc in my lower back at the time I didn't want to mess with the rear suspension to install them, so went with the Timbrens instead - glad I did.

3 - Trailer Sway - I had experienced some pretty bad sway problems with the Chalet trailer, and was somewhat concerned about the Escape swaying - more weight and more side surface area. I even bought a friction anti-sway device and installed it before our first trip. Turned out to be a waste of time and money. I have never had any sway issues with the Escape, presumably largely due to the inherent anti-sway characteristics of the dual axles. We've towed in pretty dicey conditions - 65 mph on 2 lane highways with oncoming semi's in 40 mph crosswinds by the Salton Sea, a handful of evasive maneuvers, etc. Even with the relatively short wheelbase, the 4Runner stayed put, the trailer following directly behind, with not even a hint of sway.

4 - Mileage - Keeping the revs up and generally using lower gears, the gas mileage sucks. We average about 14.8 on the level, and if it's ups and downs it can fall to 12.5. Might be an argument for a tow vehicle with more power that doesn't have to be gassed up as much. Or a diesel...

5 - Power and Brakes - No real concerns with power - we might have to wait for a larger gap in traffic when merging from a stop sometimes, but generally more than adequate. Mountain grades not a real problem, unless you make it into a problem. Patience is a virtue, just latch onto the back of a semi and enjoy the ride. Of course we've never towed above 7,500', so Colorado and Canadian Rockies might not be so good. Keep the trailer (and of course tow vehicle) brakes adjusted and otherwise maintained, should be no problem.

Sorry to have written a book, but hopefully there's some stuff in here that will be of use.

Conclusion: Real happy towing Escape 19' with 5th generation 4Runner, but would have some reservations about towing a 21'.