Hey, Julie.
Good to hear back from you. Love my FJ and Bambi and glad to help if I can.
Well, you certainly know the Bambi's back there. We towed from Florida to Alaska and the FJ and AS did just fine! Very happy with the rig. Here’s some thoughts which may help. . .
FJ and Hino: The FJ wasn’t built by Toyota proper, as the other popular Toyota branded trucks and SUV’s, but by HINO Motors, a heavy commercial truck company in Japan bought by Toyota in 2001.
Hino Motors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . The FJ was built by a company that builds busses, dump trucks, cargo trucks, ’18-wheelers’, etc. You will be pleased to know that your little FJ isn’t a modified 4-runner, but a real truck made by a commercial truck company! Few folks know this.
Power: The FJ has ample power when stock, but after mounting some armor we added another 500#'s to the mix. Needless to say, the FJ wanted a little more power. So, I installed the TRD Supercharger and the difference is profound, both in power and fuel consumption. Power doesn’t come cheap.
TRD - Superchargers If your FJ is stock, with no added weight, then your stock OEM Power should be enough to pull the 19. Here's the catch - if you're pulling over relatively flat terrain, your fuel mileage shouldn't tank. But if you're towing up mountain passes like we've done - expect your fuel to drop to ~ 8-9 MPG from a cruising 12-14 MPG on flat land.
Tow Hitch: On your hitch - I noticed that your hubby bought the OEM hitch kit, which mounts the receiver directly onto the FJ frame and not bolted to the rear rails underneath. Did you go that way? From what I researched, the OEM hitch design is superior to the aftermarket (Reese-type) tow hitches in that the OEM mounts to the center of the rear cross member allowing a more ridged platform for the tow point.
GEORGIA FJ CRUISER - Accessories and Upgrades - Factory Tow Hitch Install
Most folks who buy the FJ don't get the tow hitch when ordering because the FJ isn't really designed to tow (too short a wheel base). However, if you look at the requirements for towing, it's not just wheel base alone, but all things; power, cooling, gearing, frame stiffness, wheel base, and steering geometry. So, the data shows the OEM designed/fabricated Hitch is the way to go.
Weight Distribution Hitch: I went the distance and bought a 3P (Hensley) hitch at ~ $2,540 reasoning the money was worth protecting the combined worth of the FJ/AS combo, in addition to the ride comfort. I tried a Blue Ox Weight Distribution (WD) hitch
SwayPro By Blue Ox and it didn't make me feel very secure. The AS tows better then the box trailers I've read, but with a short wheel base, the AS without a superior (Hensley) hitch just is too squirrelly to tow in cross winds without one. Sold the Blue Ox and put out the extra (a lot) money to get the ProPride 3P
Trailer Sway Elimination | Sway Control | Truck RV Trailer Hitch Accessories | ProPride, Inc.
GVRW: At 5,330#’s, the FJ isn’t a light truck at all, but with its max towing ‘legally’ capped at 5,000 lbs, it does limit us. Here’s the issue with towing cap. The FJ can certainly handle more than 5K safely if nothing goes wrong – like panic stops, rain+mountain roads, swerving at interstate speed to avoid collision, etc. That’s when it may get dicey. The legal part comes in when the injured party’s attorney discovers that the towing combo exceeded the manufacturer’s design limits and argued to a jury that the rig was therefore ‘unsafe’. Unlikely, but possible. I'm certain it could handle more, but for litigation evasion, we chose to not go beyond that limit. Most folks who do this right get the trailer first - then the tow tractor. But, I have no intention on trading my FJ for a pick-up just to tow a bigger trailer. Hence – the 19’ and not a 25’.
My lovely bride and I are living full-time in our 19' Bambi and find the space perfect for what we need: Bed, galley, head, and booth. We do most of our work outside as camp hosts and having a large ho use just isn't necessary. Besides, we've done the large house/land thing and found it only good for the banks in this crappy market. So, . . . we sold the property, thinned-down our material assets, then hit the road.
Your FJ shouldn’t have any trouble towing the 19’ Airstream.
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