Your weight doesn't surprise me at all, especially with 4 aboard. My 2001 Silverado LT extended cab weighs 5600 with me, a full tank, and the usual blocks, chocks, etc. in the bed.
My 2003 International 22' weighs 4840 with 1/4 fresh tank, bad tanks empty, and loaded for a 3-night rally. Total truck and trailer was 10,440.
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John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2007 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LTZ
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
Does anyone have any experience towing with a Toyota Landcruiser, mine is a 1990 FJ 62 wagon? I'm planning to buy a 21-25 foot Airstream and travel the country next summer. Toyota's spec's on the landcruiser list a max towing capacity of 3500lbs, but mine is far from stock. It has a GM Vortec V8, heavy duty load/towing suspension from Old Man Emu (australia), upgraded brakes, Reese class III hitch, and transmission fluid cooler. My biggest concerns are wheelbase and rear overhang, the wheelbase is 107.5", the rear overhang is a couple of inches more than a Ford explorer.
I would not do it. The vortec has plenty power, for sure, but the FJ just isn't known to be a tow brute. I'd go with a bigger vehicle with much higher tow rating, or a very small trailer to go behind your FJ, that's well below the 3500lbs. Just from my point of view, as an owner of a 25ft trailer towed by a 1 ton passenger van. I often find situations where I realize that a smaller vehicle would be trouble.
My neighbors have a Casita trailer, which they tow with a new Jeep Wrangler, but the Casita is only 1600lbs. and 14ft. long.
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Uwe
It seems like an awfully short wheelbase to tow a 21-25 foot trailer. I read (somewhere) that a tow vehicle with 110 inch wheelbase is limited to a 20 foot trailer. For each additional foot of TT you need 4 inches additional wheelbase. If this is all correct you would be limited to a 19.5 foot TT.
Has anyone else heard of this formula and if so what do you think of it??
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Jerry Sullivan
'01 Limited
'01 Safari
On The Road, USA
Originally posted by gwsullivan I read (somewhere) that a tow vehicle with 110 inch wheelbase is limited to a 20 foot trailer. For each additional foot of TT you need 4 inches additional wheelbase. If this is all correct you would be limited to a 19.5 foot TT.
Has anyone else heard of this formula and if so what do you think of it??
Dick Reed from Dick Reed's RV Driving School told me that the formula was: wheelbase must be greater than half the distance from the ball to the center of the rear axle on the trailer.
Even if that's true, I'd be marginal in a 22 footer, just wanted to know if anyone has any practical experience with an FJ or another shorter vehicle.
you should be real good with a 22'. I just measured my '62 Overlander, 26', from center of rear axle to ball was 208", give or take. I pull with a '78 Ford Bronco, 473 cid (460 bored .060 over), with a wheel base of 104". In 16 years with the same rig I have had no problems (cross country 6x's). Truck weighs just about as much as trailer,5050 loaded, give a few in favor of the AS. The one thing that short wheel base haulers have to keep in mind is reaction time. Short WB vehicles react quicker than long WB, pulling or not. Attention to frame size, spring weights, anti-sway bars, shocks, etc. on tow vehicle is a must.
Your FJ has so many modifications that it hardly resembles the original. Even if you found someone that has towed with a stock FJ their experiance would be of little value to you. The Explorer has a fairly short overhang and that is good.
My Nissan Quest has a 112 inch wheelbase and we tow a 23 foot Safari.
To get to the good campgrounds in Northern Ontario we need to travel the major Toronto Expressways. The truck traffic on those hwy's travel at 65 to 70MPH plus and the cars run even faster. We easily go with this flow. Going slower is almost more dangerous than keeping up with the flow. The combination at these hwy speeds is very stable. The Quest does have a fairly hefty frame that is integrated with the unit body and has a vehicle load capacity of 1,450 lbs. The stock Toyota Land Crusier has a VLC of 1,240. Even the big Toyota Sequoia has a VLC of 1,320. SUV's tend to have a high centre of gravity and in many cases narrow tracks that contribute to this surprisingly low number.
Note..Vehicle Load Capacity info and ratings can be found on page 28 of the April 2002 issue of consumers magazine.
It can also be of interest that the VLC of some mini vans are actually higher that some full size pickup trucks and some large SUV's.
Hope this info helps.
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The first formula is pretty pessimistic. It says I need about 170" (a Superduty CrewCab/Long Bed is 172") to tow my 34'10" Limited.
The second formula appears to be pretty optimistic. I was in a bit of a rush measuring it this morning, but my trailer measures about 23'4" from the center of rear axle to center of the ball. So it says I only need 140" (a SuperCab/Short Bed is 140") to tow it.
Splitting the difference is 155". A CrewCab/Short Bed is 156" and my SuperCab/Long Bed is 158". I think these are more reasonable.
Originally posted by Wayne F My Nissan Quest has a 112 inch wheelbase and we tow a 23 foot Safari.
Don't know about your old Quest, but the '03 model is only rated for 3500 lb towing capacity. See its website and click on "Capacities."
The same is true for the Ford Windstar IF it has the Class II Towing package. Otherwise, it's 2000 lbs.
The Chevy Venture is rated similarly. 3500 lbs with the Touring Suspension, 2000 without. They DO SPECIFY that vehicle options, passenger weight, and cargo reduce the maximum trailer weight (which all probably do if you look at the manual).
The Honda Odyssey is rated for up to 3500 lbs, but "†Requires surge-type or electric trailer brakes, load-distribution unit and transmission oil cooler." A weight distributing hitch?
According to their web page, the Chrysler Voyager is only up to 2000 lbs towed weight "if properly equipped." Seems I remember my '90 Voyager being rated for 3,500 lbs minus options, passenger weight, cargo, etc.
Bottomline is that even with their towing packages, these FWD mini-vans shouldn't tow more than about 3,000 lbs with a coupla people in them and a full tank of gas. If you're in an accident towing well over the manufacturers rating, you could be found negligent and partial liable even if it wasn't your fault. The RWD Astro is rated at 5400 minus optional equipment, passengers and cargo. Even that will barely cut it with a moderately loaded 22' International.
I keep my Tradewind here at my business, we have a rear parking lot. Not more than a few minutes ago a Villager was parked next to my 25 ft. trailer. This is what prompted me to reply to this post. The Villager is similar to the Quest, I believe. It belonged to one of my suppliers. I can not see how this Villager could possibly tow my tradewind, other than from one parking spot to another. I know that the Safari is shorter and lighter, but not by enough to make it a safe rig, in my opinion. Imagine of for whatever reason the brakes ever failed on the Safari while it's being towed by the Quest..... I would not want to be the one sharing the road with you. Just my observation, so no offense, please.
I've always found it surprising that Wayne pulls his trailer w/ a minivan, too, considering that I have the exact same model trailer. Not only that, but I pull mine with a real truck, and its performance I judge to be "adequate"; not what I would call "stellar". ...ok, not the most heavy-weight truck, but sheesh, it has a MUCH bigger engine than the minivan. Must be some minivan.. Then again...could this be one of those pesky US/Canadian conversion things?? Maybe when he says "Nissan Quest", it really means "dodge ram (us)".
But AS does say that this unit should be in the vicinity of 3500lbs empty. And Nissan says it can pull 3500lbs.....But while my truck only seems "adequate", its rated capacity is 7500lbs.
It's not even the engine that has me worried, but more just the towing safety. I know that the majority of forum members would likely tow with a double weight safety margin, which might or might not be overkill, but there is no way for this Quest not be overloaded and overstressed while towing the Safari, especially if anyone or anything at all will come along for the ride. It's not about Canada vs US or anything like that, more like we don't want to lose Wayne and his family to a statistic.....IMHO.
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Then again...could this be one of those pesky US/Canadian conversion things??
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