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I just got my C5 Zo6 on the trailer and am not sure if it is in the right spot for safe transport. The 4-runner I am towing with has about 2" of sag with the car on the trailer in the position shown. Do you think the car is good to go as shown? It is a 16" Carson POS with electric brakes.
I just got my C5 Zo6 on the trailer and am not sure if it is in the right spot for safe transport. The 4-runner I am towing with has about 2" of sag with the car on the trailer in the position shown. Do you think the car is good to go as shown? It is a 16" Carson POS with electric brakes.
Thanks Sam
What is the total weight of your trailer with the car on it without the trailer tongue being supported by your tow vehicle? Once you have that the tongue weight you should shoot for is somewhere between 10 and 15% of the total weight. 10% is the absolute minimum and 12 is better. Insufficient tongue weight is what makes trailers sway going down the road. Lets say your trailer weighs about 1200 lbs, the car weighs about 3250 so the total weight is 4450. Assume 4500 that means your tongue weight should be somewhere between 450 and 675 lbs. Your 4Runner is only rated for 500 lbs of tongue weight so you need to make sure you don't go over that amount. To get their you move the car a few inches one way or the other to get to the tongue weight. What ever you do you need to make sure the tow vehicle has sufficient weight on the front wheels so it steers properly. I tow with my Tahoe and use a weight distribution hitch to move weight from the tow vehicle rear axle to the front axle. The weight distribution hitch also stabilizes the rig when you are running down the road. When an 18 wheeler blasts past you it will wiggle a lot less and it steers better in cross winds as long as you have the front end loaded properly so your 4Runner responds to steering inputs. You also want the trailer as level as possible while towing which may require a hitch that lets you adjust the ball height.
You are right at the limit of the your 4Runner's towing capacity which means you don't have capacity to carry any other weight in the vehicle besides the driver. You can run a few times like this but it is a hell of a stress to put on a vehicle and will shorten the engine, transmission and gear life. How well the vehicle can pull the load also depends on the axle ratio.
Weigh your trailer with the car on it and find out if you can safely get the tongue weight down to 500 lbs so you can fall into the tongue weight guidelines. If you can't buy a new tow vehicle.
My son has that to tow his boat trailer but if you need a weight distribution hitch that won't cut it as there is no place to attach the trailer bars. WD hitches provide a lot of benefit especially when towing a load close to the max capability of the tow vehicle. If I throw a few more things on the front of my trailer I can bring up the WD hitch chains a couple of links to transfer the added tongue weight to the front wheels of my tow vehicle. That way my headlights aren't blinding everybody and l can actually steer when I need make a turn, change lanes, etc.
Checking trailer total weight and tongue weight can be done at a farm supply store truck scale or at a regular truck scale at a truck stop or other places where they are located. It only costs a few bucks to have the weight measured. I also purchased a tongue weight scale that I can use with my trailer.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; 07-18-2018 at 09:55 PM.
What is the total weight of your trailer with the car on it without the trailer tongue being supported by your tow vehicle? Once you have that the tongue weight you should shoot for is somewhere between 10 and 15% of the total weight. 10% is the absolute minimum and 12 is better. Insufficient tongue weight is what makes trailers sway going down the road. Lets say your trailer weighs about 1200 lbs, the car weighs about 3250 so the total weight is 4450. Assume 4500 that means your tongue weight should be somewhere between 450 and 675 lbs. Your 4Runner is only rated for 500 lbs of tongue weight so you need to make sure you don't go over that amount. To get their you move the car a few inches one way or the other to get to the tongue weight. What ever you do you need to make sure the tow vehicle has sufficient weight on the front wheels so it steers properly. I tow with my Tahoe and use a weight distribution hitch to move weight from the tow vehicle rear axle to the front axle. The weight distribution hitch also stabilizes the rig when you are running down the road. When an 18 wheeler blasts past you it will wiggle a lot less and it steers better in cross winds as long as you have the front end loaded properly so your 4Runner responds to steering inputs. You also want the trailer as level as possible while towing which may require a hitch that lets you adjust the ball height.
You are right at the limit of the your 4Runner's towing capacity which means you don't have capacity to carry any other weight in the vehicle besides the driver. You can run a few times like this but it is a hell of a stress to put on a vehicle and will shorten the engine, transmission and gear life. How well the vehicle can pull the load also depends on the axle ratio.
Weigh your trailer with the car on it and find out if you can safely get the tongue weight down to 500 lbs so you can fall into the tongue weight guidelines. If you can't buy a new tow vehicle.
Bill
Wow Bill, you are full of great information.
According to the owners manual the car has a tougue weight of 700 lbs. I can't find the unloaded weight on the trailer but remember the sales guy saying it was 1400lbs.
I had the car and trailer on the road today and it seemed very stable at 55mph in heavy traffic. The trailer was a freebee so while not ideal I thought the risk reward was in my favor. True it might not be easy on the 4-runner but it is well maintained and in perfect working order. A Trailer-x will be on my short list in the next 3 years unless my spending gets me a divorce. For the mean time taking this to local tracks (less than 200 miles) for the next couple years should work unless there are any glaring problems I am missing.
Looks like the car is positioned close to where I park my 02 Z when hauling it for any substantial distance. Here is where I had it positioned while being stored for a year parked on the trailer. I wanted more weight to the front of the trailer and used jack stands to take some of the weight off the trailer tires. The battery was dead when I picked it up so I trailered it home where it sat, to far forward. My tow vehicle is a Ram 1500 and the 70 MPH ride home wasn't a problem. 16' PJ trailer and if I'm not mistaken it's 1850 lbs with no spare tire, winch or battery. Where my 58 is positioned is where the Z normally sits.
It looks like you have too much weight on the hitch. Hint about how the weight is disrupted in the car. The center of the car should be only slightly forward of the center of the trailer wheels. The only way to know for sure is to use a tongue scale, but visually your engine looks too far forward. Because the trailer is so small you may need to load the car backwards.
The two that are loaded backwards might not be far enough forward, especially the first. It’s all about the % of weight on the tongue - with a front-heavy car, it is typically better to pull them on straight so the weight is distributed properly without having to pull the car so far forward.
Sam,
Before I had a scale, I judged by "feel". Just looking at your setup, I would back the car up so that the rear wheels are about in line with the ramps slid in the back of the trailer. you siad that trailer is only 16', so it is likely nose heavy the way its loaded now.
The only way to know is to drive across the scales at a truck stop or someplace. Get axle weights for both axles of the tow vehicle without the trailer, and axle weights for both axles of the tow vehicle and total weight (individual axle weights if possible) on the trailer wheels.
Tongue weight will show as added weight on the rear axle of the tow vehicle. If you know the weight of the trailer empty, and you know the weight of the car, you know the total weight of the trailer. You can also measure tongue weight under the tongue jack if you want, with the trailer loaded, and the tow vehicle pulled away. Always have the trailer hitched and locked down to the tow vehicle when pulling on and off the trailer. Don't try to measure tongue weight by driving onto the unattached trailer. It's like stepping on a garden rake, only much more expensive.
OP, the 700 lb tongue weight is much better. I picked up the 500 lb weight from a Toyota web site. Remember your C5 is pretty much neutrally balanced with pretty close to 50/50 weight distribution. No need to back the car onto the trailer to change the weight balance a lot. Just move it back and forth a few inches and you will see sizable changes in tongue weight. If your memory is correct that puts the load at about 4650 lbs total and you more than likely can get by with about 600 lbs (12%) of tongue weight. With that kind of tongue weight you can get a lighter duty WD hitch and have a stable towing set up. People driving pickups and other long wheel base vehicles can some times get by without a WD hitch but on a short wheel base vehicle hanging 600 lbs 4 to 6 ft behind the rear axle leverages a lot of weight off the front wheels and reduces steering ability. The lighter the weight on the front wheels the more likely the front of the tow vehicle will move sideways in a cross wind and when you turn the steering wheel the vehicle will not respond as well as desired.
This is the trailer I used for 23 years until I purchased my C7Z and found out it was too wide for the trailer. Total weight as loaded was 5600 lbs (dry weight of trailer was 1800 lbs and the tires in the rack weighed about 220 lbs). Tongue weight was between 650 and 700 lbs depending on factors like how much fuel was in the car or if I threw something else on the trailer. With the equalizer (WD) hitch the rig was very stable at speed and wasn't a problem to tow. Typical highway towing speed was 70 to 75 mph with one burst to 90 for a mile or two to see how it did.
When I first purchased the trailer I owned an 86 Coupe and the tow rig was a 1991 Olds Bravada (a Chevy 4 door Blazer with AWD) with 3:42 gears and a 160 HP 4.3 V6. The Bravada did a good job of towing on level ground but there were a lot of hills where I lived and over the following 5 years and 90K miles I killed the engine (it had a tow rating of 4200 lbs). Imagine pulling up a 3 o4 4 mile long steep hill with the engine at max rpm in low gear going 40 mph. It was amazing the engine lasted as long as it did.
Since I first purchased that trailer in 1993 I have learned a lot about towing. I know pay attention to Gross Combined Weight Rating and the gross weight ratings of the axles on my tow vehicle, getting sufficient tongue weight to make the trailer stable but not so much that it will overload the rear axle and how much weight the trailer wheels are carrying. It is a balancing act to get them all where they need to be so you can tow safely at highway speed limits, have proper braking and carry people and cargo in the tow vehicle with exceeding its gross weight capabilities. .
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; 07-19-2018 at 11:37 AM.
Keep in mind the 4runner has really soft springs. They make some manual airbags that go inside the rear springs. They only cost $100 and i would highly recommend them for towing. I had them on my 4runner and my current mdx.
You can measure the bottom of the rear bumper of the tow vehicle without trailer. Then, get two good sized people to sit on the tailgate and measure that. When loading the car, shoot for that measurement. AFA the picture, you have to consider that the vette is close to 50/50 on weight across the wheelbase. Don't go very far forward of the point between the trailer wheels considering you have trailer weight already forward. The current picture shows you way too far forward.
I agree with the others including SouthernSon. Your car looks too far forward. Looks like you are about 14 to 18 " too far forward.
I suggest putting a post it note or piece of masking tape on the door of you car at the midpoint between the front and rear wheels. Then position the car so this tape mid point is 2 to 4 inches in front of the midpoint of the trailer wheels. The should get you closer to what the tow vehicle can handle and should pull better due to proper tongue weight.
I have used this eyeball method successfully for both open and enclosed trailers with my Corvette.
I want to thank everyone for their help. The car does look a bit far forward after looking again. I drove 150 miles on it today and it was ok. On the way back from the track I will put it a bit more back and see how it handles. This forum rocks!!!!
07-18-2018, 04:54 PM
Help with trailer weight centering
