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We have a gx460 and gx470. We did a long distance on the gx470 with a similar trailer size. I would recommend a spare wheel/tire and buy a used trailer. You can always sell them when you are done with the move. :-) they don't lose their value all that much.
You'll be fine, and there are a lot of good tips for you in this thread. Buying a good spare and making sure you load the trailer correctly will impact how the vehicle handles. What I mean is don't load all the heavy items way up front inside the trailer...this will tend to make the rear of the vehicle sag. Have a safe trip =)
I have towed my 3500 pound boat with my base model. Does just fine. Tongue weight is prob 10% of that total. 5000 pounds won't be a ton of fun but certainly doable. If you find the tongue weight is dropping the rear too much you can install airbags which are cheap and reliable.
I tow our boat with a 2010 base 460 and it does fine. It does drop the back down a little bit, but it tows really well. More importantly it stops the boat really well, although the boat does have surge brakes. Fully loaded the boat and trailer is probably 4500 lbs. I have thought about airbags, but no more than I tow the boat (it stays dry docked at the lake) I probably won't bother. I am in KY and I assume our terrain is more varied than yours in Florida, although the previous poster in Utah may have some issue, I have not had a single one.
Thanks guys. My last boat hit 5k on a scale and my GX470 pulled it fine on our flat roads. You knew it was back there, but I generally felt safe. The self leveling rear suspension is nice. In the picture above the rear is squatting a bit but not terrible. Have you ever checked the tongue weight to see if it is loaded too far forward?
I have not checked the tongue weight, but I know from the boat manufacturer that it doesn't exceed what the vehicle is rated for. I can't remember the actual number at the moment. I figure that the dual trailer tires help with this somewhat also. I looked into the below as a bit of a help, but I've never bothered to make the purchase thus far.
I have also read about a Firestone Air Bag system that gets good reviews. There is a web forum for the 4 Runner, T4R.ORG that has a lot of good info on suspension.
Just got back from a 2500 mile trip with my 2011 460 with air suspension, towing a small travel trailer (18 ft, 3500 lb (actual) single axle highwall popup). Driver plus 2 passengers and luggage in the back. No WD hitch or antisway. Trip included a few tight, rocky, and fairly steep dirt roads as well as crossing the sierras twice (including the gnarly climb up 89 from 395).
The GX was great. Plenty of power and brakes overall for this weight. I would comfortably tow 4500-5000 but not much more. At those weights I would guess you'd want to be one gear lower in most situations than I was at 3500 lbs. I like to be on the conservative side and not stress my equipment or myself.
The manual shift mode is really useful when towing. Keeping it in 4 and 5 on the highway at 65-75mph was quite comfortable, reserving 6th for easy downhills. 3rd and rarely 2nd were necessary on steeper highway grades. Lower gears on down-grades help a lot to keep speed in check. I found I kept it in manual mode most of the trip while towing. Not much use for it when not towing, but for the trailer it's awesome.
A pleasant find was that manual mode plays nicely with cruise control enabled on the highway. I wasn't too wild about cruise behavior in "D" auto.
The air suspension is fantastic, levels right out after hitching up and turning it back on. I found comfort mode was too bouncy so left it on normal. Very much worth having air suspension.
4WD low range is great when pulling up and down steep dirt roads. Loads of control and torque. The GX felt unstoppable.
Braking was fine. No sway issues but this is a pretty short trailer. Trailer has electric brakes with a prodigy controller. One hard stop on the highway caused the front ABS to activate because of the 'lightening' effect the trailer's forward pitch created, but it was otherwise unremarkable. I would want a WD hitch for a heavier trailer.
Averaged about 12 mpg overall. 15 on level freeway. Was better at 60 but I tend to drive a little faster at the expense of fuel economy.
Overall very happy with the setup. Cleaning all the dirt off the GX's nooks and crannies on the other hand afterward, not so much!
These vehicles do a great job towing! I tow a pretty heavy boat ( around 4k with 60G of fuel) and it tows like a champ. Very capable vehicle for sure. It shares a lot of similarities with the Toyota 4runner "Trail Edition", that my friend has. Took his 4runner out to Moab a few years back and I was amazed how well it did. Nice write up too =)
I have towed a 4,000+ pound jeep from the Midwest through the Rockies and back again - over 3,500 miles at altitude and 80+ degree temperatures. My 2011 GX460 is a beast! Towing is easy to do with it.
Dear Jeepers, this was to get to the off-road areas;not to worry, the Jeep did plenty of trails in Colorado!
02-16-15, 06:40 AM
