Towing a 4x4 on a car trailer....??

[Twisty]

Well I pick me new suzi up on saturday morning from Maryborough and am trailering it back to the Sunny Coast.

Now I've had no experience towing big trailers (only little 6x4 box trailers) So I am just after any advice use might have for a first timer towing a heavy trailer??

best advice is dont go over 80kmh. car trailers can be deadly, shouldnt be too bad with a zook, as it shouldnt be too heavy. lighten it as much as possible, remove its spare wheel and anything else you can to lighten the load. another good trick i found when towing my lux home. (its been trailered home twice) is to use a heavy duty ratchet strap around the front bar down to the trailer draw bar, tighten it down so that it compresses the suspension on the zook, thiis also helps to keep the weight lower and stops it swaying around as much. you can do this at the rear too, dog type chains are probably better for this than ratchet straps. this will also stop it falling off the trailer.
allow at least 3 times the normal distance for braking, try to pull it up nice and slowly.
Car trailers can get up a wicked sway at speeds, so much so that it will start to throw the tow vehicle around, and can even get your front wheels bouncing, trust me its a very scary feeling, slow and steady is the trick, last time i towed the lux home, i towed it all the way at no more than 75kmh. keep an eye on your temp gauge too, especially up big long hills

also if you are towing with a lifted truck, make sure you have an adequate drop goose neck, or the trailer will run at an angle and only the back wheels of the trailer will be on the road, while the front 2 will be in the air

make sure you swing out a bit wider too when turning corners or you will drag the trailer over gutter etc. if i think of anything else ill post it later, make sure your suzi is in gear with the hand brake on too

[Bundy]

Make sure you tow with a reasonably heavier car than what you are towing. I towed a wb ute down from Maleny in Mums 80 series was not fun as I held it in 2nd and the brakes nearly dissapeared by Landsborough for those who know the area its not nice

[Twisty]

i haven't modified the towbar for the bodylift, so hopefully it is ok....I can get a dropped gooseneck if need be but....and I have got two king size good quality rachet straps, so they should hold the zuke down pretty well......

I guess the rancho's would be best set on HARD??

I'm really not looking forward to it.....and have got mates that have offered to do it.....but I have to learn someday...since its going to get trailered to most events as well.......

[Bundy]

Whats the rating on the forunners tow bar twisty cause You might be pushing it with the wieght ???

I have got two king size good quality rachet straps, so they should hold the zuke down pretty well......i found that this made a huge difference, when i first took off without the front pulled right down, the lux was swaying all over the place, once i put the straps on it, it compressed the front suspension 3 or 4 inches and it rode 5000% better, i dont know if its good for your springs to compressed for a couple of hours though, but it was the difference in between being able to tow it home comfortably at 75kmh instead of 40kmh, id imagine that the zook has a bit of weight to it with hilux running gear fitted

[Twisty]

Whats the rating on the forunners tow bar twisty cause You might be pushing it with the wieght ???


Wouldn't have a clue?? its a heavy duty towbar, that bolts onto the chassis with about 10 bolts??

[Bundy]

Should be on the bar itself somewhere. It would be right But it wouldnt hurt to check

[Twisty]

I'll check it tonight when I put the towbar on.....and see what I can find??

[james.reardon]

Check to make sure you can see using your standard mirrors, you may need caravan types to be safe, make sure the brakes on the trailer are ok before you load up and give yourself plenty of time to pull up and check everything out periodically, lets people pass too and will help the toyo cool off a little.
You seem to be pretty thorough Twisty, take it easy and you'll be right! Good luck!
Cheers, Wombat.

[BushTuckerNed]

the towbar should be fine. we towed a car trailer with another trailer full of camping gear on it. was pretty heavy. that was with our old 4runner with a non heavy duty tow bar.



all i no is, put the zook on engine first. but thats pretty obvious ::) lol

[Twisty]

Thats the other thing i was going to ask.....when we towed the 4runner around when the V8 was getting done it took up the whole trailer so we had it all the way to the front.

With the zuke, since its not that long, do you still move it all the way to the front, or try and centre the weight over the axles??

Thats the other thing i was going to ask.....when we towed the 4runner around when the V8 was getting done it took up the whole trailer so we had it all the way to the front.

With the zuke, since its not that long, do you still move it all the way to the front, or try and centre the weight over the axles??
you might have to experiment a little, but you need some weight over the towball, if you have the zuke too far back it will try and lift the back of the 4 runner

[Twisty]

yeah thats what I thought....so most likely all the way to the front as well then.....

[tony61]

you need to have weight on the tow bar or it will get the wags on my tow bar it says a maximum of 150kg ball load thats doward force . so engine to the front and past the balance point so you see the runner sit down a bit.
i was delivering some 16ft farm gates a few years back on a tandom trailer and put them as far foward as i could but the trailer was still lifting the dual cab hilux a small amount at 60 kph was ok at 80 was ok then went down hill and the trailer pushed the car a little i was taking up both lanes and the tyres were chirping at the back of the lux it was wagging that hard.
I dont like the idea of powering out of the wags cause you will be going faster if it strikes again. electric brakes are good just turn them right up and get the trailer to pull you up.

[Bundy]

I think from memory you have about 70-75% of the total weight in front of the wheels. It normally says this on the hire trailers

[JusCruisin]

The trailer should be front-heavy, but not exceed the ball-weight rating of the towbar (this should be stated on a sticker, or stamped into the towbar somewhere). If you can't find the rating, I'd assume it to be at least 150Kg, so I'd stay below that.

Too heavy in the front of the trailer will put excessive load on the rear of the tow vehicle.

If using over-ride brakes on the trailer, don't forget to dis-engage them before you try reversing.

As already said here - keep the speed down (at least till you're feeling comfortable). You'll be fine.....

[2 BRUTAL]

If its getting a sway up and you've got the zook on engine first you might need to turn it around and have it on back wards, we towed a car on a trailer and turned it around mid journey to help distribute the weight better and it towed a lot better, but the only way you are going to find out is to load it up and see, zooks are pretty short so back wards might not hurt,

[nischev]

One little trick I learnt when I was towing a car trailer a fair bit is let the tyres down on the car you are towing then tie down with good chains and pump the tyres back up, this will hold the car in place very well. This is what I used to do and never had a problem and have done a few very long trips towing.
Constantly remind yourself when towing if the trailer starts to sway dont hit the brakes just back off the accelerator, the reason I say to keep reminding yourself is if it start swaying natural reaction is to jump on the brakes.
Towing a car trailer is much the same as a box trailer just a little bigger. Once you get used to it you wont even think twice about doing it again.
Might just be a good idea if you have mates that are experienced at it then get one to go with you as then they can give tips along the way.
Dont stress it really is easy if you take the right precautions.

[2BIG]

if you are in maryborough pop in and say G`day and show mi your conversion so i can get HUGE BLACK LUX jealous.

[kitch76]

The tow bar should be 1500kg if it is a H/D haymen reece with a 150kg max ball weight. but loaded properly u should have 10-15% of the GVM of the trailer loaded as the ball weight.

[Twisty]

if you are in maryborough pop in and say G`day and show mi your conversion so i can get HUGE BLACK LUX jealous.


where about are you Ekky? the zuke is at the Golf Course, I can probably call in quickly if ya wanna check the V8 out....

[GQANDGU]

Most good advice has already been said previously, but one tip might be useful - even though it is pretty obvious. When positioning the vehicle make sure it is fully forward on the trailer making the trailer slightly front heavy - this reduces the tendency of the trailer to sway. I have seen one trailer let loose on the highway and swing the car off the road (no harm done luckily). When we stopped to see if all was OK, it was obvious that he had only just got the car on the trailer and tied it down - could have moved it forward quite a bit. He also had the boot of the trailered car full of bits and pieces and spares - making the weight distribution worse. And although it has been mentioned already - I would make sure that the goose-neck is deep enough to have the trailer level with the towing vehicle.

[Twisty]

Well thanks for all the advice fella's....I'll let you's know how I go...and post some more pics of the Zuke too!!!

Ekky I've sent a PM about tomo....

[2 BRUTAL]

Well thanks for all the advice fella's....I'll let you's know how I go...and post some more pics of the Zuke too!!!

Ekky I've sent a PM about tomo....

just look for all the broken yota's Dave and you'll find Ekky. :P ;D

[Twisty]

Well all the towing went great on saturday. If you ever need to hire a trailer on the sunshine coast see Caltex at Currumundi....$40 cash for 8hrs....bargain!!!

The 4runner didn't have any problems pulling along the loaded trailer, though it did sit down in the arse quite a bit. So some poly bags to go inside the coils are on the shopping list now as I will be doing a lot more towing.

I was able to sit on a 100km/hr for the whole trip home, and I was even overtaking people on the uphill sections where overtaking lanes are provided, the V8 just ate it up and with the Rancho's on hard everything was sturday as. I was really surprised how well it all towed.

Fuel consumption was 25l/100km, which I didn't think was too bad either.

Anyway heres some pics....

The 4runner about to leave the sunny coast. We strapped on a set of 31's with normal offset rims in case the Zook was too wide to fit on the trailer. Bit they weren't needed in the end.
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album445/aaf.sized.jpg

All loaded up at Maryborough, ready for the trip home.
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album445/aag.sized.jpg

Out the front of Ekky's (2BIG) place....we took a detour on the way home to call in and meet Ekky and his wife, which was fun. They sure like their Toyota's!!!
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album445/aah.sized.jpg

And finally the zook at home on the driveway...jeez the first beer at home was so good after a big day of driving.
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album445/aai.sized.jpg

Then after a phew more beers it was time to try out the travel on the wall out the front. The back flex's ok, and had a little to go from maxing out, but this setup will soon be improved.
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album445/aaj.sized.jpg

Now a pic of the front, which flex's awesome, and still had more to go yet...
http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album445/aak.sized.jpg

All going well it'll get a proper test this weekend out at Glasshouse Mtns or some tracks at Noosa.

[taziiy]

glad the trip went well for you

[james.reardon]

Good one mate! Good lookin' zook, be better lookin in the future I bet!