Toyota 4Runner Towing Capacity by Year

How much can a 4Runner tow, year by year

Find your model year below. The rating changed once in this period, when the new generation arrived for 2025 and the 4.0L V6 was replaced by a turbocharged four.

Figures for 2016 to 2025 come from Toyota's Product Information sheet for each of those model years, such as the 2024 sheet and the 2025 sheet, all rated by the SAE J2807 method. The 2026 split comes from the 2026 owner's manual and its hybrid edition. Toyota's 2026 Product Information prints a single 6,000 lb for the whole line, while the manuals and toyota.com give 5,800 lb on those three hybrid grades; the manual is the document that governs your vehicle. For tongue weight the V6 sheets all say 500 lb, while Toyota's 2016 press release said 470 lb.

Can a 4Runner pull a camper?

By weight, a small camper is the realistic match. Toyota's own words for what the 4Runner tows are trailers, boats or UTVs; its documents never mention campers or travel trailers, and they state plainly that you should never tow beyond the published capacity.

Above 3,000 lb of gross trailer weight Toyota recommends a trailer with two or more axles, which most towable campers have. Toyota also warns against exceeding 65 mph while towing. If your camper is heavier than the 4Runner's rating, the fair comparison is a mid-size pickup such as the Tacoma.

What is left for people and gear

Toyota prints no payload figure for the 2025 or 2026 4Runner. What it does print, in the manual and on the sticker on your own vehicle, is the vehicle capacity weight: the combined weight of occupants and luggage, 895 lb, or 1,160 lb on a 4Runner with the third seat. Every hybrid grade gets 895 lb.

The tongue weight of the trailer counts against that same figure, because Toyota's manual says trailer load is transferred to the vehicle and reduces the cargo and luggage capacity. Toyota wants conventional trailers loaded so the tongue carries 9% to 11% of the gross trailer weight, so a 4,000 lb loaded camper puts 360 to 440 lb on the ball, calculated from that percentage.

Work the rest out from your own numbers: 895 lb minus 440 lb of tongue weight leaves 455 lb for everyone in the vehicle and everything in the cargo area. That is the sum most 4Runner owners run out of first, and the method is on the payload page.

Which 2026 4Runners tow 6,000 lb

Almost all of them. The gas i-FORCE grades are rated 6,000 lb in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive, and so are two hybrid grades; only the three top hybrids come in lower.

Figures from the 2026 owner's manuals, matched by Toyota's own grade data on toyota.com, which also lists the Premium versions of TRD Sport and TRD Off-Road at the same ratings. Use that page for every grade and drive combination, including curb weights and the gross vehicle weight rating of each build.

Does the new 4Runner tow more than the old V6?

Yes, by 1,000 lb. The 2016 to 2024 4Runner used a 270 hp, 278 lb-ft 4.0L V6 with a 5-speed automatic and was rated 5,000 lb on every grade. The 2025 generation brought a 278 hp, 317 lb-ft turbocharged 2.4L and a 326 hp, 465 lb-ft hybrid version of it, both with an 8-speed automatic, and a 6,000 lb rating.

Carrying capacity barely moved. Comparing like with like, the V6 manual allowed 880 lb of occupants and luggage with five seats and 1,165 lb with seven, against 895 lb and 1,160 lb for 2026. The older press sheets also printed a separate payload row of 1,495 lb to 1,700 lb; that is a different figure from the manual's, and Toyota does not explain the difference, so go by the sticker on your own 4Runner.

Hitch, trailer brakes and a weight-distributing hitch

Every 2026 4Runner leaves the factory with an integrated receiver hitch and a wiring harness with 4-pin and 7-pin connectors, plus TOW/HAUL modes and Trailer Sway Control. The built-in trailer brake controller is part of the Tow Tech Package: standard on Platinum, TRD Pro and Trailhunter, optional on TRD Sport Premium, TRD Off-Road Premium and Limited, and not available on SR5, TRD Sport or TRD Off-Road. Where it is not fitted, the manual points to a service connector for an aftermarket controller.

Toyota's 2026 manuals set these thresholds by gross trailer weight:

• Above 1,655 lb, the unbraked trailer weight rating, trailer service brakes are required.
• Above 2,000 lb, a sway control device of sufficient capacity is required.
• Above 3,000 lb, Toyota recommends a trailer with two or more axles.
• Above 5,000 lb, a weight-distributing hitch of sufficient capacity is required.

With a weight-distributing hitch connected, Toyota's target is to return the front axle to the weight it carried before hookup, or failing a scale, to restore the front fender height measured above the front axle, without going below it.

Toyota publishes no receiver capacity or maximum tongue weight for the 2025 and 2026 4Runner. The manual puts that on the hitch instead: hitch assemblies have different ratings set by their maker, and the operator must find that rating and not exceed it, so read the label on your receiver and the hitch maker's instructions. The V6 years were clearer, with the sheets listing a weight-carrying tow hitch receiver rated to a maximum of 5,000 lb. Installing or altering a hitch is structural work on the frame: have a Toyota dealer or a hitch shop do it, and keep the trailer wiring within the 64 watts and 5 amps per side that the tow lighting system is designed for.

Finding your own 4Runner's figure

The certification label on the driver's door pillar carries the gross vehicle weight rating and the axle ratings for your exact vehicle, and the Tire and Loading Information placard on the driver's side B-pillar states the combined weight of occupants and cargo that it should never exceed. The trailer weight rating itself is not on either label: it is in the owner's manual table for your grade and drive, which is the row to match before you hitch up.

Where the 4Runner's rating runs out

A 4Runner is sized for small trailers, and the limit that bites first is usually what is left for people and gear rather than the 6,000 lb itself. For heavier travel trailers, the choices to work through are set out on the page covering SUVs that can tow a travel trailer, which is where any comparison between models belongs.

Staying with Toyota, the next size up is the full-size Sequoia. Whatever you tow with, the loading and hookup basics are worth a read on NHTSA's towing safety page.

Common questions