Hi, this is my first post and my question may be a FAQ, but I didn't find my answer in a brief try at the archives.

I have a '95 Montero SR with the 3.5L (obviously). I've had the vehicle since new and it now has 143k mostly trouble-free miles.

My primary non-work time occupation is Road Racing with BMW Car Club of America and various other groups. This year, I've spent approx. 20 weekends racing. Most of the events are 4-5 hours from where I live (in upstate NY). I've been driving my car to the events and then swapping to race tires at the track. I now want to tow.

I've got a 2600 lb. race car and no trailer at this point. I anticipate whatever open trailer I buy will be approx. 1000 lbs. I'd probably also carry a couple hundred extra pounds in spares, etc. Rought total to tow=3800 lbs.

I can't seem to find anywhere on the internet what the towing capacity for my Montero is. I'm hoping its around 5000 lbs. I also have no hitch at this time.

How can I get in business here on the towing front? What's the towing capacity? What hitch would I need?

Also, will introducing my Montero to towing at 140-150k miles be something that will "break the camel's back". I've had very few problems and i don't really want to start now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Marc
marcmc8867 at the yahoo dot com

From what I've read it's rated for 4000 lbs towing capacity and thats very close to your limit. You would definatly want to install a "tow package" tranny cooler and maybe an oil cooler, air bags for the rear springs. Make sure your 95 is in top shape with all current maintainance done.

I rescued my Montero from certain death with my friends Land Cruiser. San Diego to Monterey, 440 miles. It's really no fun towing, everyone hates you for going slow. Drive at night.

towing the Monty

Thanks for the info...

Could you forward some vendor contacts for me??

Mechanically, the car is running great in every way. The only problem is that the underbody is quite rusted. Is this something to worry about in this scenario??

Marc,
the rating on your 95SR is 5000 lbs. You should be fine.
Things to consider on towing
1. Get brakes on the trailer, good ones, preferably on both axles.
2. Use quality wiring for the electric hookup.
3. If it was me, I'd make darned sure I had an expert trailer hitch guy take a look at the stock setup and give you an opinion on what you need.
4. Match the tongue height of the trailer to the hitch. I see a lot of Monteros with the drop down hitches bolted to the stock hitch mount. The leverage on this must be enormous.
5. As far as protecting your car, I'd make sure you have all fresh fluids and that your radiator is clean, your fan clutch is in good condition, and your thermostat is working as designed.
6. You might consider uping your grade of gasoline one level. Up hill accelleration is going to put a lot of stress on the motor, increasing cylinder temps to the point that you 'might' get some ignition problems. Higher quality gas will help.
7. When towing get your 'towing mindset' working...i.e. make every manuever 'smmmooooooooootttthhhhh'; leave lots of room in front, behind and around you so you can manuever smooooooooootttthhhhllllyyy and think 'way down the road' so that you don't have to make any sudden stops, lane changes i.e. sudden anything.

8. don't be in a hurry to do anything, take your time.
9. once on the track, run like hell and good luck in the races hehehe

there is a tow package you can get that is a class III but it lowers your ground clearance a little, I have it on mine, the bigest thing I have towed is 3 snow mobiles on snowy roads, I have to say that I was quite impressed with how much power I still had with that 3.5, and you may want to keep it out of OD while towing alot of weight. and I agree definately get the trailer brakes.

I have the same model and year as yours, the 3.5 dohc is the most powerfull engine on monteros towing capacity it's rated 5000 lbs. I have a hitch install on my truck when I first bought it but no longer need it. It's a 5k lbs capacity made by draw-tite I paid over $300.00 for the whole thing including install. I could sell it to you for a reasonable price if you're interest.
Here is a picture.

You can see more pictures on my site.

thanks a lot for the info. these ideas will get me started anyway...

thanks for taking the time.

- The SR has tranny and oil coolers.
- The 5000# capacity is for pulling a trailer with brakes. Otherwise I believe they say 1500#.
- As for air bags, can't say myself from experience. But I had well over the 1000# cargo rating in my 95 SR in the form of bricks (proly a good 1200#). You could certainly feel the weight, and it was sitting a little bit low. The rear wheel wells were below the front. (Looked kinda like a 4Runner!). You're looking at 400# in tongue, plus interior cargo. I would think you'd be well under the 1000# unless you have abunch of poeple in there with you.

I have a '95 LS and pulled a 3000 lb boat a few times this summer and didn't have any problems. Towing is a lot of the reason I bought the truck. It seems to do better at 70 than 60 due simply to RPM's.

W/o trailer brakes I had to be extra cautions as far as following distance and planning stops ahead of time, but all in all the truck did great. I just used an $80 hitch that bolted right to the stock bumper plate, but with the kind of weight you're talking about I'm sure you'll want a tow bar. FWIW my brother had a class III put on a Chrysler minivan for $160ish (U-haul).

BTW - Cap - how much work is it to remove the rear bumper cover?? I would really like to run my wires for my lights underneat it instead of around the door jamb.

That's the nicest <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" /> on the forum.... OMG!