M116 and FJ Cruiser

[johnspies]

Will I be able to pull it safely? It's the A1 version, no surge brakes....although there is an A3 version available locally too. I just assumed that one might be heavier.
Will be using it for camping and road trip mainly. I highly doubt it will ever see loads for which it's designed really.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Personally, I would opt for the a2 with surge brakes for saftey, but you should be ok. You FJ owner's manual should list the trucks tow rating, might want to look into that.

 

[smokinAMD]

FJ is rated up to 5000 pounds, they "recommend" trailer brakes over 1,000 pounds. That being said, I've towed close to 4700 pounds with mine with no brakes, and it did just fine.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Selling points of both. If the M101A3 has the A3 bed, it will have 55" between the inner fenders. This is a huge advantage. Many of the A3 trailers had the narrower bed. If the A3 in your area has the narrow bed, I'd lean towards the A1, build an axle with brakes and same bolt pattern as your FJ and call it a day. Weight diff between the A3 and that heavy A2 parking brake drum axle will be negligable.

 

[smokinAMD]

There's quite a few people on the FJ forums that tow these things just fine with no brakes, also several that have swapped the axles over just so they only have to carry one spare tire. That's probably what I'm going to do down the road. Couple that with a lock and roll coupler, I'd be set.

 

[Recovry4x4]

There's quite a few people on the FJ forums that tow these things just fine with no brakes, also several that have swapped the axles over just so they only have to carry one spare tire. That's probably what I'm going to do down the road. Couple that with a lock and roll coupler, I'd be set.

No doubt. Guess my point was more to the effect that if one were building a custom axle it would be cheaper to build it with brakes then add them later.
Trailer brakes aren't a bad thing.

 

[smokinAMD]

Yeah. A custom axle is in my future at some point, probably with electric brakes. But until then, I have no complaints with the surge brakes since mine work. Main reason I want a new axle is just to shed some weight / have the same bolt pattern.

 

[rosco]

The A2 with its brakes, even with the rated .75 ton, pulled with an FJ, is a dream to pull! Pulling trailers without brakes is stone age nonsense. Sure, you can get by with out the brakes, right up till you get to the emergency stop!

 

[harleyhouse]

Go with the A3 a better trailer and has 16" 8 bolt wheels.