what is the most weight you've hauled?

[MNRAV4]

careful, your wife/GF may read this!

it appears 985 pounds is the max load, that would mean I can carry 785

I have found another engine/tranny for another car, and the only means to haul it is the RAV (miss my beater PU )

I'm not sure of the weight bias, but I would think the rear isn't carrying much weight
and besides, 400 pounds is two adults more or less

how did it handle with so much weight (it's winter out)

[03rav4inPA]

I hauled about 500lbs of roof shingles and misc. supplies. Have also hauled several transmissions (one at a time, not sure their weight). Handled just fine, this was when I had my bad transmission too surprisingly. Stopping distance increases greatly I might add...

Did you ever consider getting a hitch + small utility trailer? Might be a good option for stuff like this and things down the road, ie: lawn tractor, car parts, etc. I'm still working on doing this myself. The Rav4.2 has a ton of room for the size of the vehicle, but I don't want to keep abusing the interior so I'm getting a small trailer.

[BikerJay]

I put on a lot miles (20, 000) during a very long road trip with a heavy load. Lots of camping gear, skis a rigid cargo box and three bikes on the roof rack. Off road the weight on the roof was nasty with serious body sway and bottoming out. I logged a lot of dirt road miles. I think it contributed to the early demise of the rear sway links.

I have since put stiffer old man emu arb springs and more robust sway links in. I would not even give it a second though with 500lbs totally stock.

It is good to remember that the recommended maintenance is different for tow/haul and off road.

As for the interior I pick up large pieces of card board and change them out when they get shredded and the back isnt too messed up. I would hate to have a trailer mess up the ability to make impossibly sharp turns.

[MNRAV4]

Thanks, in addition to the increased stopping distance I would expect the front end to be a little light on steering. 500 pounds, good to know, the best I have found is that the engine weighs ~375 and the tranny ~90, so I should be a little under that.

I too, place big sheets of cardboard on the floor whenever I haul stuff. Great minds think alike.

The seats are out more than they are in, in mine. Usually my bike is in back. When I first got mine back in 03 I traveled to CA from MN with the bike standing upright in back, stopped a number of places to go mountain biking, especially in Utah. I slept in it too, still do occasionally. Mine is getting a little old to be pulling a trailer and adding accessories. Or at least that is my thinking, at 160K miles, who knows how many miles are left.

[Kryten]

I've had around 1100 pounds of concrete sidewalk blocks and it was ok from one end of town to the other. I wouldn't have gone any further with that much weight though.