For those on these forums that own older Toyota Camrys, I was wondering if you use them to carry heavier loads or pull a light-duty trailer and have you found anything availible to beef up the rear springs or struts?
I know Toyota used to sell a custom light-duty hitch for these cars, because I installed one for a customer many years ago, but the car was brand-new then and he didn't provide anything to help the rear suspension.

Since I acquired a '96 Camry sedan two years ago, it has become my main daily-driver and work vehicle. So I keep about 300 pounds of stuff in the trunk.
Last summer, I added a custom, trailer hitch off of a '95 Camry in my local Pick-N-Pull - not for pulling an Airstream cross-country, just infrequently a small 4" x 8" utility trailer to haul a washer or refrigerator a few miles
I haven't used a trailer yet, but with the car already sitting pretty low, and the hitch hanging down an extra couple of inches, I've been hitting pavement at many driveways, road-dips and speed-bumps.
I've noticed all older Camry sedans seem to sit pretty low in the rear. And while doing the rear brakes recently, I found my rear struts leaking.

So last weekend, I spotted a '92 Camry wagon at the Pick-N-Pull and grabbed the rear spring & strut units, then swapped them into my sedan yesterday.
My car sits about 3 inches higher in the rear now and it's definitely much stiffer. Though I might miss the soft, floaty ride I got used to, so far it's acceptable, the car feels much tighter now, and tne bottoming-out is gone!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Didn't Gabriel used to make a set of rear Air shocks that you could pump up at the gas station when you needed to haul a heavier load?

http://gabriel.com/our-products/car-light-truck-van/hijackers/

There is a chance the wagon suspension parts are tougher than the sedans as well. You could check parts suppliers to see if different part numbers are involved.

Of course if the station wagon parts are stiffer this will make the car more trailor friendly as well. Our last Toyota acquisition cautions that no trailor hitch is to be installed in the owners manual. Corolla.

That's just CYA. A 500# trailer won't likely harm anything, but there will always be the Einsteins who try to tow a 24' boat with a Corolla, burn up the clutch, and come whinging to Toyota to fix the car under warranty.

I once owned a 1993 Corolla with a manual transmission and a 1.6L engine. Used it to tow a big heavy wood cookstove on a too big trailer.

I towed garden tractors and a six foot bush hog behind a 1981 diesel Rabbit.

Carefully balance the load, take your time and don't take chances with iffy tires or brakes.

Those were shocks for conventional leaf or coil-spring rear suspensions. My Camry has an independent rear suspension with combined 'coil & shock' struts. I've found no air-adjustble units to replace them.

My '96 Camry owner's manual allows a trailer up to 2000 pounds maximum if it has it's own brakes. No way am I planning to pull anthing close to that size. There are four factory-installed 12mm threaded holes in the rear unibody frame-rails to attach the custom hitch. Though my hitch was made by DrawTite, it appears identical to the 'factory' Toyota hitch I installed on my customer's new '95 Camry many years ago.
With the wagon springs, my Camry now sits about 1.5 - 2 inches above where it would normally sit with new sedan-springs and an empty trunk.
Ride is stiffer but tolerable. Despite the height increase, it seems more stable too. A better test will be my 200-mile return-trip to Alexandria next week.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Provided you have a well-placed body plate and hitch on your Camry, I don't see why you couldn't tow a couple thousand pounds behind a Camry. I towed #2,500+/- behind my old '83 300SD many decades ago a thousand miles. I never felt unsafe, sans the idiots that you normally come in contact with on a road trip on the roadway.

My DrawTite custom hitch is rated for 2000 pounds, and it's bolted to four theaded plates inside the Camry's unibody frame-rails, factory-installed
for a hitch, so I'm sure it's strong enough.
However my Camry's four-cylinder engine and automatic tranny have nearly 160K-miles on them, so
I'm limiting it to around 1000 pounds and mostly local hauling.
No way would my orignal Camry struts & springs have been able to handle any towing. They could barely handle the 300 or so pounds load I carry in my trunk!
I've been driving round Virginia Beach the past few days and I'm very pleased with the wagon spring & strut units I instaled in the rear of my sedan. Now I just have to get used to driving the car normally again, without slowing down to a crawl for every dip and driveway!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

If you any doubts about using your Camry.......rent a truck of some sort for the hauling.

I refuse to risk hauling #5,000 behind my one ton just because I don't feel that much weight is a good or safe idea for me to pull/haul, yet, it is rated for #5,000. #2,500 OR less? Piece of cake for the one ton......

Your Camry would in my estimation be at it's outer limits @ #2,000. I would seriously consider renting the truck to move whatever it is you're moving/hauling.

And, just for the record - I don't think it was all that bright of me (20+ years ago) to pull a #1,000 +/- UHaul trailer, with a #800 Cub Cadet lawn tractor enclosed for a thousand miles. Not that it was all that difficult for the '83 300SD to pull once at speed, but @ 50-55 mph I think I presented a hazard to myself and others (cars/trucks) on the Interstate/Tollway system driving that slowly. Also, braking? Prolly wasn't the brightest either, even though I was careful. Just my '02.......

If I needed to move 2000 pounnds, I would certainly find an alternative.
My Camry should be OK pulling something like a 4 x 8, or smaller open utility-trailer for hauling a washer or fridge locally.
I actually started this thread to let people know that Camry wagon struts & springs might be an upgrade option if their OE Camry sedan units are too tired for hauling or towing. Also to enquire if anyone had already done similar upgrades to their Toyota springs and struts. Mine were simply too far gone to even carry heavy loads in the car!
I'll post an update if I have any issues with my conversion.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

If you have good tires, brakes, hitches and you don't overload any one tire or axle you can tow anything you have the power to pull and the brake power to stop.

Learn to balance and trim a trailer. Check tire, brake and bearing temperatures as you go. Check tie downs often. Towing adds adventure to driving.

My '96 Camry owner's manual does allow up to a 2000 pound maximum trailer load if the trailer has brakes. Or up to 1000 pounds otherwise. Other than tire pressures, there's no mention of differences between a sedan or wagon. 4-cylinder or V6.
For safety, there is a reccomended 45 mph maximum.

A friend that owns a 2006 Corolla had U-Haul install a hitch, mainly just to tow her 14-foot sailboat round the marina to the launch-ramp. However Toyota said that towing isn't reccomended for her car. Another friend who works for a local Toyota dealer says towing is not reccomended for the new Camry eiher.
I guess that manufacturers are now strongly discouraging people from doing silly, liability-inducing things (like towing) with their cars.

On the 92 - 96 Camry, the wagon springs are definitely a hair thicker than the sedan's. Can't really compare the struts except to say that my rears were blown & leaking, while the ones off that '92 wagon were clean and seem to be functioning well.

Those auto-parts stores that sell Camry springs, do list a different part for the sedan and wagon. None listed any kind of aftermarket load-compensating or heavy-duty replacement spring for the sedan.
Many stores also sell a 'Quick-Strut' unit that replaces the spring and strut together as an assembly. However, all listed the same unit for sedan and wagon. So it's unknown if they're using the sedan spring or the heavier wagon spring as a universal replacement. Prices for a pair of new rear Quick-Struts for my car, ranged from $330 to $460.

My return trip from Virginia Beach was fine.
The ride is stiffer, but the car feels more stable and it's a pleasure to be able to cross a dip or driveway now at a normal speed, without worrying about my hitch grinding pavement!

Not sure when I'll need to tow, but at least the hitch and wagon springs gives me that option, while allowing me to comfortably carry a load in the trunk.

In 1997, I did use a four-cylinder Isusu pickup to pull a small car on a tow-dolly from Oklahoma to Virginia. That WAS an adventure!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Good move on the wagon suspension. I remember that about ten years ago, we filled the trunk of our '96 Camry with cement bags. The struts were replaced very soon after at >100,000 miles .

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1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

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What kind of one ton can only handle 5000lbs? My 69 F250 was rated at about 6000, and with numerous mods (bigger, better brakes, frame mounted gooseneck hitch, electric brake controller, beefier springs, different rear gears, and 7.3l diesel engine) that rating has been bumped up to 10,000 on the hitch and I would be comfortable with 12,000 on the gooseneck but I haven't gone past 8k yet. I have hauled 9k on a trailer with 1500lbs in the bed, though. It wasn't unstable but you did know there was weight behind it.

Many years ago, when I installed a Camry hitch for a customer, it was only to pull a small trailer for a light aluminum John-boat. Plus, the car was brand-new and didn't have 16 - 17 years of age & wear on the struts & springs.
I'm sure the extra loads I've carried to Virginia Beach the last few trips, helped finish mine off.

Now some might ask why I didn't just go find a Camry wagon two years ago?
Well first, I got this '96 Camry sedan for free (not inluding my initial fix-up costs of course)
Otherwise, decent Camry wagons are relatively rare & pricy, the plastic panels and storage-bins surrounding the wagon's cargo area limit the availible floor-space, and it's typically more effort to keep items out of sight in a wagon.
With the sedan, I simply slam the trunk!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW