Originally Posted by inghamm
We’d been dreaming of owning a TM since 2003. At that time I saw the 2742 lb dry weight of the 2720 (QB) and figured we could tow it with our Caravan minivan. (#3500 tow rating) In February of 2015 we had enough money to order a new TM from the factory. For some reason my wife had at that time been interested in Highlanders. I hadn’t said anything to her, but the Highlander Hybrid intrigued me and I had been thinking of that for our tow vehicle, so I thought that was an interesting coincidence. So we started looking for a Highlander Hybrid to be our tow vehicle for when the trailer came in. We ended up buying a 2010 HH. Now we had the tow vehicle, just waiting for the trailer. During that time I discovered the TrailManor forum and started reading all the posts about tow vehicles. If I had done that before I bought the hybrid, I would have likely bought a regular Highlander rather than the hybrid. (We ended up having to buy a used 2720 because the factory couldn’t complete our order for the new one).
First few trips we towed without a WDH, but then I put the Eaz-Lift WDH on that came with the used trailer and things felt more stable, but the WDH itself was so heavy, I felt like I was adding 100 pounds onto the hitch to take off 200 pounds. So I went with the Anderson WDH. It’s much lighter.
All the while thinking (worrying) that I might have to trade the hybrid in for a regular Highlander. I kept asking at the dealership, “Am I going to be OK pulling at the #3500 limit?” they kept saying yes, just make sure you do the transmission service.
This fall we did a 31 day trip, starting in the Seattle area, going to Yellowstone, Bryce NP, Zion NP, LA California area, east of the Sierras and back. On the way out I stopped at a CAT scale. Fully loaded as we will ever be for the long trip, we were at #3520. Quite a bit of driving on grades in the Rockies and at high elevations. Absolutely no problems. We’d set the cruise at 60-65 and had no trouble keeping that going up grades. On another trip we had a freeway onramp that was up hill. After I finished merging I realized I was doing almost 80. I’ve never felt like I didn’t have enough power. In terms of braking it seems like it would not be different than a regular highlander. At any rate, one time on a mountain road going up hill I pulled over to let someone pass and realized the pullout was much shorter than I anticipated, so I had to do some emergency braking and I was fine.
We have the rear mounted hitch receiver, a fairly heavy duty bike rack, and 2 steel frame (heavy) bikes on the back. That adds to our total weight, but helps take some weight off the hitch. Padgett is right. It lists #392 for his model but actually it’s #430. So you would definitely need a WDH.
The SD dry weight is 2865 compared to my 2720 of 2742 - 123lbs heavier. You would have to be careful about packing. Bill, as usual, has great advice in his post.
The only thing now I worry about is transmission longevity. So far so good. I continue to get good reports from the dealership. If I have transmission problems I will trade in the hybrid for a regular Highlander, but I am optimistic I will be fine.
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