Quote:
Originally Posted by coralcrazed
I have a very important question that I hope you can answer. The 2006 manual pages 399-400 talk about towing capacity which is 3500 lbs. and continue to go into cargo capacity within the toyota (crago capacity is total occupant load and gear). what is unclear in the manual is weather or not the weight inside the TV should be subtracted from the maximum towing capacity of 3500 lbs. the responsible thing to do is try and underload and stay well under the maximum. capacity. I wonder if that is possible here and if you can clarify the above that would be great. Much appreciated.
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I've always said that something so hard to figure out is something they can't possibly expect us to figure out right. There are a lot of things that go into tow ratings besides engineering, including durability and marketing questions like "How many transmissions will we have to replace under the warranty if we jack the tow rating up a bit?" And there are the liability questions they have to be worrying about, too. The GCWR should be in the owners manual in the pages on towing.
Toyota tow ratings have been evolving slightly, but the basic principle for most in old days was that the tow rating added to the GVWR to get GCWR. In other words, my Toyota Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is 4985, the tow rating is 3500, and the Gross Combined Weight Rating is 8485. Other manufacturers tell you that you have a big tow rating, and then tell you that you have to subtract all the payload in the tow vehicle from the tow rating before you get to the trailer. So, my scale numbers showed a Tow vehicle at 4460 and a trailer at 3940, which works out to less than the GCWR. Yours seems like it should come out somewhere in that same ballpark, unless you're carrying lots of people in all those seat belts.
Most important, the RV I have on the road is the most stable and safe RV combo we've ever had (we've owned popups, hard side trailers, and a 37 foot motorhome over 30+ years). Towing a TrailManor is much easier on the transmission than a full height travel trailer. The horsepower to weight ratio of the Adventuremobile/TM combo is double what we had in the motorhome. The torque to weight ratio is 1.5 times what that V10 in the motorhome offered us.
The Sienna has a very similar powerplant. The possible passenger load with all those seat belts means that it has the load carrying capacity of a half ton truck. More important to me, the Sienna owners here are not telling you any scary stories about safety or transmission failures.
It's important to travel light, carrying what you need, and traveling with your tanks empty. If you are a family of 6 with teenagers, this could be difficult
It's most important, IMO, to get rid of that brake controller. A Prodigy or P3 should cost you less than $130. The wires in the existing harness under the dash should be the same ones you need, but the end connector will be different. The installation should not be a big job.