Can I tow my 2720SL home with my RX300?? help!!

[pbuck1]

Hi,
I just bought a 2001 2720SL and need to collect it imminently from N. Fla to drive it home to Wash DC, I95 all the way (excl. stops). I bought it with the impression that my Lexus RX300 with 3500lbs/350lbs limits would be adequate as a long term tow vehicle. After reading this forum (esp. Toyota Highlander comments), I realize it is probably not, so I intend to change tow vehicles. I plan to replace the 2000 Lexus with, say, a 2001 4Runner /Infiniti QX4 which I think should be adequate for the long term.

My dilemma is: do I a)tow home with the lexus anyway which gives me time to replace the vehicle at a more leisurely pace, i.e. time to think and browse vehicles for sale? or..
b) Rush out and buy a replacement vehicle right away because I just shouldn't use the RX to tow the TM home?

I'm working with this for the RX300:
TM's UVW is 2950 lbs per the seller. I assume this includes options since spec'ed dry wt. is 2680 lbs). So with two 150lb people in the RX I'd be just OK maybe if lightly loaded and dry except for propane. The TM comes with Reese wt. dist. hitch and my Hidden Hitch receiver spec is spec'd for WDH use (5000/500lbs) . Can I use this combination to adjust to be OK with 350lbs tongue weight limit? Also I've just received my Prodigy brake controller but not yet installed it. ( I guess I can install in the RX then rip out and reinstall in new vehicle if need be).

I'm a new RVer, and I wanted to make the trip back my first camping trip (2/3 nights). Is it possible to do this relatively comfortably when I must have dry tanks and virtually no load when moving?

I'll be v. grateful for any comments/suggestions that will help me make this decision.

Thanks

 

[BobRederick]

pbuck

I think you will be fine for this trip. Reasons:
* Use hookups at the campgrounds and empty before leaving.
* 1 full propane tank will suffice for the trip. Refrig will be about the only user.
* Use your cell phone to make reservations and have a campground book in the car. Some tell last years' costs as well as ammenities.
* You can avoid heavy mountain cllimbing. You might check the route to be sure this is the case. Climbing and high altitude is where you will really see the TV power and residual cooling capacity issue show up.
* Being it is new, you won't have it heavily loaded. You have to carry everything you need in your truck going down.
* Take $$$ and a map to the Wal-Marts and Camping Worlds! You will find a lot of things you "just have to get"...

We did this last fall -- towed a "new 1 yr-old 3326" 2000 miles from Indiana to Arizona. I have a GMC Envoy 6 Cyl and it is rated for the load. We didn't hit any climbs until getting into Arizona where I was able to hold 50 MPH or higher all the way.

Have fun!

Bob

 

[fcatwo]

And lock it out of overdrive while towing.

 

[Denny_A]

Couple of additional...............

........points.

1) WDH will redistribute 2/3 of the tongue weight off of the tongue. Assuming close to proper setup, 1/3 to the RX front axle, and 1/3 to the trailer axle. No worries about the 350 lb tongue weight limit.

2) A 2001 (and 2002) 4Runner is power/torque limited. As in 183 HP and 217 lb-ft torque. Torque is king when towing.

a) A 2003 4Runner SR5 4WD returns 245 HP and 282 Lb-ft torque. Much more flexibility for most towing needs.
​

b) If cost is the issue, then a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder comes in at 250 HP and 240 lb-ft of torque. Better than an '01 or '02 4Runner, but not up to the 03 4Runner.

​

Denny_A

 

[fcatwo]

Thinking further about your situation and assuming the 300 is still under warranty, I'll offer a few more personal opinions. I would forget camping and concentrate on just getting the TM home. Considering the temperatures back your way I would travel at night or at least in the cooler parts of the day. I'd also strip all but the front seat out of the 300, stay in motels and travel with little more than a toothbrush.

We towed our 2619 for 20,000 trouble-free miles with an 02 Honda Odyssey minivan which was car-based like your 300, had the same 350/3500 tow limits but had a longer wheelbase, a factory tow package and was bigger and heavier. We removed the 2nd and 3rd row seats in the Ody and packed like we were going on a backpacking trip but were still within a few lbs of our allowed GCWR. We also traveled in spring/fall to avoid the heat.

I recently visited an owner's web site for a larger mid-size luxury SUV and a "towing" search brought up a lot of discussion of whether they could be towed behind a motor home but nothing about using them as a tow vehicle for anything other than small boats -- and even that was limited. you'll probably find the same thing on the 300 owner's site.

I should tell you that I'm a little conservative so you'll want to keep that in mind while considering my opinions. I don't wear a belt and suspenders with my elastic waist pants like some guys here but I'm not far from that .

 

[pbuck1]

Thanks for everyone's great advice. So, I've decided to use the RX300, travel lightly and when cooler, and not buy the new tow vehicle in a rush.
For the new tow vehicle I'd actually meant the 2001 Pathfinder/QX4 not the 4Runner/QX4 - I guess getting your Japanese cars mixed up is a sign of age. Both these are 240hp, 265 ft.lbs @3200rpm.
Incidentally, I wonder what margin the manufacturers really have in their tow limits? Some of the numbers are suspiciously round and/or happen to match tow hitch standards. The RX300 US spec limits are 3500lbs trailer weight and 8000lbs GCW. While the European spec limits for the exact same vehicle are 2000kg and 4000kg (which is 4400lbs and 8800lbs). Do you think the cars are actually built differently or do you think the US figures are more conservative because the US is more litigous?

Paul

 

[Denny_A]

Had a discussion........

............snip..........
Incidentally, I wonder what margin the manufacturers really have in their tow limits? Some of the numbers are suspiciously round and/or happen to match tow hitch standards. The RX300 US spec limits are 3500lbs trailer weight and 8000lbs GCW. While the European spec limits for the exact same vehicle are 2000kg and 4000kg (which is 4400lbs and 8800lbs). Do you think the cars are actually built differently or do you think the US figures are more conservative because the US is more litigous?

Paul

.......about tow limits recently. Concerning an Acura MDX, limited to 3500 lb capacity. Turned out, the limit was based on"dumbing down" to the "average, uninformed buyer". They assumed a trailer is a big, slab-sided box creating beaucoup drag. Yet a 4500 lb boat/trailer combo was ok - aerodynamic and all!

Comparing the slab-faced, full height trailer to a trailmanor revealed that the trailmanor's parasite drag is as much as 70% less. Imagine that.

European trailers tend to be much smaller than those in the US. I confirmed that visually whilst watching the Tour de France this year (on the Telly). Never saw anything as large as we see on the road regularly. Increased tow limits "might" be explained as simply as that!

Just a hunch.

Denny_A

 

[fcatwo]

There is a lot of luck involved in these things. There is a guy over at the Odyssey owners site who has been pulling a grossly overweight Airstream since 2001 with his minivan and Honda has replaced his transmission free of charge twice during that time -- once after his warranty expired. His dealer has never asked what he was towing but I get the impression Toyota is not that lenient.

Good observation on the European #s. I have no idea why it would be so different but I do know their countries are the size of our states and they have been paying $5.00 gal for fuel for years -- possibly they don't log many miles.

 

[Windbreaker]

Ever time one of these "can I pull a trailer with my 'insert match box racer here'" questions is ask I can't help but wonder "Why do people want to do this?"

If you're going to pull something, anything, buy a truck that was built to do it!
If you like driving the little cars, and still plan on camping, pull it behind a motorhome. Please remember "THEY DON'T RV IN JAPAN!"

Of course we may not be RVing here too much longer with the price of fuel what it is.

Just my $.02.

 

[fcatwo]

Windy

I have to respectfully disagree with your assessmant. The TM is targeted toward those people who will use their daily-drivers for towing a few times each year. Generally speaking, trucks don't make ideal daily drivers and few working people can justify keeping one sitting around just for towing. For many the only logical alternative to a TM is a canvas popup and even those are pushing up into the same weight range as the TM.

The Sport (stripped) TM models weigh significantly less and would be a good alternative for some but they apparently haven't caught on and are not readily available. I think we could get by with a Sport model because we use the TM's toilet for liquid only and have never used the shower. YMMV

There are a lot more people successfully pulling a TM with a minivan or equivalent than you may be aware. Also, there are people out there pulling 5th wheels that weigh twice as much as their tow truck. The hitch-ups we are discussing involve almost equal weight between the TV and TM.

 

[ameridan]

I pull my 2619 with a 2004 V6 Toyota Highlander (w/ trailer prep pkg), which is basically the same config as a Lexus RX330 and it does a better job than my 3.8L Plymouth minivan did. Unless you have the 4 cyl., I would think you should have no problem.

 

[pbuck1]

towed home with no problems

Thanks to everyone for all the advice and comments.
The TM is now home in Md, and we're now "seasoned TM campers", I guess, since we took our time and made a camping trip of the journey back, staying at beach resorts in Florida, South Carolina and Virginia. That's almost 1000 miles of towing with the RX300. The TM towed like it wasn't there at 65 to 70mph and we got almost 16mpg (would have been about 22/23mpg without the trailer). Used a WDH to mitigate the tongue weight, and used the "power" instead of the economy setting on the transmission which seemed to take care of shifting out of overdrive when needed.

Did very well on the hills of Virginia Interstate 95, but got the feeling more mountainous terrrain might be a struggle. Temperature gauge never budged from center despite outside temperatures in the high 90's.

Paul

 

[fcatwo]

Paul

I'm glad everything worked out and you had a good trip home. Your mention of your temperature gauge reminds me of something that was discussed here a couple of years back but I'll mention it again for those who were not here then: The temperature gauges on a lot of today's cars are apparently programmed to rise to a certain point and stay there unless the coolent temp reaches the danger point.

I discovered this a while back when I mentioned on the Honda Odyssey owners site that I was suspicious of my temp gauge because it read the same whether we were towing the TM through the mountains of Idaho at 95f or running solo through British Columbia at -25f. Another contributer said he had read in a motor magazine that the manufacturers were programming the gauges that way so owners would not worry unneccessarily (an idiot-gauge instead of an idiot-light in other words). I tend to believe it's true because our Tundra does the same thing while the temp gauges on all our previous cars moved up and down within the safe zone depending on the outside temp and how hard the engine was working.

I had installed a transmission temp gauge on the Odyssey and it fluctuated constantly. I saw readings as high as 260 on some long climbs while 100-150 was more the norm on the flats. A transmission failure due to overheating is a far more likely problem than the engine while towing. I don't recall ever seeing a report here of a transmission failure while towing a TM however.