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Agreed! We have a WDH and (albeit with a smaller camper) the GX tows amazingly well with the hitch dialed. Trailer never pushes the GX around. Still amazed at how good of a tow vehicle these are when everything is set up properly.For sure do the Nomad HD valve body and I would also do their upgrades in the bell housing as well. They have a heavy duty torque converter too.
ALSO, either add a WDH, get a drop ball, and then beef up those springs!! Driving like that allows the truck to wander a lot, especially in the wind.
GX470 has 35 inch tires and pulling 6,000 lbs with roof tent so bottom end torque is needed.
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I already have the Complete Eibach suspension/lift with the extra 400 lb rear springs and the trailer came with the Anderson weight distribution hitch. It pulls great even with the factory-maintained engine. The Nomad is pretty expensive for what it is at $1,295??. I have done valve body work on GM transmissions and will have to look at what is going on with theirs. Looks like locking up the torque converter is the biggest benefit which should not be that difficult to do. Appreciate any and all ideas with like minded people! Thanks!
After investigating Toyota 2uz-fe (4.7 liter V8) the mpg is poor compared to other makes. It looks to me to be lost in the fulltime AWD drivetrain. The idea of lockup torque converter with manual control is appealing all the way around with towing. Glad I saw this here in this thread. Following towing threads, once you start pulling tandem axle trailers milage drops to 8 to 10 mpg no matter the make of vehicle. I also have a 2021 Genesis GV80 3.5 twin turbo which gets about 26 mpg on the highway and have seen these get cut to 13.5 mpg pulling U-Haul's. I have setup the Genesis GV80 to trailer this also, but I prefer the old Lexus truck on frame to be safer and heavier plus I want to do serious off roading. The GX470 is getting 16 to 17 mpg driving easy on the 20 inch rims with 12.5 x 20 x35s and pulling the trailer back from Dallas was only 9.5 to 10 at best. I am only turning 1875 rpm at 70 mph in 5th gear locked up. I don't want to change gearing, I just want to make the low end torque where it stays in 5th gear and locked up. I will probably put a 2nd transmission oil cooler on and maybe the same with the engine oil cooler. It depends on how hot I see them get in the mountains.
Good info on the A750 lockup torque converter. The A750F transmission seemed to be one of Toyotas toughest trannies they made. As far as the differentials go I have maintained mine with Amsoil lubricants. Good driving habits, no herkie jerky starts and easing into start moving all the weight may help. With this setup I will have more power if needed but I will probably only use the same power most 2uz-fe produce but at much lower rpm and get the same work done. I don't like turning 3500 to 4500 rpm going up long grades unless there is no other way LOL. I forgot I also am going to use the (no plastic) all aluminum 4 core radiator in this GX470. You can find them on Amazon for around $250 and of course Chinese made. I looked these over well and the tig welding looked good. These maybe expensive or unavailable if trouble with China happens.
I drove through the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnel Eastbound in my 06 Land Cruiser (VVT-i). Heavily loaded (we were moving), but likely not heavier than if carrying a full 7 person load. Don’t remember temp, but it was late July and it did not feel hot nor cold. I recall being between 3/4 and full throttle in 4th gear and not being able to exceed 45 mph. I know 11k ft is high altitude for a road, but I wasn’t expecting such a huge power loss.II’m not trying to go fast, but the GX is more affected by altitude than any vehicle I have ever owned. Over 11,000ft it is really gutless… Most importantly, I would like to be able to drive at the speed limit up to the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels on I70, which are over 11,000ft, without the foot to the floor and the engine nearing redline.
Any chance you could be persuaded to make a duplicate of that intercooler setup? Also, any updates or notes at this point?My GX470 project for pulling my Oliver Elite II travel Trailer from the Midwest to the Artic Circle. I designed it for low end torque and better mpg. I have a 2nd 24 gallon tank installed for greater range. I made a custom water to air intercooler, Doug Thorley long tube headers y pipe and magnaflow exhaust, port and polished heads, 11.05 to 1 forged pistons with Eagle full floating H beam rods, eight 330cc Denso injectors with 9th & 10th injectors being 60 lb controlled by a Map ECU 3 piggyback computer.
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