Better tow vehicle?

[trd4x4]

I typically tow my boat with my Chevy 2500 but I wanted the option of fitting more people in my tow vehicle on occasion. Young niece and nephew in car seats don’t leave any room in the truck for other passengers. 2 options are my 2004 GX or my 2006 land cruiser. I believe the tow rating in the cruiser is higher? They have basically the same engine and similar drivetrains, not sure about brakes between the two. Both are stock trucks. GX has 150k on it and cruiser has 65k. Neither has a tow hitch so i would need to add that. My gut is telling me go with the cruiser but for practicality the GX is always in my garage and the cruiser lives in my parents garage a short drive away.

 

[Beau]

How much you planning on pulling? The Chevy 2500 is made for towing and will do so much easier than any landcruiser, and most likely with better mpg.

What's the weight of the boat?

 

[trd4x4]

Older Malibu ski boat on a dual axle trailer with surge brakes. My guess would be around 3-4000 lbs? Lake is a 30 minute drive relatively flat. Obviously the Chevy is and will remain the primary tow vehicle but occasionally I’d like the option of pulling with the cruiser or GX if I want to pack more people into the car.

 

[GXO]

I tow a 4400# trailer for camping over all terrain. That should be no issue.

 

[andymmiami]

I just recently towed my gf's car on a uhaul trailer from D.C. area back to miami. I don't think the uhaul tow dolly has any kind of brakes and the GX did the journey with no trouble. For reference i think her car weighs around 2500 unloaded, but it was pretty darn loaded with all of her stuff so maybe 3k lbs plus a trailer. Plus 3 people and a dog in the GX. I was happy that I had the GX to tow with.

 

[Tex68w]

The GX will do it but the Cruiser will do it better. Crazy low miles on that LC, that would be very tempting. That said, you can't go wrong either way and I'd have to assume that the GX is much cheaper.

 

[trd4x4]

GX cheaper in what regard? I think either would be fine to tow with I’m just trying to figure out if I’m going to put a tow hitch on one of them I’d prefer to use the GX but am I going to regret it and be better putting the hitch on the land cruiser?

 

[Tex68w]

A GX470 will almost always be cheaper than a 100 series Land Cruiser, especially when comparing a LC with low miles such as the one you mentioned. Notable exceptions would be a rebuilt title on the LC and of course the Lexus flavor LX would bring less money than a LC of the same vintage.

Both will tow the boat just fine but the LC will get the nod simply because of its larger chassis. If I had to pick one to tow with I'd lean towards the LC.

 

[trd4x4]

A GX470 will almost always be cheaper than a 100 series Land Cruiser, especially when comparing a LC with low miles such as the one you mentioned. Notable exceptions would be a rebuilt title on the LC and of course the Lexus flavor LX would bring less money than a LC of the same vintage.

Both will tow the boat just fine but the LC will get the nod simply because of its larger chassis. If I had to pick one to tow with I'd lean towards the LC.

I already own both vehicles so I was actually just looking for an opinion on which one I should put the hitch on. I appreciate the input though and I’ll probably go with the cruiser.