HDJ81 Towing Question

[mihoff]

Hi There,

I need some help with a towing issue.

Tow Vehicle:
1991 Toyota HDJ81 Turbo Diesel and the only mod is to the tranny,...an 'Extreme Duty Valve Body' install from Australia. I also have exhaust temp gauge and tranny temp gauge to monitor.

To Be Towed:
25 foot trailer with 7300 lb GVWR and 5433 lb dry weight.

Question is obvioulsy,...can my truck tow this thing?? I did try towing this trailer (the trailer at the time of towing had only 1/8 fresh water and that was it, so my guess is ~ 5700 lbs) up a mild 7km hill ouside of Radium BC. I had it in 3rd gear going at about 80km/hr and the exhaust temp sensor read a constant 800 C which I think is pretty good but the tranny temp spiked to 125 C pretty quickly and I could have pushed further but i kinda freaked out a bit so I stopped at the top of the hill to let it cool down. Now I have never towed even close to this kind of weight before so all these temps were pretty foreign and new to me. If you towers out there with the HDJ81 could review my situation and let me know what you think it would be greatly appreciated. Also,...any suggestions toward tranny flluid and oil/water cooling?

Thanks so much and I look forward to reading the responses!

Mark (In Calgary)

 

[Cruisin']

I have been towing an 18' travel trailer weighing about 4,000lb for 2 seasons with mine (hilly area too), without issues. I installed a Tru Cool trans cooler before doing any tows though. I installed guages this winter and haven't had the trailer behind the truck though, so I can't put any numbers to it. Technically the towing rating of the HDJ is 7,000lb, but based on how it feels with my trailer I'm thinking I wouldn't want much more back there. At least in the mountains around where I live.

Hope that is of some help. I'll try to remember to post up some temp numbers after my first outing this summer.

 

[davey b]

Hi There,

I need some help with a towing issue.

Tow Vehicle:
1991 Toyota HDJ81 Turbo Diesel and the only mod is to the tranny,...an 'Extreme Duty Valve Body' install from Australia. I also have exhaust temp gauge and tranny temp gauge to monitor.

To Be Towed:
25 foot trailer with 7300 lb GVWR and 5433 lb dry weight.

Question is obvioulsy,...can my truck tow this thing?? I did try towing this trailer (the trailer at the time of towing had only 1/8 fresh water and that was it, so my guess is ~ 5700 lbs) up a mild 7km hill ouside of Radium BC. I had it in 3rd gear going at about 80km/hr and the exhaust temp sensor read a constant 800 C which I think is pretty good but the tranny temp spiked to 125 C pretty quickly and I could have pushed further but i kinda freaked out a bit so I stopped at the top of the hill to let it cool down. Now I have never towed even close to this kind of weight before so all these temps were pretty foreign and new to me. If you towers out there with the HDJ81 could review my situation and let me know what you think it would be greatly appreciated. Also,...any suggestions toward tranny flluid and oil/water cooling?

Thanks so much and I look forward to reading the responses!

Mark (In Calgary)

You need to check local laws but 7300lbs is within the HDJ81 limit of 3500kg trail weight, but you need to be aware of you gross train weight. I recently did 400miles with 3300kgs on the back of my HDJ80 with now problems at all.

Ensure your cooling system is up to spec and well maintained and change the ATF for new if in any doubt of its quality. My previous HDJ80 was an auto and pulled 3500kg across Europe in summer with no hint of a problem. That pass up to Radium is a long haul and its warming up at this time of year so may be a slow down and some Water Wetter or similar in the coolant is in order.

I'm jealous - my 3 years in Canada were wonderful!