To Pender Harbour and Back

[Vanny]

Had to go for a quick turn around trip to Pender Harbour for some work at a clients. I took the '94 FZJ80 with the 20' cargo trailer in tow. Had cabinets, bathtub and various tools on board. I left late afternoon on Thursday worked Friday and got back on the last ferry Friday. It included a dump run to the Pender Harbour Landfill. On the way home I brought drywall scraps with me.

I filled up in Ladner before leaving and when I got home tonight the fuel light came on. My next trip will be right to the gas station to see how many liters I add. I know the cruiser has always been a fuel pig but even then it sure seems like a lot of fuel to burn in one trip when a third of it is on a ferry.

Pulling up hill seemed to be a lot of work I guess. Even with me manually shifting the auto it seemed to not know what gear to go to (torque converter?). Numerous times of really stepping on it to make it down shift more.

 

[Scalp]

Probably just a fuel gauge malfunction.

 

[Vanny]

My goodness! I put in 78 liters today and I figure I drove 252km. Correct me if I am wrong but that would b about 7.5 mi/gal (US). Not great pulling mileage. We have put a deposit on a 17' travel trailer that weighs 2200lbs. Makes me wonder if I need to do something to improve the towing ability of the 80.

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

yep -- get a Duramax for towing and use the 80 for wheeling.

 

[sailor]

lol Dutchie- what did you expect? I tow a boat up and down from there every year... New travel trailer huh? The rich get richer....

 

[Vanny]

New travel trailer only because we decided not to buy the car when the lease was up and settled on the poor man's used Jetta. If I had to buy another vehicle for towing I wouldn't be buying a trailer.

And talk about an unobtainable money pit like you have...the ultimate in a boat Sailor man.

Maybe a gearing change would help if it lugged less.

 

[AJAEbj42]

New gearing, drive slow, let your wife fill the tank and not tell you how much it takes!

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

Drove a boat around Thasis for 5 hours and burned 89 liters...so thats not so bad with a brick for a vehicle towing a pretty heavy trailer..time for a 1hd-t or ft...

 

[kim]

My goodness! I put in 78 liters today and I figure I drove 252km. Correct me if I am wrong but that would b about 7.5 mi/gal (US). Not great pulling mileage. We have put a deposit on a 17' travel trailer that weighs 2200lbs. Makes me wonder if I need to do something to improve the towing ability of the 80.

Invest in a diesel for your beast. I got close to double your mileage pulling 2.5 times the weight over 15,000 km

 

[gofast]

my 1fze with 35's 4.88 gears returns 12 mpg . Day in day out except when I tow. It will vary depending on which trailer, the load and the terrain. Truck weighs in 6800lbs empty

 

[sailor]

You guys are amateurs. Behold- 90 Gallons per hour...

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

that about 0.3 mpg ? This makes a new 200 series very economical.

 

[Granite Grinder]

My 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax get 12.5 litres/ 100km unloaded. Gets 14.5 litres/ 100km with the FZJ80 on the trailer. Cheaper to drive on the trailer

 

[BC40]

yeah ~30L/100km for the 80, not that surprising really. Highway speeds, hills, 35's, automatic cycling through gears, heavy trailer...

My company work trucks are couple years old tundra crew cabs. The one I use has 30k just dirt road km on it. Display calculates the total average mileage as ~25l/100km. That's for an empty truck driving on logging roads, mostly in 4hi.

 

[AJAEbj42]

I think Consumer Reports at one time rated the 80 (gas) as the WORST fuel economy of any SUV. Toyota overbuilds their engines for reliability. Performance and fuel economy isn't the priority.

 

[Enigma]

that about 0.3 mpg ? This makes a new 200 series very economical.

17ish on a mod'd one...

Nitro Gear / Just Differentials, Project 200 Series Land Cruiser

 

[Granite Grinder]

yeah ~30L/100km for the 80, not that surprising really. Highway speeds, hills, 35's, automatic cycling through gears, heavy trailer...

Wow, my 80 gets about 18l/ 100k, mind you, bone stock.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Sounds about right.

Towing a 2k load I would be happy if I got 8mpg with my old setup.

 

[Vanny]

It'll be interesting to see what I get when we have the new travel trailer. Good thing I had jason add the double jerry can swing out to the rear bumper.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

It'll be interesting to see what I get when we have the new travel trailer. Good thing I had jason add the double jerry can swing out to the rear bumper.

If you're going to be doing a lot of towing with your new camper, it might pay off to look at selling your FZJ80 and look for an HDJ81. Manual trans or a aftermarket valve body that will lock up in 3rd gear would be a must; otherwise you will risk major heat problems with the transmission.

I tow a 16' camper trailer that loaded up weighs about 3500lb. With my loaded truck it's about 9000lb total. I can do highway speed limit (on Vancouver Island) nearly anywhere unless the grade exceeds 6% or so, then I'm down to 60-65km/h (2nd gear). I get 16l/100km towing on highways with hills, corners, traffic, lights (Vancouver Island). Probably would be better on more ideal highways. I do all this with the despised 2LTE. So all things are possible....haha. Truck tows well actually, as the A343F locks up in both 3rd and 4th and the truck has 4.85 diff ratios stock.

I also should just go buy a diesel domestic pick-up, and have thought about it lots. But I can't afford both that and a cruiser. So going to keep beating on the cruiser.

On a different note, I've always wondered why the 1FZFE can be so poor on fuel. Toyota must run some really rich ratios at high throttle positions. Has anyone actually tried tuning a 1FZFE properly? Get a wideband O2 sensor and an aftermarket tuner? Seems it's even worse on fuel than a 2UZFE.

I bet if you tuned the 1FZFE, got a 'extreme valve body', and maybe went part time 4wd you'd increase your economy significantly. You should also consider some 32" tires for towing. That would also help a lot.

Good luck with your camper trailer! Hope you enjoy it!