Towing with a 200-series Toyota Land Cruiser

[coleAK]

How many people do we have towing with stock gears and over sized tires? @linuxgod and @TeCKis300 you guys are my 200 towing inspiration and I know both of you have regeared. Am I going to hate life going up to a 33.7" 285/70/18 or should I pick a 285/65/18 instead?

We tow a lot in hilly terrain. How much hunting does the transmission do when going up and down with oversized tires?

33’s (285/70-17) and tow a 22’ ~7k lb camper, most years tow 7-15k miles a summer all over Alaska and NW Canada for 9 years and ~70k towing miles with my ‘13 LX stock gears. Tow with trans in S4 and ECT to power No issues.

 

[NTV]

Tow a 3000lb turtlrback all over Colorado mountains and no issues. Set it in 6th with the 8 speed and forget it unless it’s for a steep downhill decent. Although now I am full steel front and rear bumpers so anxious to see how the strong girl tows post bumpers. I run 285/70/17 on stock gears.

 

[Artie]

Tow a 3000lb turtlrback all over Colorado mountains and no issues. Set it in 6th with the 8 speed and forget it unless it’s for a steep downhill decent. Although now I am full steel front and rear bumpers so anxious to see how the strong girl tows post bumpers. I run 285/70/17 on stock gears.

Don’t be surprised if you are running the tachometer sustained in the mid 4K range on climbs.

Have you hit the scales with your new bumpers?

 

[NTV]

Don’t be surprised if you are running the tachometer sustained in the mid 4K range on climbs.

Have you hit the scales with your new bumpers?

Yeah thanks for the heads up! I need to spend some time on my OBD2 dongle and set up the app. No have not weighed her just yet. Although on a road trip on I25 with 25 mph gusts I was not worried about getting blow off the road! Lol. Definitely can feel the weight but actually feels like it doesn’t bounce as much. The BP-51 was adjusted up so that really helped dialing the compression and rebound. And I have the 2022 springs OME. Next project is get the OBD2 going and stop by a truck stop for a proper weigh in. Guessing about 7000 with 3000 trailer for a total weight of 10000lbs.

 

[Artie]

Guessing about 7000 with 3000 trailer for a total weight of 10000lbs.

I remember being this optimistic… now I’m deleting old posts in an effort to be able to claim plausible deniability.

 

[NTV]

I remember being this optimistic… now I’m deleting old posts in an effort to be able to claim plausible deniability.

Lol. Yeah for sure! I absolutely live the LRA though. Hitting that button for the first time on the Highway and just filling up was awesome. Swing outs were necessary for that mod so very happy I did it. I olive passing gas stations for nicer places to stretch the legs!

 

[Artie]

Lol. Yeah for sure! I absolutely live the LRA though. Hitting that button for the first time on the Highway and just filling up was awesome. Swing outs were necessary for that mod so very happy I did it. I olive passing gas stations for nicer places to stretch the legs!

100% agree with you on the LRA. That single mod snowballed what was going to be a mild build into the thicc monstrosity we have now. Once you move that tire and start talking bumpers it can get of control.

 

[Tex68w]

I'd love to stay at 285/75/17's so that I can continue to run my spare down low to avoid the need for the swing out rear. I have my doubts that I'll be able to see that through and in the end I'll end up with a swing out rear bumper and a 24 or 40gal LRA.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

I'd love to stay at 285/75/17's so that I can continue to run my spare down low to avoid the need for the swing out rear. I have my doubts that I'll be able to see that through and in the end I'll end up with a swing out rear bumper and a 24 or 40gal LRA.

I had dual swingouts on my previous vehicle, a Tacoma, and despite getting the single best aftermarket rear bumper in existence (made by a Mud member that ran a fab shop, no less), I lasted about 3-4 months before I went back to stock. On a daily driver vehicle, swingouts are an incredible pain in the ass and I will not have them again.

If I ever get a LRA tank (which I'd love!) I will put the spare in the back, vertically along one of the walls (as some have already done).

 

[Dunbar]

I agree on swing outs being a pain. But i want that spare below so i got the 12.5 LRA. If i need more then i have Wedco 5 gallon cans for the trailer or in the back. 2 of them take up less room than a spare and bring my 12.5 up to 24.5 or toss in 2 more, i have 8, too get to 34.5 plus the stock tank. Easily removable if i need to carry the 2nd fridge or personnel in the 3rd row.

 

[Tex68w]

I had dual swingouts on my previous vehicle, a Tacoma, and despite getting the single best aftermarket rear bumper in existence (made by a Mud member that ran a fab shop, no less), I lasted about 3-4 months before I went back to stock. On a daily driver vehicle, swingouts are an incredible pain in the ass and I will not have them again.

If I ever get a LRA tank (which I'd love!) I will put the spare in the back, vertically along one of the walls (as some have already done).

I’ve had multiple vehicles with swing outs and I agree that if it’s still my daily I won’t be going down that road but once it’s no longer my daily I’ll be less concerned about the hassle. That said, I’d still like to avoid it if I can.

 

[azstreamer]

We have stock tires on our 2021 Land Cruiser (built December 2020) so it has the eight speed transmission. We added the 12.5 Gallon aux fuel tank and Firestone air bags (15 psi) inside the rear coil springs. The 2015 Airstream 23D International Serenity trailer scales 6,060 pounds. We see 10.5 mpg (US Gallons) at 60 mph on the flats and 6 or 7 on the climbs in the mountains in Southern Arizona. We recently replaced the stock 3,000 pound axles with 10" drum brakes with 3,600 pound axles with 3" lift plates and 12" dual puck disc brakes. Tongue weight unhitched is 905 pounds. The ProPride weight distribution hitch moves the weight around so the Land Cruiser wheel weights at each wheel are within specs (I have my own set of eight scales wheel scales).

The 3" lift kit gets the street side rear plumbing connections above the line from the rear tire to the rear frame member so those parts are no longer the low point at the rear.

 

[Artie]

We have stock tires on our 2021 Land Cruiser (built December 2020) so it has the eight speed transmission. We added the 12.5 Gallon aux fuel tank and Firestone air bags (15 psi) inside the rear coil springs. The 2015 Airstream 23D International Serenity trailer scales 6,060 pounds. We see 10.5 mpg (US Gallons) at 60 mph on the flats and 6 or 7 on the climbs in the mountains in Southern Arizona. We recently replaced the stock 3,000 pound axles with 10" drum brakes with 3,600 pound axles with 3" lift plates and 12" dual puck disc brakes. Tongue weight unhitched is 905 pounds. The ProPride weight distribution hitch moves the weight around so the Land Cruiser wheel weights at each wheel are within specs (I have my own set of eight scales wheel scales).

The 3" lift kit gets the street side rear plumbing connections above the line from the rear tire to the rear frame member so those parts are no longer the low point at the rear.

View attachment 3232494

Nice set up.

What scales are you using at home?

 

[TeCKis300]

We have stock tires on our 2021 Land Cruiser (built December 2020) so it has the eight speed transmission. We added the 12.5 Gallon aux fuel tank and Firestone air bags (15 psi) inside the rear coil springs. The 2015 Airstream 23D International Serenity trailer scales 6,060 pounds. We see 10.5 mpg (US Gallons) at 60 mph on the flats and 6 or 7 on the climbs in the mountains in Southern Arizona. We recently replaced the stock 3,000 pound axles with 10" drum brakes with 3,600 pound axles with 3" lift plates and 12" dual puck disc brakes. Tongue weight unhitched is 905 pounds. The ProPride weight distribution hitch moves the weight around so the Land Cruiser wheel weights at each wheel are within specs (I have my own set of eight scales wheel scales).

The 3" lift kit gets the street side rear plumbing connections above the line from the rear tire to the rear frame member so those parts are no longer the low point at the rear.

View attachment 3232494

Great setup!

Curious of the individual axle weights.

 

[linuxgod]

How many people do we have towing with stock gears and over sized tires? @linuxgod and @TeCKis300 you guys are my 200 towing inspiration and I know both of you have regeared. Am I going to hate life going up to a 33.7" 285/70/18 or should I pick a 285/65/18 instead?

We tow a lot in hilly terrain. How much hunting does the transmission do when going up and down with oversized tires?

Depends a bit on your trailer weight but I suspect you’ll be fine. regearing makes climbing mountain passes more enjoyable and helps with engine braking, but it’s not necessary. On 4.88s I get pretty much the same MPG towing with my truck regeared and running in 5th as I did before regearing running in 4th, 34” tires either way.

 

[a200]

Depends a bit on your trailer weight but I suspect you’ll be fine. regearing makes climbing mountain passes more enjoyable and helps with engine braking, but it’s not necessary. On 4.88s I get pretty much the same MPG towing with my truck regeared and running in 5th as I did before regearing running in 4th, 34” tires either way.

I tow a 4500lb camper while running 285/70R18 with stock gears on a chunky, scratch that, FAT cruiser. Most of the time it’s totally fine. However, Colorado mountain passes were sucky. Just as @TeCKis300 explained, there is a torque hole and it can be unnerving on long climbs or descents if you aren’t thinking ahead and preparing for the climb or descent. You will definitely need a scan tool to watch extra gauges, trans pan, trans torque converter, gear selectio, and torque converter at minimum.

My MPG sucks when not towing so it’s not much worse when towing, I would recommend you don’t even consider this data point as it’s irrelevant and unchangeable.

I have the 8 speed and it doesn’t hunt because I’m its boss and tell it what gear we need when we get into the hills. Otherwise it’s in 6, which it’s always in 6 regardless if I’m towing or not, and it gets to think for itself.

One of these days I’ll re-gear and probably do 3.90 or 4.30. Fantasy land would be super charger but idk if that would ever happen because our build purpose is dragging our camper off road and the extra 100 ponies under the hood wouldn’t benefit me there, plus there’s still no ECU tuning possible.

If you run trails and wheel off road then get the tires. Embrace the money pit and enjoy.

Depends on how much weight, TV and trailer. As a datapoint, my ~6500lb rig did fine towing 8k on 33.2" tall tires and stock gearing. Credit to the 5.7Ls strength. Actually, it got its best cruising MPG in this config as S4 was almost an S4.5 gear that was great for efficiency (10-11mpg). In the extreme grades and elevation of the Sierras and Rockies, it wanted more gear. Both for acceleration from a stop, falling into a torque hole in second gear and not being able to accelerate, and probably the biggest difference was engine braking. If you're trailer is any less than say 6.5k, and you watch the weight added to the TV, I think it'll work fine with a 33.7" tire.

Now that I'm on 35s with 4.3s, almost exactly stock gearing, it's definitely a solid improvement in the higher elevation mountains where I do a lot of camping. No more acceleration hole in second gear. And much stronger engine braking in 2nd gear where I can control momentum without physical brakes. It gets your attention when you can't keep downhill speed in check in even 2nd gear because physical brakes only go so far until they overheat. Then there's the grades where you know you're really heavy when needing to be in 1st gear to manage a section. I would re-gear for the safety of engine braking alone if really heavy.

I drive manuals and maybe that translates to the LX as I'm always in S4 and don't let it hunt (builds heat in the transmission when towing). Still enough torque with this gearing setup to manage mild hills. 3-5% grades, slap it into S3. 6%+, 2nd gear.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Right now I only have a old single axle trailer with a 3500# axle.

It seems neither tire choice is a bad one so I plan to go with the 33.7" 285/70/18.

The 295s seem like a great upgrade path when and if I get to regear.

I think the budget should be good for tires next month. I will be sure to post some photos when everything is setup.

The First trip is at the end of Febuary but this will be a boondocking event so the 200 probably will get the weekend off.

Starting in March it is going to have to start pulling some weight around here.

 

[afgman786]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Right now I only have a old single axle trailer with a 3500# axle.

It seems neither tire choice is a bad one so I plan to go with the 33.7" 285/70/18.

The 295s seem like a great upgrade path when and if I get to regear.

I think the budget should be good for tires next month. I will be sure to post some photos when everything is setup.

The First trip is at the end of Febuary but this will be a boondocking event so the 200 probably will get the weekend off.

Starting in March it is going to have to start pulling some weight around here.

You'll be fine. I get the same gas mileage towing with the towing wheels 275/70/18s as I do when I tow with 275/80/17s. Power delivery is almost the same too

 

[poppe]

So dumb question, but what’s everyone running for just a simple setup. I’m going to build out a small trailer. Won’t be running anything of 3k lbs. just going to build out a little utility 5x8 trailer that’ll have a rooftop tent, some drawer slides and battery build.

I tend to over do anything I do so would prefer not to go with just a cheap hitch.

 

[JohnPW]

Not sure what you’re asking exactly? I tow a boat that is @35000-4000lbs straight off the hitch. Apples to Oranges perhaps, but if you’re really only 3k lbs loaded I wouldn’t think a weight distributing hitch setup would be needed.

 

[Tex68w]

So dumb question, but what’s everyone running for just a simple setup. I’m going to build out a small trailer. Won’t be running anything of 3k lbs. just going to build out a little utility 5x8 trailer that’ll have a rooftop tent, some drawer slides and battery build.

I tend to over do anything I do so would prefer not to go with just a cheap hitch.

If you plan to tow off-road I'd look into one of the many articulating hitches. I've been using the pintle-lunette on the M1101 but this year I plan to add the Cruisemaster DO35 articulating hitch on a custom neck.