Towing with a 200-series Toyota Land Cruiser (4 Viewers)

[linuxgod]

Wish I had an 8-speed for towing... someone needs to figure out a swap already

The swap involves a dealer, a trade in, and a newer truck

 

[Beeker]

Yes, agreed she does great in the mountains. Most of my camping destinations are in the mountains to escape the heat of socal and find more interesting destinations.

RE - 8-speed. Mine is a 6-speed. I've towed on the higher end weights with 33s and stock gearing. It's doable but I re-geared for 35s (to practically stock overall gearing), and it works much better . She does great in the mountains even on steeper 7%+ grades. Credit to the burly 5.7L.

That said, I can only imagine the 8-speed does even better. The 6-speed becomes a 4-speed at my weight level as I limit it to S4. It would be great to have more ratios and more gearing in 1st for the steepest of grades and lower power (oxygen) at elevation. The 8-speed is an optimization in the end as I easily get where I need to in the 6-speed.

Did you go 33" before 35"? If so, how was your experience with stock gears and (slightly) larger tires?

 

[dubyahard]

The swap involves a dealer, a trade in, and a newer truck

Yeah, I know...

It's why I threw in the rainbow emoji: someday.

 

[TeCKis300]

Did you go 33" before 35"? If so, how was your experience with stock gears and (slightly) larger tires?

Yes, I ran 305/55R20 @33.2" diameter with stock gearing for probably 30k miles towing the same Airstream.

Here's a thread that has most of my impressions over the various configs

LX570 Tow Report

Got some miles under my belt now towing my current setup: '09 LX570 with '07 Airstream 27FB International Ocean Breeze. Wanted to give a report for others attempting to tow things in the same weight/length range. LX570 mods: 33" AT Load Range E tires (Falken Wildpeak AT3W 305/55/20), 1"...

forum.ih8mud.com

In regards to gearing and the 6-speed, it was overall solid. And actually a bit more efficient on flat highway because of the slightly taller effective 4th gear. Only in the most extreme of weight, grade, and elevation did I find I could use more gearing with 33s. For climbing and engine braking. Here's that post:

I know that hole well. On the 6-speed, on really steep grades and elevation towing, I'd get stuck in the shift to second gear where it falls on its face out of the powerband. It's a giant step in gearing in the 6-speed putting me in no mans land. Not enough gearing to accelerate or access the meatier part of the powerband. So I'd sit at ~25mph at ~3000rpm, with max access to 180hp (~135hp at elevation), waiting for the grade to ease up before I could accelerate again. Granted this was at 8k elevation, 7% grade, on 33s, at 15k total rig weight with stock gearing. An extreme scenario by most measures.

4.3s have made a world of difference there. Both allowing better access to the powerband. But also more access to strong engine braking.

 

[LX Cruiser]

It's based on the same platform as the Tundra with a smaller rear axle and smaller brakes, and the Tundra's payload was pretty modest even as half tons go.

I think of the Tundra as the closest we’re going to get to a 200 series with a truck bed in the North American market. It does have similar payload to a 200 series…my truck’s door jamb payload number is only 40lb higher than my 570’s. As others have pointed out, the 200 series is splitting the workload between both axles running full time, so it doesn’t need the 10.5” rear end of a part-time 4wd Tundra.

If you’re going to drive a Tundra and do any work with it, you‘re pretty much guaranteed to be over payload. I am often near or a bit over GVWR. But the great thing about the 07-21 Tundra is that much of the driveline and the axles are overbuilt like the 200 series. The Tundra’s axles are rated for a combined 8150 lb. My Tundra‘s curb weight is 5930 lb, which includes a 38 gal tank full of gas. If I can properly distribute the load, I can carry 2,220 lb before I hit my axle ratings. For me, it’s just beef up the suspension and go.

The 570 is where it‘s at for family trips, even if towing. The Tundra gets taken on hunting trips. Easier to just wash blood out of the bed, lol.

That might be one perspective. To a degree, Toyota is conservative with even the Tundra, leaving more mechanical margin on the table for maybe durability. Things like a 10.5" rear diff size where the F150 has a 9.75, and Titan has 8.5". Most other mainstream 1/2-tons including the F150 use floating 2 piston brake calipers. Tundra has fixed 4 piston calipers, more akin to perfomance cars than commuter cars.

From what I've gleaned over the years, the 200-series is built to a higher standard than the Tundra. To your point on diffs, yes the 200-series rear is a smaller 9.5" (for off-road clearance), but it's full time 4WD with support from the front diff.

I agree that the 200 series is built better and to a higher standard. However, there is a lot of crossover between the 200 series and the 07-21 Tundra. And some load their trucks up similar to how you do with your 570. There is a certain Tundra towing group on Facebook where one of the admins pulls a 37-ft 11,000 lb trailer with a later 2nd gen in the Limited trim. He’s well over payload and his rear axle rating. I think he has put a lot of miles on that setup. I would think he probably doesn’t tow in the mountains, though.

 

[04UZJ100]

I think of the Tundra as the closest we’re going to get to a 200 series with a truck bed in the North American market. It does have similar payload to a 200 series…my truck’s door jamb payload number is only 40lb higher than my 570’s. As others have pointed out, the 200 series is splitting the workload between both axles running full time, so it doesn’t need the 10.5” rear end of a part-time 4wd Tundra.

If you’re going to drive a Tundra and do any work with it, you‘re pretty much guaranteed to be over payload. I am often near or a bit over GVWR. But the great thing about the 07-21 Tundra is that much of the driveline and the axles are overbuilt like the 200 series. The Tundra’s axles are rated for a combined 8150 lb. My Tundra‘s curb weight is 5930 lb, which includes a 38 gal tank full of gas. If I can properly distribute the load, I can carry 2,220 lb before I hit my axle ratings. For me, it’s just beef up the suspension and go.

The 570 is where it‘s at for family trips, even if towing. The Tundra gets taken on hunting trips. Easier to just wash blood out of the bed, lol.

I agree that the 200 series is built better and to a higher standard. However, there is a lot of crossover between the 200 series and the 07-21 Tundra. And some load their trucks up similar to how you do with your 570. There is a certain Tundra towing group on Facebook where one of the admins pulls a 37-ft 11,000 lb trailer with a later 2nd gen in the Limited trim. He’s well over payload and his rear axle rating. I think he has put a lot of miles on that setup. I would think he probably doesn’t tow in the mountains, though.

Meh depends. The frame is SIGNIFICANTLY more robust on the 200. It’s fully boxed vs the cheap C-channel on the Tundra.

 

[LX Cruiser]

Meh depends. The frame is SIGNIFICANTLY more robust on the 200. It’s fully boxed vs the cheap C-channel on the Tundra.

It's still rated for more total weight. The front is boxed, under the cab is double C channel, and under the bed is open C. It's a huge frame. Many HD trucks have had open C channel frames rated for well over what the Tundra and the 200 series are rated for. Just because it's C doesn't mean it's cheap.

 

[TeCKis300]

It's still rated for more total weight. The front is boxed, under the cab is double C channel, and under the bed is open C. It's a huge frame. Many HD trucks have had open C channel frames rated for well over what the Tundra and the 200 series are rated for. Just because it's C doesn't mean it's cheap.

True. None of this takes anything away from the Tundra as it's capable in its own right. It's a truck after all and that inherently makes it better at truck things, including towing on account of its longer wheelbase. Just makes for interesting observations when comparing and contrasting.

Looking at GAWR, the axle splits are interesting.

	200-series	Tundra 2nd gen
Front GAWR	3595 lbs	4000 lbs
Rear GAWR	4300 lbs	4150 lbs

Knowing the front structure and suspension components of both 200-series and Tundra, and where there are shared parts and different parts. It would be hard to say the 200-series has less structure in front. Cursory observation says the 200s got beefier elements and LCAs. Very similar to same bearings, steering, uprights, etc. Perhaps that's not true, but perhaps it is and the GAWR is not established by surface level thresholds we understand.

At the rear, the Tundra axle diff housing is obviously bigger. Don't know about the rest of the axle housing. 200-series utilizes a more advanced 5-link suspension whereas the Tundra uses leaf springs. The 3rd gen Tundra, and all high performance off-road specials from Ford and Dodge use 5-links. Whether that's better for weight bearing is probably different factors, but the 200-series is built to a higher standard.

I'm interested if anyone else can read into this and provide insights.

 

[LX Cruiser]

True. None of this takes anything away from the Tundra as it's capable in its own right. It's a truck after all and that inherently makes it better at truck things, including towing on account of its longer wheelbase. Just makes for interesting observations when comparing and contrasting.

Looking at GAWR, the axle splits are interesting.

	200-series	Tundra 2nd gen
Front GAWR	3595 lbs	4000 lbs
Rear GAWR	4300 lbs	4150 lbs

Knowing the front structure and suspension components of both 200-series and Tundra, and where there are shared parts and different parts. It would be hard to say the 200-series has less structure in front. Cursory observation says the 200s got beefier elements and LCAs. Very similar to same bearings, steering, uprights, etc. Perhaps that's not true, but perhaps it is and the GAWR is not established by surface level thresholds we understand.

At the rear, the Tundra axle diff housing is obviously bigger. Don't know about the rest of the axle housing. 200-series utilizes a more advanced 5-link suspension whereas the Tundra uses leaf springs. The 3rd gen Tundra, and all high performance off-road specials from Ford and Dodge use 5-links. Whether that's better for weight bearing probably isn't the case, the but 200-series is built to a higher standard.

I'm interested if anyone else can read into this and provide insights.

I am curious why the front axle on the 200 is rated over 10% lower than the Tundra’s. They are extremely overbuilt vehicles, and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t conservatively rated in typical Toyota fashion. If I had to choose between the two, I would pick the 200 hands down. But I’m really glad that Toyota makes a simple, leaf-sprung, old school, overbuilt, half ton truck that can carry more than 2k lbs without overloading either axle if you just beef up the suspension. It’s an awesome blank slate platform for building and modding.

I generally think the MIJ Toyotas are on a different level altogether than the vehicles built in NA. But then again, the Tundra and Sequoia don’t have the radiator weak point, and the coolant valley issue seems far less frequent than the MIJ 3UR-FEs. The NA engines did have valve spring problems early on, and they have cam tower seepage (which can apparently be fixed by running 5w30). The 22 Tundra also has (had?) turbo wastegate issues, and now it appears a handful of them have spun a bearing. The LC300/LX600 power plant doesn’t have these issues. The differences in common issues seems to arise from where they’re built—the NA Toyotas are built here in NA under license from the Japanese suppliers. For example, IHI America builds the twin turbos under license from IHI Japan. The Japanese turbos never had the issues the American ones did.

I really hope that if/when the Land Cruiser is reintroduced to the North American market, that it isn’t built here, lol. Sorry for the derail. Back to towing!

 

[Tex68w]

So long as the GX and 4Runner continue to have J series VIN's the new Prado-Land Cruiser will as well. I can't see them dropping a global product like the Prado/GX (to some degree) from being built in Japan.

 

[linuxgod]

I am curious why the front axle on the 200 is rated over 10% lower than the Tundra’s. They are extremely overbuilt vehicles, and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t conservatively rated in typical Toyota fashion. If I had to choose between the two, I would pick the 200 hands down. But I’m really glad that Toyota makes a simple, leaf-sprung, old school, overbuilt, half ton truck that can carry more than 2k lbs without overloading either axle if you just beef up the suspension. It’s an awesome blank slate platform for building and modding.

I generally think the MIJ Toyotas are on a different level altogether than the vehicles built in NA. But then again, the Tundra and Sequoia don’t have the radiator weak point, and the coolant valley issue seems far less frequent than the MIJ 3UR-FEs. The NA engines did have valve spring problems early on, and they have cam tower seepage (which can apparently be fixed by running 5w30). The 22 Tundra also has (had?) turbo wastegate issues, and now it appears a handful of them have spun a bearing. The LC300/LX600 power plant doesn’t have these issues. The differences in common issues seems to arise from where they’re built—the NA Toyotas are built here in NA under license from the Japanese suppliers. For example, IHI America builds the twin turbos under license from IHI Japan. The Japanese turbos never had the issues the American ones did.

I really hope that if/when the Land Cruiser is reintroduced to the North American market, that it isn’t built here, lol. Sorry for the derail. Back to towing!

I wonder if it’s because the LC is full time AWD and it’s not necessarily an axle weight rating but a front differential strength “limit”?

 

[Slow Paddler]

We just returned home from picking up our new Oliver Legacy Elite II trailer.

We drove from the factory in Hohenwald, Tennessee, then spent three days at the lodge in Pine Mountain, Georgia at Callaway Gardens (travel tip: CG is not nearly as nice as it was our last visit 25 years ago...) After leaving Pine Mountain, we spent two leisurely days driving back to Northern Ohio, for a towing total of about 1300 miles.

I have a concern: My 2021 LC is bone stock except adding Firestone air bags and a Redarc Tow Pro, with 13,000 miles on the odometer. I ordered the trailer with the Andersen weight distribution hitch. The trailer is 4900 pounds empty, and I'm guessing I have 500-700 pounds in it? Tongue weight was about 600 pounds. All well within specs

I know to never drive in "Drive". I was always in 4th to 6th, depending on speed and terrain, keeping the RPMs between 2000 and 3000 (I mostly tried staying 2500-3000) Sometimes it got to 3500ish, but rarely and short stints. Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky are steep rolling "mountains", so a lot of long stretches in 5th rear. Yesterday was about eight hours straight.

The last hour or so, in rolling Ohio countryside, I noticed a smell, similar to when Fluid Fit burns off. or similar to when the CV boot failed on my Subaru several years back. I checked and couldn't see any problems, and everything was towing fine, so I continued on. About 15 minutes from home, upon accelerating from a stop while locked in 6th, I heard a "chuff" sound. Sorta like a dog half-hearted bark. Then once more a couple miles from home accelerating our of a corner. Nothing aggressive, especially after the smell. Today, I drove the couple miles to the gas station and could moldy smell the same smell. No sigh of anything amiss underneath or under the hood.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get OBD Fusion to upload the gauges folks here have made, so I have no idea what the transmission temps were. The dash guuages were in the normal range.

I know a lot of you are towing much heavier trailers than me. Have I hurt anything? I'm going to change the oil, but don't know if I should do any transmission preventative maintenance. Your suggestions are appreciated.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the return trip was all interstate except the last 30 miles. So speeds were constant between 55 and 75, mostly 68-72ish

 

[Nothinghead]

We just returned home from picking up our new Oliver Legacy Elite II trailer.

View attachment 3293349

View attachment 3293351

We drove from the factory in Hohenwald, Tennessee, then spent three days at the lodge in Pine Mountain, Georgia at Callaway Gardens (travel tip: CG is not nearly as nice as it was our last visit 25 years ago...) After leaving Pine Mountain, we spent two leisurely days driving back to Northern Ohio, for a towing total of about 1300 miles.

I have a concern: My 2021 LC is bone stock except adding Firestone air bags and a Redarc Tow Pro, with 13,000 miles on the odometer. I ordered the trailer with the Andersen weight distribution hitch. The trailer is 4900 pounds empty, and I'm guessing I have 500-700 pounds in it? Tongue weight was about 600 pounds. All well within specs

I know to never drive in "Drive". I was always in 4th to 6th, depending on speed and terrain, keeping the RPMs between 2000 and 3000 (I mostly tried staying 2500-3000) Sometimes it got to 3500ish, but rarely and short stints. Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky are steep rolling "mountains", so a lot of long stretches in 5th rear. Yesterday was about eight hours straight.

The last hour or so, in rolling Ohio countryside, I noticed a smell, similar to when Fluid Fit burns off. or similar to when the CV boot failed on my Subaru several years back. I checked and couldn't see any problems, and everything was towing fine, so I continued on. About 15 minutes from home, upon accelerating from a stop while locked in 6th, I heard a "chuff" sound. Sorta like a dog half-hearted bark. Then once more a couple miles from home accelerating our of a corner. Nothing aggressive, especially after the smell. Today, I drove the couple miles to the gas station and could moldy smell the same smell. No sigh of anything amiss underneath or under the hood.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get OBD Fusion to upload the gauges folks here have made, so I have no idea what the transmission temps were. The dash guuages were in the normal range.

I know a lot of you are towing much heavier trailers than me. Have I hurt anything? I'm going to change the oil, but don't know if I should do any transmission preventative maintenance. Your suggestions are appreciated.

I can’t tell you what the smell or sound mean but you’ve behaved very conservatively with your driving and weights. Your LC should handle much more that that without breaking a sweat (aside from worse than bad MPG).

Could you locate the smell? Engine bay? Undercarriage? Brakes? What do you have your brake controller set to?

 

[TeCKis300]

We just returned home from picking up our new Oliver Legacy Elite II trailer.

View attachment 3293349

View attachment 3293351

We drove from the factory in Hohenwald, Tennessee, then spent three days at the lodge in Pine Mountain, Georgia at Callaway Gardens (travel tip: CG is not nearly as nice as it was our last visit 25 years ago...) After leaving Pine Mountain, we spent two leisurely days driving back to Northern Ohio, for a towing total of about 1300 miles.

I have a concern: My 2021 LC is bone stock except adding Firestone air bags and a Redarc Tow Pro, with 13,000 miles on the odometer. I ordered the trailer with the Andersen weight distribution hitch. The trailer is 4900 pounds empty, and I'm guessing I have 500-700 pounds in it? Tongue weight was about 600 pounds. All well within specs

I know to never drive in "Drive". I was always in 4th to 6th, depending on speed and terrain, keeping the RPMs between 2000 and 3000 (I mostly tried staying 2500-3000) Sometimes it got to 3500ish, but rarely and short stints. Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky are steep rolling "mountains", so a lot of long stretches in 5th rear. Yesterday was about eight hours straight.

The last hour or so, in rolling Ohio countryside, I noticed a smell, similar to when Fluid Fit burns off. or similar to when the CV boot failed on my Subaru several years back. I checked and couldn't see any problems, and everything was towing fine, so I continued on. About 15 minutes from home, upon accelerating from a stop while locked in 6th, I heard a "chuff" sound. Sorta like a dog half-hearted bark. Then once more a couple miles from home accelerating our of a corner. Nothing aggressive, especially after the smell. Today, I drove the couple miles to the gas station and could moldy smell the same smell. No sigh of anything amiss underneath or under the hood.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get OBD Fusion to upload the gauges folks here have made, so I have no idea what the transmission temps were. The dash guuages were in the normal range.

I know a lot of you are towing much heavier trailers than me. Have I hurt anything? I'm going to change the oil, but don't know if I should do any transmission preventative maintenance. Your suggestions are appreciated.

That's a mighty fine trailer!! Loaded to the gills with awnings all around?

In regards to the chuff...I'd have a hard time guessing. Could you isolate where the smell was coming from? Any chance it's from the trailer brakes or pretty sure it's from the tow vehicle? If you can clarify, is it only happening when it's well heat soaked, or can be pretty quick after starting the trip? Is it happening when coming off the brakes or when loading the torque converter/driveline?

One thing I'd highly encourage, especially with larger loads, is that it's important to use RPM. RPM can actually help the the engine, transmission, torque converter, just about everything run cooler with more circulating fluid, less combustion pressure/heat, more cooling. It's counter intuitive but using low rpms will actually make things run hotter and harder, including potentially leaning and putting more load on the torque converter. Don't hesitate to run 3500 into 5000 RPM when tugging up hills. One way to feel it out is when in gear and you don't feel like there is response to pressing on the accelerator, definitely should be downshifting.

 

[Tex68w]

What a beaut of a trailer. It looks like a much nicer and larger version of a Casita, I approve.

 

[a200]

We just returned home from picking up our new Oliver Legacy Elite II trailer.

View attachment 3293349

View attachment 3293351

We drove from the factory in Hohenwald, Tennessee, then spent three days at the lodge in Pine Mountain, Georgia at Callaway Gardens (travel tip: CG is not nearly as nice as it was our last visit 25 years ago...) After leaving Pine Mountain, we spent two leisurely days driving back to Northern Ohio, for a towing total of about 1300 miles.

I have a concern: My 2021 LC is bone stock except adding Firestone air bags and a Redarc Tow Pro, with 13,000 miles on the odometer. I ordered the trailer with the Andersen weight distribution hitch. The trailer is 4900 pounds empty, and I'm guessing I have 500-700 pounds in it? Tongue weight was about 600 pounds. All well within specs

I know to never drive in "Drive". I was always in 4th to 6th, depending on speed and terrain, keeping the RPMs between 2000 and 3000 (I mostly tried staying 2500-3000) Sometimes it got to 3500ish, but rarely and short stints. Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky are steep rolling "mountains", so a lot of long stretches in 5th rear. Yesterday was about eight hours straight.

The last hour or so, in rolling Ohio countryside, I noticed a smell, similar to when Fluid Fit burns off. or similar to when the CV boot failed on my Subaru several years back. I checked and couldn't see any problems, and everything was towing fine, so I continued on. About 15 minutes from home, upon accelerating from a stop while locked in 6th, I heard a "chuff" sound. Sorta like a dog half-hearted bark. Then once more a couple miles from home accelerating our of a corner. Nothing aggressive, especially after the smell. Today, I drove the couple miles to the gas station and could moldy smell the same smell. No sigh of anything amiss underneath or under the hood.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get OBD Fusion to upload the gauges folks here have made, so I have no idea what the transmission temps were. The dash guuages were in the normal range.

I know a lot of you are towing much heavier trailers than me. Have I hurt anything? I'm going to change the oil, but don't know if I should do any transmission preventative maintenance. Your suggestions are appreciated.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the return trip was all interstate except the last 30 miles. So speeds were constant between 55 and 75, mostly 68-72ish

Very nice camper. The average life of a travel trailer is 12 years. This is one of the few trailers that will still be camping in 40 and you will be able to hand it down to you grandkids. Buy it for life.

 

[Slow Paddler]

@Nothinghead @TeCKis300 First, thanks for the reply. The camper is a dream! It better be, as it costs almost exactly the same as our house!

Regarding the brake controller. First, I've never used one before. My Hiker squaredrop was only 680 pounds empty. Previous towing of anything heavy was a 5000 pound boat on a trailer with surge brakes 50 years ago, using my grandfather's 1968 Cadillac Sedan de Ville with the monster 500 cu in engine.And that was only 11 miles back and forth to the lake once a year.

I'd asked on here a few weeks ago where to start my settings, and one of seven 200/Oliver owners over on the Oliver forum had told me that he uses 4-4.5. I started at 6 and found that too aggressive. Set it at 2 until the trailer pushed me toward a downhill intersection, and settled on 4 the rest of the trip. I do notice a slight "clunk" back at the trailer as it loads and unloads, and attribute this to the typical slop in the hitch/ball system, plus the slight delay of the electric brake actuator.

The smell seems to come from under the truck. If I open the hood, it is less noticeable than sticking my head underneath. It *seems* like there's more clatter when laying underneath, but that's likely because I'm worried I borked something and notice every little tick. Engine oil is the OEM 0W20. It was changed at 7000 miles, and is due again now at 14000. It's still in the 30s here, so I'm not doing it myself out in the driveway. I'll see if I can convince the dealership to use 5W30. That's what it says to use on my new oil filler cap!

The "chuff" sound was only twice, and both times under acceleration from a stop or turn, and while the transmission was shifting. This was also after about 8 straight hours of driving, so everything was probably heat soaked. Damn, I wish I'd had the OBD Fusion dashboard working! I'm going through that thread now trying to find a dash that'll fit my old iPhone XS with the newer PID codes. I never saw any temp warning lights, and I kept careful watch on the truck's dash guages with nothing out of the ordinary.

Of note was that the smell was present after just driving two miles to the gas station yesterday, without any load on the truck. I haven't look, but I'm assuming there's not a transmission fluid dips stick? Hell, many cars don't even have oil dipsticks any more.

Thanks so much!

EDIT: I never did mention the MPG, although I was expecting a huge hit. The 609 miles from northern Ohio to Hohenwald, TN averaged 16.72 MPG, and the return trip averaged 10.59 MPG (both hand calculated, not the trip odd calculation) and I used mid-grade fuel at the gas stops in the mountains.

 

[Slow Paddler]

Very nice camper. The average life of a travel trailer is 12 years. This is one of the few trailers that will still be camping in 40 and you will be able to hand it down to you grandkids. Buy it for life.

Definitely a long term investment! It, like my LC, will be the last I will ever buy!

 

[Artie]

@Slow Paddler

Reading through the last few responses to your initial post.

Not much to add other then a comment on your gear selection. In my experience, I’ve found gears 5 and 6 to be the best selections for torque converter lockup. Downshifting before you get to hill climbs to get your rpm’s up and building momentum as you begin to climb are also good ideas.

Get that obd fusion gauge working, this has proven to be a very crucial tool for towing for me, especially in hilly asphalt roads and off road. Knowing what gear you’re in, torque converter lock up status, and trans temps is so flipping handy. This alone will greatly improve your towing experience.

Your camper is slightly heavier than mine (4500 with 400 tongue) but I run a really chunky (probably obese but let’s not go there) cruiser with 34 inch tires so it’s probably a close enough comparison. My cruiser is a ‘21 with 12k on the clock.

As far as “heat soaked”… idk what you really mean by this. I can tell you ive towed pretty hard in mine, one day in July we did 1000 miles from New Mexico to Alabama.

Were you turning or starting from a dead stop when you heard this noise? I’ve heard a weird spring type sound before that I believe is something related to traction control. If you were light in the nose you could have briefly lost traction and not felt it but your cruiser computer did.

 

[TeCKis300]

@Nothinghead @TeCKis300 First, thanks for the reply. The camper is a dream! It better be, as it costs almost exactly the same as our house!

Regarding the brake controller. First, I've never used one before. My Hiker squaredrop was only 680 pounds empty. Previous towing of anything heavy was a 5000 pound boat on a trailer with surge brakes 50 years ago, using my grandfather's 1968 Cadillac Sedan de Ville with the monster 500 cu in engine.And that was only 11 miles back and forth to the lake once a year.

I'd asked on here a few weeks ago where to start my settings, and one of seven 200/Oliver owners over on the Oliver forum had told me that he uses 4-4.5. I started at 6 and found that too aggressive. Set it at 2 until the trailer pushed me toward a downhill intersection, and settled on 4 the rest of the trip. I do notice a slight "clunk" back at the trailer as it loads and unloads, and attribute this to the typical slop in the hitch/ball system, plus the slight delay of the electric brake actuator.

The smell seems to come from under the truck. If I open the hood, it is less noticeable than sticking my head underneath. It *seems* like there's more clatter when laying underneath, but that's likely because I'm worried I borked something and notice every little tick. Engine oil is the OEM 0W20. It was changed at 7000 miles, and is due again now at 14000. It's still in the 30s here, so I'm not doing it myself out in the driveway. I'll see if I can convince the dealership to use 5W30. That's what it says to use on my new oil filler cap!

The "chuff" sound was only twice, and both times under acceleration from a stop or turn, and while the transmission was shifting. This was also after about 8 straight hours of driving, so everything was probably heat soaked. Damn, I wish I'd had the OBD Fusion dashboard working! I'm going through that thread now trying to find a dash that'll fit my old iPhone XS with the newer PID codes. I never saw any temp warning lights, and I kept careful watch on the truck's dash guages with nothing out of the ordinary.

Of note was that the smell was present after just driving two miles to the gas station yesterday, without any load on the truck. I haven't look, but I'm assuming there's not a transmission fluid dips stick? Hell, many cars don't even have oil dipsticks any more.

Thanks so much!

EDIT: I never did mention the MPG, although I was expecting a huge hit. The 609 miles from northern Ohio to Hohenwald, TN averaged 16.72 MPG, and the return trip averaged 10.59 MPG (both hand calculated, not the trip odd calculation) and I used mid-grade fuel at the gas stops in the mountains.

I'm thinking the noise is from the trailer brakes or even the friction material in the Anderson hitch head. I've noticed when my trailer brakes get hot after some hard hills, they can sometimes make noise releasing from a stop.

Don't hesitate to set the trailer brake gain where it needs to be. There's no magic number in gain and can be misleading referencing others as there's enough variables to this. The trailer shouldn't feel like it's pushing on the cruiser when stopping. The car brakes stop the car, trailer brakes stop the trailer. Having that balance lean too much on the tow vehicle is a recipe for trailer not managing its momentum, potentially causing or at least not properly mitigating sway when the need arises. I'll caveat that trailer brakes don't have the cooling performance that the TV has and can and will overheat before the TV brakes. Doesn't mean back-off on gain necessarily, but rather to use more engine braking, possibly with more engine braking RPM.

Being up in Idaho, IMO, you'll want to use 0W-30. It's easy to get caught up in more is better, but cold start protection is as important if not more important and you're in a cold weather region.

Smell - I tend to give the cruisers mechanicals the benefit of the doubt when it comes to durability. There's best practices, but it would be hard to impossible to damage it by driving it wrong. Maybe worthwhile to take a close look underneath. It's possible something like a plastic bag got sucked up in there.