Towing with a 99 lx470 (1 Viewer)

[lt1fire]

How do these things tow in the real world? This scenario is a one time tow but a long one.
My 80 is in NC at my buddies house and I need to get it here. He is going to sell his lx soon as he has a 570 now and doesn't need it anymore. He owes me for the 2fe engine I gave him so he is offering to sell me his lx cheap and tow my 80 to me in WA.

I'm not entirely sure how much my 80 weighs it doesn't have an engine or trans in it since I'm going to swap a Gen V LT engine into it. Also I may not need to stock driveshafts so they may he gone also and it has no raditor or really anything undwr the hood. So I'm missing about 1100 or 1200 lbs at least.
It is raised with a chopped up Arb bumper and weld on sliders so I imagine add back in about 450lbs. So let's day about 4,000 lbs or close to it. Uhaul trailer rental trailers weigh about 2200 lbs so let's say 6500 lbs all together.

Truck just had radiator replaced, tbelt job with water pump, etc.... new brakes and will have helper springs installed. Rental trailer will have trailer brakes.
Will this be fine for a one time thing?

 

[GTV]

It's possible. Don't be in a rush, drive with a lot of mechanical sympathy and you'll be fine. Keep it out of OD unless you're going downhill with little to no load.

 

[MountaineerLC]

I don’t want to even contemplate the fuel bill of towing an 80 across the country with a 100.

 

[Wilsil]

We are towing a Kimberley Kamper camper trailer behind our LX470.

 

[SteveH]

and will have helper springs installed

A '99 LX will have AHC, and it would be unusual to have helper springs installed, but maybe he put air bag helper devices on it (?)

But, 6500# would be the dead max for this truck and yes, the gasoline bill would be horrendous. I would also worry about the transmission / drivetrain seeing that kind of load for 3-4 days of towing. I would do the math and see if you can't ship both with the same car shipper. Even if it cost $4-5K to ship both, it might save a ton of time, wear-and-tear, frustration, and trying to find a good transmission shop in Omaha, NE. .

I know the phrase 'no good road trip story starts with 'so I called a car hauler...'' - but having this rig, trailer, and 80 all poop out somewhere along the way wouldn't be much fun. My '99 LX died on the highway exactly one day after I returned from driving it from Colorado to Indiana and back, and it would have been a real drag to have this fuel pump wiring problem happen in rural Kansas. It took me most of a week in my garage to fully troubleshoot and fix. I would have been SO hosed if I had to have someone try to repair it on the road. Anyway - post back here with whatever you decide to do.

 

[oakback]

I would have been SO hosed if I had to have someone try to repair it on the road.

This was me last year, when my front diff grenaded while towing our travel trailer (2600#) 7 hours into a 12 hour trip. $7k repair bill at a dealership, which included a rental Tacoma to finish the trip.

I'd recommend a bluetooth OBD2 scanner and an accompanying phone app. It's real nice being able to see your trans temps (and other info) on the fly while towing. They're pretty cheap on Amazon.

 

[donco]

Our 2000 LC is a great tow vehicle, that's largely why we bought it. We tow a 4400 lb boat with a single axle trailer without trailer brakes and have never had any issues. I do notice it tries to downshift going up hill with cruise control on. I rarely take it out of overdrive when towing. It does wear the rear brake pads faster than normal if we do a lot of towing. 242k miles on it, all original, never any problem with the transmission so far. I do periodic 4-5 quart drain/fills with Amsoil ATF which I attribute to the transmission longevity.

 

[LCReunion]

This was me last year, when my front diff grenaded while towing our travel trailer (2600#) 7 hours into a 12 hour trip. $7k repair bill at a dealership, which included a rental Tacoma to finish the trip.

I'd recommend a bluetooth OBD2 scanner and an accompanying phone app. It's real nice being able to see your trans temps (and other info) on the fly while towing. They're pretty cheap on Amazon.

To any or all it may concern: If you break your front diff(somewhat common on early one with 2 pinion vs 4) you do NOT need to be towed! You do not need to pay a Stealership whatever they ask!

You can easily take out the front driveshaft and each front outside hub part(forgot the name right now) and replace nuts with cardboard(or another material) spacer to hold in grease, right there on the trail. Lock the center diff and drive home(or somewhere other than dealer to fix) in RWD. Stop occasionally to inspect for grease loss and replace if needed.

 

[Exiled]

To any or all it may concern: If you break your front diff(somewhat common on early one with 2 pinion vs 4) you do NOT need to be towed! You do not need to pay a Stealership whatever they ask!

You can easily take out the front driveshaft and each front outside hub part(forgot the name right now) and replace nuts with cardboard(or another material) spacer to hold in grease, right there on the trail. Lock the center diff and drive home(or somewhere other than dealer to fix) in RWD. Stop occasionally to inspect for grease loss and replace if needed.

You are describing my odyssey last October to a T. Grenaded the front diff AND pretzeled the rear driveshaft on the same obstacle, so the LC was immobile. Thanks to the kindness of strangers and better friends that I probably deserve, I ended up finding a replacement rear driveshaft, removing the front driveshaft and the drive plates, and driving the LC from Grand Junction, CO to Austin, TX. The drive was fine, the truck felt weird under load with all the power going to the rear only but other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing. She is still sitting in my garage in the exact same condition!