Towing with an '03

[jiggletits]

I picked up an airstream a couple weeks ago. Screaming deal. Weighs in around 5,000 lbs dry.

So far I have towed it with my Tundra, easy peasy with the 5.7. Even got 11 MPG round trip to Pueblo and back.

However, I hate driving my Tundra and would like a more nimble rig to drive around when the camper is parked.

Curious if anyone has pulled this much weight with the GX (non VVTi) and just how awful is it? Is it worth spending cash on a class 4 hitch and brake controller? Or should I forego this fantasy altogether? The Tundra is no slouch off road, just too damn big... If I could have one vehicle it would be a 200 series but need a real truck for work.

 

[aztoytec]

I’ve tow around 4500 w my 03 w 265/70R17. Car trailer w Miata plus gear/parts. Actually does ok. Hills can be a issue sometimes. I have Firestone air bags in my rear springs that help out a lot. Still need to add a aux trans cooler. As long as your in no rush it should be fine!

 

[Mountaintrails]

The 03 should I believe already have an aux trans cooler. You are going to struggle on hills. My trailer dry is 3400 and with everything I have loaded it and rig to 5k.

 

[fourleggedfish]

If you’re sticking to the flatlands on the east side of the hill, you should be all right. Slow going, but doable. You’ll have a hell of a time getting that rig up I-70 or anywhere else with some elevation. I’ve pulled ~3,500 up 287, and it really struggled, especially at altitude. It was swinging 4,300-4,700 RPM. Won’t do that again until I get the new 4.56 gears in.

 

[Rednexus]

I'm at 3,500-lb loaded with my folded camper that is the same height as my GX and maybe 1' wider. I get 11-14 mpg towing, depending on the wind.

IMO, I think towing 5,000-lb with a wide/tall trailer like a Airstream will not be fun in a GX. I would do it with my GX here in Missouri but would not want to cross the windy plains or try a big mountain pass with one (which is why we got our smaller folding camper). Sure, the GX will pull it and you'll be within the factory tow ratings, but will struggle on the hills (especially at altitude) and you'll get some of the tail wagging the dog due to the short wheelbase of the GX.

However, some folks on here do tow big trailers like Airstreams and report no issues....it just depends on your level of comfort/preferences. As others have mentioned, you be at risk of overheating your transmission without an upgraded cooler if you try to tow that up a mountain pass, as you'll be in 2nd or 3rd gear where the torque converter is unlocked and generating a ton of heat.

Personally I'd hold on to your Tundra or get a LC200. But, if you did want to try it, the Class IV OEM hitch is like $240 from Toyota (just get one for a 4th gen 4Runner), a Redarc Elite is $200, and a Hayden oversized transmission cooler is $50. So it's not expensive to get outfitted for towing and will be useful if you ever want to tow a trailer for some other reason. The GX is a capable tow rig, if you are aware of it's limitations and plan around it.

 

[Maxacceleration]

Not the right vehicle for the job. Make sure your gear ratio is matched to your tire size (most important). It will help with your trans shifting back & forth all the time.
With that said, manual shift your hills and use the gear it will pull.
I just towed my 15' trailer (with toungue) with stock gear ratio and 1800 lbs gross weight. 295 tires & King shocks - not a towing set-up, kind of swappy.
9 mpg over the passes and a best of 11mpg. Mine is a non VVT '04.
Tow safe. Easier said than done. Airstreams are heavy!

 

[SteveH]

Driving at 75-80 on I-70 through Utah, my brother's '06 GX470 got a whopping 6-7 mpg (in4th gear), while towing a 3500# tandem axle cargo trailer. That giant Airstream won't be any fun when you have to swerve or stop suddenly. I would continue to use your Tundra to tow the Airstream.

 

[Rednexus]

Driving at 75-80 on I-70 through Utah, my brother's '06 GX470 got a whopping 6-7 mpg (in4th gear), while towing a 3500# tandem axle cargo trailer. That giant Airstream won't be any fun when you have to swerve or stop suddenly. I would continue to use your Tundra to tow the Airstream.

75-80 is really too fast for towing with these unless it's a lawnmower trailer. I keep mine to 70 mph tops. On backroads going 55 I've gotten 14 mpg with my camper.

 

[jiggletits]

6-7 MPG is bad. That stretch of Utah doesn't have any insane grades if I recall.

Mostly flat going 65-80 MPH with the Tundra, I barely noticed it back there, still got 11 MPG.

I found a Class VI hitch on craigslist, and apparently my Tekonsha P3 harness will work on a GX same as the Tundra. Maybe I'll give it a shot here soon and see how it goes.

 

[Nothinghead]

I can tell you my experience.

I have an 05 GX with 200k miles and a 2" inch lift with 285/70 17 tires (10 ply rated). I started with a 3800 lb (dry) airstream which I took about 4-5000 miles through the northwest, BC and Alberta. Overall, I think I got around 11-12 MPG. With a properly set up weight distributing hitch, adjusted trailer brakes, clip on tow mirrors and tires at 55 PSI. it was just fine. It was my first experience towing and only felt uncomfortable when there were high cross-winds or a semi passed at high speed in the opposite direction on a 2 lane road. It was never hard to control and I had no sway or porpoising.

We sold the 22' bambi a few years ago and now have a 23' CB (looks like what you have). I do notice the larger weight and size when accelerating or in headwinds but, again with a proper WD hitch and adjusted brakes, it tows just fine. Get comfortable with 3000-3500 RPMs. My MPG going through Utah on I-15 is 10-11. With the bigger trailer, I have added a larger transmission cooler and in the summer it has crept up above 200 degrees but still have gone over 10,000' in the Uintahs without a problem. Certainly, this car was not made with the intention to tow on a regular basis (it says so in the manual) but it really can do it as long as you keep everything within spec. Dry weight is almost meaningless. Get your trailer set up for a typical trip with all the water, propane and crap that you will take with you and then weight it. Go to CAT scales near you or take it to an RV shop and have them weight it. Be sure to double or triple check your WD hitch set up and don't just trust some schmuck at the RV shop to do it. I've seen some very scary set ups. Keep transmission in 3 or 4 to keep RPMs up and ATF circulating.

The most troubling part of that trailer is the heavy tongue weight with two large LP tanks and the two lead batteries so far ahead of the axles and then all the gear people carry up front. I usually only keep one LP tank full (may consider going down to 20 lb tanks instead) and fill the water tank at or near my destination. I also tossed the 100 lbs of deep cycle batteries and converted to lithium (30 lbs) which I keep under the couch closer to the front trailer axle to move weight from the tongue.

Be sure to avoid exceeding payload of the GX as well once you add passengers and gear inside on top of the tongue weight.

I love being able to actually go on trails once we get to our destination and for this reason alone have avoided buying anything full-size like a pickup or sequoia.

I have towed this same trailer with my father-in-law's Duramax Silverado from northern Utah to Bryce to compare it to the GX. In the diesel, we got 12.5 MPG at 75 MPH overall compared to 10.5 MPG at 70 MPH in the GX. GX is so much more comfortable since the engine is so smooth even at the higher RPMs. I am extremely defensive and alert when towing, keeping plenty of distance between myself and the car ahead, avoid sitting in a blind spot and watching for erratic or aggressive drivers or brake lights far up ahead. I'm sure if I weren't paying attention and had to make evasive movements on the highway, a large truck would be safer.

 

[Nothinghead]

6-7 MPG is bad. That stretch of Utah doesn't have any insane grades if I recall.

Mostly flat going 65-80 MPH with the Tundra, I barely noticed it back there, still got 11 MPG.

I found a Class VI hitch on craigslist, and apparently my Tekonsha P3 harness will work on a GX same as the Tundra. Maybe I'll give it a shot here soon and see how it goes.

Above 70 MPH will kill your fuel mileage. I use the P3 controller and it works great.

 

[Maxacceleration]

Good preparation Nothinghead, as it should be. To add, the 470 is a pretty short wheelbase for towing a long heavy trailer. Even more important the WD hitch.
I could argue that the Lexus has anywhere the ease of towing as a Duramax motored Chevy/GMC. I have a Duramax and my Lexus is not in the same league.
Not even close.
765 lbs of torque rules as does the suspension (for towing).

 

[Nothinghead]

Good preparation Nothinghead, as it should be. To add, the 470 is a pretty short wheelbase for towing a long heavy trailer. Even more important the WD hitch.
I could argue that the Lexus has anywhere the ease of towing as a Duramax motored Chevy/GMC. I have a Duramax and my Lexus is not in the same league.
Not even close.
765 lbs of torque rules as does the suspension (for towing).

For sure, the diesel tows with ease and is a much safer way to tow but I was a surprised by the seemingly poor mpg. This was a 2007 duramax (I’m not sure about changes in the past 15 years). My friend’s 2021 F350 gets 19 mpg unloaded or towing 8,000 lbs; a different beast entirely.

 

[Rednexus]

I've been driving a 2021 F250 Powerstroke for work lately. In most ways, it's like driving a turd compared to my GX. Hard to see out of, hard to park, uncomfortable, surprisingly short windshield/headroom, rides terrible, and doesn't feel controlled under braking (which I attribute to the solid front axle). Huge amount of power however, the trust from 1,050 ft-lbs of torque is simply amazing compared to our paltry 320 ft-lbs! Coupled with the 18 mpg I've gotten out of it, it's certainly impressive in the powertrain department.

However, due to the way it rides/drives/feels, I honestly feel more comfortable driving and towing my small camper in my GX than I do in a unloaded Powerstroke. The diesels might make sense if you are towing often, but there are huge drawbacks for use as a daily driver.

 

[GXO]

Will it? yeah. Would I want to drive it with that thing back there? Nope.

 

[jiggletits]

I had an F250. Never again. 18-19 MPG does not make up for the stacks and stacks of repair bills you endure over time. Mine was a huge pile of s*** and it got more like 11-12 MPG towing.

 

[Rednexus]

I had an F250. Never again. 18-19 MPG does not make up for the stacks and stacks of repair bills you endure over time. Mine was a huge pile of s*** and it got more like 11-12 MPG towing.

I spent an hour figuring out how to drain the diesel/water separator on this one. It threw a light saying to drain it, which I did twice (generating over a gallon of diesel I had to get rid of....) but it would not reset following the factory procedure, and started limiting engine power. I ended up unhooking the battery. One look at that engine.....YIKES. A LOT of things to go wrong, and it looks like a expensive nightmare to work on with hoses, wires, sensors, emission controls everywhere. My FIL has a '99 Cummins that is a much better truck and is actually pretty simple to work on and easier to drive/see out of.

Either way....I agree that diesels are a PITA and are overrated .

 

[jiggletits]

Even the old diesels are not worth it… unless you do HEAVY hauling. Mine was a 7.3. No emissions from factory. Still a pile of crap! Cracked the transmission in half twice in 30k miles due to bad u joints. Randomly leaked 3 gallons of oil onto highway and whatever I was towing. Oil leaks all landed on the flywheel. Horrible design flaws from factory. I had that damn transmission out like 5 times in 2 years of ownership.

LOL picked up an ‘06 GX today. Super clean. Former lease. No rust, 290k miles shiny garaged ash blue, grey int, cleanest factory seats I have seen, backup cam. Dealer service records back to day 1. Price was right. $9900! I’ll try towing it with that before I decide to keep or flip.

 

[Maxacceleration]

LOL a Lexus is a better tow vehicle than a diesel powered truck.
First, a pick up drives like a pick up . Especially a 3/4 or 1 ton (a 'Truck' is a Semi). So it goes.
Second, to afford a diesel powered truck, you have to afford to maintain it. Got a newer diesel pick up, dealer maintain it. Documented & worth it.
Think about it... a diesel is a high performance engine. Not much bigger than many V-8 gas motors.
With roughly 20:1 compression & pushing a 1000 ft lbs of torque & even good HP these days, thats asking a lot.
More maintenance with a diesel.

So... a longer pick up wheelbase, heavier vehicle (road holding), higher tongue weight capacity, higher GVWR and CGVWR ALL add up to a more capable tow vehicle with a pick up.
The Lexus is a sturdy luxury SUV, but just a luxury SUV nonetheless.
Of course thats just my opinion! As a former CDL driver, I respect rated capacities and designed in use of a vehicle.
And I do feel the GX470 is just fine with lighter/moderate trailers.
Please, happy towing with your GX and do be safe. All good here.

 

[jiggletits]

Never said a Lexus was a better tow vehicle than anything, let alone a Diesel. I said my Tundra is a better tow vehicle than my old Ford diesel, and it rides like a Camry comparatively. I do stand by my statement than unless you are towing HEAVY (8k+ lbs regularly) a diesel is not worth it, at all.