Travel Trailer ideas - towing with an LC/LX ...

[blatant]

As @azPaul mentioned above, regarding turning the OD off, not sure I agree with that, as I've tried both it on and off. Now that said, my tt is on the pretty light side, a Forest River 14rb. On the earlier 4sp tranny's, OD off seems like way more work on the 01 than leaving it on. With off, going up rather big grades, I find the rpms rev way up and it's always searching, it's revving, dropping, revving dropping. Leaving the OD alone / on eliminates much of that, in my experience.

Leaving the OD button alone / on allows, for me anyway, way less gear shifting/searching, better foot control of rpms and way less motor roar and butt feeling of stress on the rig. Just a better steady speed and held rpm. Granted, it's definitely slow lane style (either way), but the truck works less from my practical experience.

Below is max loaded weight about 3500 and someone 6'4 can stand upright with a full bath. The driving factor (wife)

Not a towing wiz at all, just observations.

 

[jon91581]

This thread has been really helpful. Thinking about renting a camper in Denver and towing it up for HIH. I've towed boats and other trailers before, but haven't trailered a camper for an extended period of time with lots of grades/elevation changes. Looks like I'll probably just go with something light like a pop up to make it a little easier.

 

[blatant]

@jon91581, read up, pop ups can be heavier than they look / you think they are!



This is and can be a great thread --> There is also a super in dept, excellent towing thread on the 200 forum. Granted they are 200s, but a lot of the fundamentals remain the same and may be worth a look. This stands to be a great resource for 100 towers! Also don't forget the trailer tech thread here on mud!

 

[cwmoser]

like member blatant I have towed my 4pseed 2002 LX470 both OD on and OD off.
I feel on relatively flat ground OD on works just fine and I get better gas mileage.
On hills and inclines I do press the OD button and turn it off.
I tow an Rpod 180 that probably weighs less than 3600 lbs fully loaded. One other nice thing about the Rpod is that I don't need towing mirrors.

 

[SICARIO]

I tow my Jayco X19H (5K full capacity, 3600dry) pretty regularly. I leave it in OD but I downshift manually to keep the RPM's up on the hills. On flats it tows wonderfully. It struggles on steep hills but that's expected.

 

[ga12r1]

I tow a Jayco 17xfd (3400 dry 4500 loaded) with my 06 sitting on 305/65/18 KO2s and it does well. I use a weight distribution/ant-sway hitch. I keep it at 65mph on the interstate and it’s all smooth as butter. I wouldn’t want to go bigger though.

I like that the 17xfd has 3 queen beds and is only 7’ wide with two axles. It’s hard to find all of those things in one package and still be under 3500lbs dry. The 17xfd fit the bills though. It’s alot of camper for the size/weight.

 

[LandForce1]

We are pulling a 20' Springdale travel trailer that is about 4k empty but while towing is close to 5,000 pounds. We use a weight distributing hitch with 1000# bars and a friction type sway control device. I'm still running AHC and have installed the stiffer king ktrs-79 springs in the rear, the rig is a 2006, with 275/70/18 ko2's inflated to 65 psi on all four corners. I use a red-arc tow pro elite trailer brake controller.

I think it tows excellent! Of course we constantly get passed by semi trucks and diesel pickups pulling trailers twice the size of ours but we are in no hurry when we are traveling.

I setup an obd2 Bluetooth module to work with the torque app and then programmed the app to read the trans temp sensor. I never tow in 5th gear, 4th gear when the road is flat enough keeps my trans temps quite low, when going up hills I use 3rd gear or even second gear depending on the inline and how hot the trans temps get. If the temp starts getting a bit too hot I just slow down a bit.

The ability to watch my trans temp in real time gives me a level of comfort that I really appreciate.

 

[FXJ 96]

We are pulling a 20' Springdale travel trailer that is about 4k empty but while towing is close to 5,000 pounds. We use a weight distributing hitch with 1000# bars and a friction type sway control device. I'm still running AHC and have installed the stiffer king ktrs-79 springs in the rear, the rig is a 2006, with 275/70/18 ko2's inflated to 65 psi on all four corners. I use a red-arc tow pro elite trailer brake controller.

I think it tows excellent! Of course we constantly get passed by semi trucks and diesel pickups pulling trailers twice the size of ours but we are in no hurry when we are traveling.

I setup an obd2 Bluetooth module to work with the torque app and then programmed the app to read the trans temp sensor. I never tow in 5th gear, 4th gear when the road is flat enough keeps my trans temps quite low, when going up hills I use 3rd gear or even second gear depending on the inline and how hot the trans temps get. If the temp starts getting a bit too hot I just slow down a bit.

The ability to watch my trans temp in real time gives me a level of comfort that I really appreciate. View attachment 1717048

Nice! A couple questions

Is that trailer really 20 total feet hitch to end? It looks a bit longer, was curious if you have the total hitch to bumper length correct at 20'

Did you ever tow prior to the spring upgrade? What was the noticeable difference?

Dumb question perhaps: Is there a trans temp sensor that came with truck from factory that can be read by app or did you add an aftermarket sensor?

Thanks again

 

[LandForce1]

Nice! A couple questions

Is that trailer really 20 total feet hitch to end? It looks a bit longer, was curious if you have the total hitch to bumper length correct at 20'

Did you ever tow prior to the spring upgrade? What was the noticeable difference?

Dumb question perhaps: Is there a trans temp sensor that came with truck from factory that can be read by app or did you add an aftermarket sensor?

Thanks again

The actual "box" is just over 19' long, bumper to ball is 23' 6".

I have towed a tilt deck car trailer, utility trailer, and a smaller travel trailer prior to this one and prior to the spring swap. The king springs are awesome! The ride is a little bit stiffer when unloaded but it's nothing that bothers me. I no longer have issues getting into "H" mode when the rig is fully loaded. With AHC hitching up a trailer is super easy.

I just used the factory trans. Temp sensor that is already in the transmission along with some specific programming inside the torque app to allow the torque app to recognize and read the factory sensor.

 

[LandForce1]

This is the thread I referenced while programming the torque app.

Torque app plus bluetooth adapter in my 100

 

[FXJ 96]

I'm back two years later. Never bought a trailer, been Airbnb'ing it for the 2 years since I sold our Class A motorhome.

Now wanting a trailer behind the Cruiser again, but I keep upping the weights I'm looking at. Was finding a good option for a family of 5 at 4800 pounds dry weight, 25'10" length. I have a 2006 with headers and exhaust, so I feel power will be adequate - but I'm just as concerned about the height of some of these trailers as I am the weight. At 10-11' tall thats a lot of wind resistance. I will tow with an Equa-lizer WD and Anti sway hitch, as well as airbags, but feel like I am at the limits given my family of 5 and will probably be carrying 500-600 pounds of weight in trailer on top of dry weight.

FOund a guy towing a 30' trailer with a 80 series though, so maybe I'm too paranoid.

 

[changingground]

I think it comes down to your personal expectations, once you're past manufacturer's stated towing capacity. Wind resistance will be a real issue, braking is likely to be challenged, and so on. Lot's of folks here in Colorado are convinced that you can't tow a popup camper with anything less than an F350 turbo diesel or Dodge with a Cummins because of the high elevation passes. My personal concern would be with braking. I'd make sure my brake controller was dialed in, and trailer brakes 100% fully functional.

 

[cwmoser]

I tow a relatively light Rpod 180 with my 2002 LX470 (4-speed).
My Rpod 180 probably weighs a little over 3,000 lbs loaded up.
Mountains - no Overdrive and sometimes I have to shift to 2-cd gear on steep inclines.
Flat ground - no problems at all and I will use Overdrive on flat ground Interstate.

 

[FXJ 96]

I think it comes down to your personal expectations, once you're past manufacturer's stated towing capacity. Wind resistance will be a real issue, braking is likely to be challenged, and so on. Lot's of folks here in Colorado are convinced that you can't tow a popup camper with anything less than an F350 turbo diesel or Dodge with a Cummins because of the high elevation passes. My personal concern would be with braking. I'd make sure my brake controller was dialed in, and trailer brakes 100% fully functional.

Yes, I agree. Years ago I was towing a bigger travel trailer with a Nissan Titan and overall it did fine, but would downshift in a wind even on flat ground, and sometimes transmission temperature would go up. I didn't like that so I got a Diesel Excursion and did all the common mods to the 6.0L Ford Diesel to get up over 700 ft lbs of torque. Compared to the Titan, it barely seemed I had a trailer. Effortless. BUT I found I didn't like driving a Land Yacht around all the time. I'd prefer to have a less than ideal towing experience the few times a year I'd tow, nearly always 3 hours or less, but still be able to drive a more enjoyable vehicle on all the other days. Safety is key, but patience can go a long way to increasing the safety - and I have more of that than I did ten years ago.

 

[gregnash]

Yes, I agree. Years ago I was towing a bigger travel trailer with a Nissan Titan and overall it did fine, but would downshift in a wind even on flat ground, and sometimes transmission temperature would go up. I didn't like that so I got a Diesel Excursion and did all the common mods to the 6.0L Ford Diesel to get up over 700 ft lbs of torque. Compared to the Titan, it barely seemed I had a trailer. Effortless. BUT I found I didn't like driving a Land Yacht around all the time. I'd prefer to have a less than ideal towing experience the few times a year I'd tow, nearly always 3 hours or less, but still be able to drive a more enjoyable vehicle on all the other days. Safety is key, but patience can go a long way to increasing the safety - and I have more of that than I did ten years ago.

This is why I purchased the LC for when we get our travel trailer. Figured that while our '11 4Runner did ok pulling the trailer we borrowed a few years ago, something with a little more power and grunt up the hills around here (to get out of the area) would be nice. Towing will likely happen a handful to dozen times a year (depending) so slow and steady is not a huge issue (and according to my wife I drive like a grandpa anyways). Plus we are looking for something that will have a GVWR of 5k or so (21' ball to bumper), so something in the lite/ultra-lite category seeing as it is just the two of us. I will throw on all the fancy towing mods like the WD and Anti-sway systems plus a good brake controller to help with things.

 

[FXJ 96]

I am going for a 5000 lb dry weight camper and hoping my VVTi Doug Thorley Header/Borla exhaust power can pull it around while enhance springs and good trailer brakes, along with the best WD/antisway hitch on market, keep me safe. I won't be going more than 3 hours away on any trip.

 

[CBeckFJ]

I am going for a 5000 lb dry weight camper and hoping my VVTi Doug Thorley Header/Borla exhaust power can pull it around while enhance springs and good trailer brakes, along with the best WD/antisway hitch on market, keep me safe. I won't be going more than 3 hours away on any trip.

Kinda off topic but do you have a sound clip of that DT/Borla combo?

 

[geanes]

I am going for a 5000 lb dry weight camper and hoping my VVTi Doug Thorley Header/Borla exhaust power can pull it around while enhance springs and good trailer brakes, along with the best WD/antisway hitch on market, keep me safe. I won't be going more than 3 hours away on any trip.

Your 06 should tow it no problem. My 98 on the other hand would labor immensely as it's down on both HP and Torque to yours and lacks the DT headers. Might consider AirBags in the coils with a trailer that heavy. What brake controller are you using? I went with the Redarc.

 

[FXJ 96]

Kinda off topic but do you have a sound clip of that DT/Borla combo?

I don't. But if I thought it sounded good, I would.

Its quite raspy under load, no rumble whatsoever.

 

[FXJ 96]

Your 06 should tow it no problem. My 98 on the other hand would labor immensely as it's down on both HP and Torque to yours and lacks the DT headers. Might consider AirBags in the coils with a trailer that heavy. What brake controller are you using? I went with the Redarc.

I think it will be a problem (slow up a hill or into wind) but should handle it safely, depending on driver. I did consider the Airbags, which most everyone uses, but for some reason I went Timbrens first - which is more expensive so probably should have been my SECOND choice if I didn't like the airbags. But I read good timbren reviews and like it's no maintenance. Haven't tried yet.

I have a Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ brake controller.