Towing with a Toyota Highlander?

AURELLA,
I totally agree with your last post's sentiment and overall gist. That's why I've been leaning toward the 19 and think my current sedan can handle it. The trailer is definitely crucial though. Single axle, braked and aluminum would be my prerequisites.
 
Well, I first found this thread while looking into weight distribution hitches. (I did post in another thread specifically relating to this.) To make a long story short, it appears the Toyota Highlander hitch is not rated for Weight Distribution, so therefore guess I'll have to live with the 2" sag with the boat in tow.... Colby
 
I've looked for both airbags and air shocks. Nothing made for the 2010 Highlander. The "super spring" inserts I have, are just rubber inserts that go into the coil springs to help provide a little more support. Colby
 
Rated for it. Sure, but just read what you guys are saying - near overheated transmission on hot day in the mountains, putting extra springs in, and probably something I missed. The highlander is fine car, but should you have to do anything to tow 5,000 pounds when it is rated to tow 5,000 pounds? It appears so. My pickup is rated to tow 8,000-10,000 pounds (can't remember) and it barely squatted with the 7500 TT behind it - nothing to do but just drive. In a pinch I'm sure it is fine and safe - just pushing the limits right to the end; if not over it with a 22.
 
The overheated transmission for me, didn't happen until after reaccelerating 3 times at 7000+ feet on a 7% grade, from 35-60 mph. I suspect even a large truck pulling near it's tow capacity would do the same thing. As for the squat, even my Excursion dipped a few inches when I lowered a 500 lb tongue on it. Difference is, it sat a lot higher. No doubt about it, a large gas guzzling truck is going to handle a larger trailer. But as some others have pointed out here, the mid size SUV's are very capable of towing up to their capacity. Colby
 
So my long winded reply.....Actually, my only point is that tow ratings keep going up, up, and up and the engineering to justify the new rating is questionable, if not even present at all. Who leads this charge? Probably the sales department. Just as an example, my old 78 F-250 (460, 4 row 30 something quart radiator, full float rear end, powerful and huge brakes) is rated to tow about 4 tons. On the other hand, a new f150 (like my brother's) with a much smaller and lighter-weight drive train is rated to tow around 6 tons. Which one will safely tow more? According to Ford the F-150, but there's no way that is true at all; silly to even really think about. The same is true for the highlander. What did they do to go from 3500 pound tow rating to 5000? Yeah I know, a new sticker, an arm twist by the sales department, and maybe something else. But was that something else really something that increases its tow rating by 1500 pounds. Or was it underrated to begin with? Maybe it will tow 7,000 pounds too. I have no idea - only in Europe.....At least there is a standard now and the highlander passed that "sprint" type of test fine. The question is, can it pass the marathon test with that much weight? What happens to body integrity, suspension, and drive train over time? Nobody knows - the new standards don't test that; the real world does. Only time will tell. Again, for most folks, I'm sure its fine and its a great looking rig. In ten years we'll all know - maybe...LOL...
 
Here is the new sticker/arm twist reality which occurred in 2008.

"The Toyota Highlander has been completely redesigned for 2008. The new Highlander is completely new mechanically and significantly larger; it's about four inches longer and about three inches wider, with an inch more ground clearance. A much more powerful 3.5L V6 replaces the former 3.3L engine, the four-cylinder engine is gone from the lineup, and a new set of active and passive safety features are introduced. Also, larger wheels are installed across the line."

Greg
 
Aurelia":1xuvk6zx said:
Here is the new sticker/arm twist reality which occurred in 2008.

"The Toyota Highlander has been completely redesigned for 2008. The new Highlander is completely new mechanically and significantly larger; it's about four inches longer and about three inches wider, with an inch more ground clearance. A much more powerful 3.5L V6 replaces the former 3.3L engine, the four-cylinder engine is gone from the lineup, and a new set of active and passive safety features are introduced. Also, larger wheels are installed across the line."

Greg
Click to expand...

If I remember close, that is about the same time that the Tundra grew up in size too, Bigger everything, brakes, tranny, cooling and tow and pay load ratings. Maybe a year before or after, but I'd be willing to bet there was some sharing of "engineering" between the "growth of the Tundra, Tacoma, Highlander and other models too.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

IMG_4102.thumb.jpg
 
It seems to me that there will always be (at least) two schools of thought when towing. One says bigger is better and you need BIG X TRUCK to tow a 22. The other is willing to tow closer to ratings and either doesn't want a huge extra vehicle, or has one vehicle that needs to serve multiple purposes. I'm leaving out people who want to do something clearly unsafe, like tow with a Honda Civic or something similar.

I've done both of the former. I towed a travel trailer with a multi-use station wagon (within ratings) and I towed my 22 with a 3/4 ton full sized van. I can do either and be comfortable. There are a lot of variables on the road, from the actual road, to the region, to the weather, to the skill of the driver, to the speed driven. Plus the condition and equipment of the trailer (brakes, tires, etc.) And there are always unpredictable situations.

One thing I don't understand is when people make open (or sometimes veiled) comments about how "well okay, if you want to endanger your family [lose an insurance claim, etc.] just go on ahead." Of course almost no-one wants to do that. But if it takes a 3/4 ton truck to safely tow a 22, then what can people use to tow a 25? A one-ton? And then what about a Tomcat.... a Medium Duty truck? I mean, there's no end to how you could be "safer" by going larger. In the same vein, maybe everyone should be in 40', 15-ton boats, as they are safer.

Seems like the spirit of the 22 (and other C-Dorys as well) is to do a number of things well, maybe none of them perfectly. Economy, versatility, a bit of minimalism. Does that mean you should tow with a Pinto? No. But maybe a Highlander if that suits you. I wouldn't choose one because it doesn't fit my purposes, but I can see that it does fit some folks really well. As long as they drive accordingly, I'm happy

(Just staying off the phone is a big plus...)
 
Sunbeam, I was about to post another reply prior to reading yours, but just bit my tongue. lol. So thanks for your post. I can basically sum it up this way. Our C-Dory's are versatile little boats. There are other boats that are much bigger and more powerful. Yet, our little C-Dory's are quite seaworthy and can many times go so many more places. I look at my Highlander the same way. On our Lake Powell trip this past summer, I not only used the Highlander for towing the boat, but then drove several "off road trails" in the Canyon Lands with it. And of course it's my "town" & "family" car. At the end of it all, I pull into my garage with room to still walk around it! :mrgreen: Of course there are times I wish I had a big SUV (Like the Excursion) again, or a 3/4 ton pickup. But not because I want or need something bigger to tow the CD-22.
 
My 2013 Lexus RX 350 (mechanically very close to Highlander) towed Merdraco (19' angler) from NY to Southern FL just fine. It did not have the factory tow package. Local hitch and transmission shops installed the hitch (to the frame) and transmission cooler. The transmission shop told me I didn't need it unless I was planning to do a lot of hills, hot 90º+ weather, or stop and go towing. My hills were only in PA and northern VA and after that, its mostly flat (and down hill....) all the way. The boat pulled easily and there was never any increase in coolant temp. I didn't have a transmission gauge, but no warning lights came on, no issues with shifting or scary burnt smell from engine. All towing was in 4, not in D. Mileage which is usually 22 on this trip, was about 12 - 14. The boat, payload, and dual axel EZ Load trailer weight was just under 3500# which is the mfg limit. Only a few gallons of gas in the tanks. I didn't use the electric brakes, but would, if I were doing any serious hills. Our only scare was the blowout on I-75 in Tampa on a Friday around 3:30PM. No change in handling and I was able to pull onto the shoulder without incident. The takeaway from that was, as the FHP officer said, never go over 4 years on a set of tires in FL. Mine were around 7 and the one that blew really exploded. For what its worth, I trailered it from Maine to NY with a F-150, which was more comfortable, almost like not even towing.
 
T.R. Bauer":28kz399c said:
It's ok to differ in opinions and there's lots of nice friendly dialog on this site.
Click to expand...

Oh absolutely. I wasn't trying to say that differing opinions or friendly dialog are bad. They're great, and without them the site (and life) would be boring. So if I read "I'm more comfortable towing my 16 with a 3/4 ton truck, and I like diesel to do it with," no issue at all. If reasons are given that's great too. I like to read about what others choose and why.

What I was alluding to in my prior post is things more along the lines of "Well if you value your safety...." or "Just wait till the lawyers...." or that sort of thing. To me the two come across differently. (I'm speaking of vehicles towing within their ratings here; not to what we might say if someone came here to ask if they could tow a 25 with a VW Bug or something extreme like that.)
 
As of model year 2016, all 6-cylinder Highlanders have the tow prep package and a 5,000 lb towing capacity. See below for details.

Highlander tow prep package

According to Toyota, the XLE and above have a heavy-duty radiator and an engine oil cooler. They also have a 200W fan coupling (i.e., powerful cooling fans), a supplemental transmission cooler, and a 150A alternator.

In other words, the so-called “towing package” comes standard on the XLE and above, and is not available on lower trim levels, so… Be sure to factor this in when deciding which model to buy in the first place.

Greg
 
Here is a real (troubling) post form another site that people will read and jump to the conclusion that this vehicle shouldn't tow a darn thing. You go ahead and find the flaw in the logic here. Sunbeam, you will love the last line.

"My wife and I purchased a new 2015 Highlander XLE and were planning on traveling across the USA. Having the standard towing features, heavy duty radiator, oil cooler, trans cooler, heavy duty battery, etc, we did all the research to find that we could tow 500 lbs hitch, 5,000 lbs total. We ordered a new Forest River travel trailer with specs showing 468 hitch, 4200 total. After having the best Curt hitch installed professionally, I found that Toyota had made no pre wires for electric brakes. In addition to having to completely wire the car for a 7 pin round connector, the trailer dealer had to spend hours wiring for electric brakes. My electrical bill not including the hitch was $650!!!
Everything turned out to be a disaster! When I picked up the special ordered trailer a month later, driving home dropped my gas mileage from 28 mpg down to 8 mpg, without even any cargo! In addition, even having the BlueOx distribution hitch, my front tires were coming off the pavement while driving down the road. We tried to sell the brand new trailer back to the dealer but the answer was no, we shopped buying a larger tow vehicle (a Tahoe) but the trade difference was $22,000. We tried to trade it to another dealer for a smaller travel trailer but was told that the only trailer that our front wheel drive Highlander should pull should be a pop-up camper being very light weight. We were told by an expert that our 4,200 lb travel trailer would burn up the Highlanders transmission and engine as the rpms were very high when driving the rig 60 mph.
Long story short, we sold the brand new trailer, never plugged in at a $1,200 loss and are still very upset with Toyota for advertising 500/5000. This is deceit on behalf of Toyota. To prove my point even further, the law states that if you pull a trailer over 2,000 lbs, you must have electric brakes. However, Toyota makes NO pre-wire at all for electric brakes. Also, a trailer with electric brakes will nee a 7 pin round plug and Toyota provides the pre-wire for only a 4 pin. In my opinion, Toyota Motor Co. Should reimburse me the $1,200 that I lost.
DO NOT buy a Highlander to pull a trailer over 2,000 lbs or you will be sorry.
Thanks,
Charlie, in Georgia"

Maybe the manufacture's weight of an empty trailer (another discussion entirely) was not the best ending point for a tow vehicle purchase decision.
 
Aurelia":3h49ue71 said:
Here is a real (troubling) post form another site that people will read and jump to the conclusion that this vehicle shouldn't tow a darn thing. You go ahead and find the flaw in the logic here. Sunbeam, you will love the last line.

"My wife and I purchased a new 2015 Highlander XLE and were planning on traveling across the USA. Having the standard towing features, heavy duty radiator, oil cooler, trans cooler, heavy duty battery, etc, we did all the research to find that we could tow 500 lbs hitch, 5,000 lbs total. We ordered a new Forest River travel trailer with specs showing 468 hitch, 4200 total. After having the best Curt hitch installed professionally, I found that Toyota had made no pre wires for electric brakes. In addition to having to completely wire the car for a 7 pin round connector, the trailer dealer had to spend hours wiring for electric brakes. My electrical bill not including the hitch was $650!!!
Everything turned out to be a disaster! When I picked up the special ordered trailer a month later, driving home dropped my gas mileage from 28 mpg down to 8 mpg, without even any cargo! In addition, even having the BlueOx distribution hitch, my front tires were coming off the pavement while driving down the road. We tried to sell the brand new trailer back to the dealer but the answer was no, we shopped buying a larger tow vehicle (a Tahoe) but the trade difference was $22,000. We tried to trade it to another dealer for a smaller travel trailer but was told that the only trailer that our front wheel drive Highlander should pull should be a pop-up camper being very light weight. We were told by an expert that our 4,200 lb travel trailer would burn up the Highlanders transmission and engine as the rpms were very high when driving the rig 60 mph.
Long story short, we sold the brand new trailer, never plugged in at a $1,200 loss and are still very upset with Toyota for advertising 500/5000. This is deceit on behalf of Toyota. To prove my point even further, the law states that if you pull a trailer over 2,000 lbs, you must have electric brakes. However, Toyota makes NO pre-wire at all for electric brakes. Also, a trailer with electric brakes will nee a 7 pin round plug and Toyota provides the pre-wire for only a 4 pin. In my opinion, Toyota Motor Co. Should reimburse me the $1,200 that I lost.
DO NOT buy a Highlander to pull a trailer over 2,000 lbs or you will be sorry.
Thanks,
Charlie, in Georgia"

Maybe the manufacture's weight of an empty trailer (another discussion entirely) was not the best ending point for a tow vehicle purchase decision.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for this post as that's the kind of valuable information that makes this site so effective in steering us around the pit-falls we all are subject too from time to time by false advertising.
I have a 2005 Jeep Liberty diesel which could have seen me with the same problem as you but as a retired marine/power engineer I was pride bound to figure away around my problem. First our Jeep also came with a full tow package for 500-hitch-5000 towing rating but a 4 pin Bargeman electrical connection. Yes no 7 pin electric brake connection. So I asked the trailer dealer the cost to wire in a 7 pin connector. His answer was each tow vehicle is a custom wiring challenge- yeah buck talk. So I went on the Jeep net talk and a guy in Vermont (I'm a BC, Can.) posted the answer! "Take off the left panel etc. and well hidden in the wiring harness there is a red wire" -etc. and yes I found it and wired in my 7 pin for $25. No thanks to Chrysler who would charge the big bucks. Then, well under warranty, I had the EGR valve stick open with a dangerous loss of power. They fixed this but the mechanic whispered in my ear, "this is a reoccurring problem with this MV Motori diesel engine and at $1200 a pop, after warranty it will get expensive...this engine, with an EGR, is crap".
Wow- again what to do. Jeep net to the rescue. Find the measured air fuel signal block (MAF) and unplug it, as this is where the EGR gets the open command from. I did this and of course it brought up a check engine light on the dash. That meant buying a code reader ($75 bucks) which was worth it and that gave about 2000 check point read outs and the ability to cancel, when necessary, the MAF failed signal prior to going thru the testing station. This in a fantastic tow rig for me now as the 295 ft/lbs at 1800RPMs and 4 wheel drive on steep greasy ramps does it an idle. Of course we are not supposed to succeed in this world of stealer-er dealerships set up to fleece the public -- are we.?
 
I tow with an xterra, rated for 5k lbs.

I don't like it. It's short and gets pushed around by the boat a bit.

This vehicle should be more substantial than the highlander (full frame, etc) and has plenty of engine and brakes. I just don't like the feeling of the bumper getting pushed side to side when I brake mostly.

That said, I realize a better trailer would help. My trailer is very short and holds my boat right behind my vehicle, and has no brakes. Fortunately I only tow it about 1/4 mile at a time, no faster than about 20mph, if that, so I don't care, but the idea of a boaterhome trip is appealing. I'd want something with a slightly longer wheelbase if I were to go with the same class of vehicle. I'm thinking Tacoma for the next one.
 
We are one of the crazies who opted in 2009 for one those new and unsafe? 3/4 ton 4 x 4 diesel extended cab pickup trucks. Aside from not having to deal with extra springs air bags or any other gizmos. It came with a tow package already set up for electric brakes with a built in controller. We had a 23' Venture at the time of purchase. It gets anywhere from 16 to 12 mpg pulling the boat. If you tow 40,000 plus miles the difference in gas/fuel mileage can really add up. What was nice for us anyway was when we upgraded to a bigger boat that weighs 10,000 pounds plus the same truck can handle the bigger boat. If I would have had to upgrade a tow vehicle I probably would have passed on the deal. So buying just enough tow vehicle to get by has good and bad points if you will ever consider getting a bigger boat. The bathroom with plumbing adds enough weight to rule out using small SUV's. Plus we have more than enough room and weight capacity to carry plenty of extra spares, food, bottled water, fishing equipment and related supplies. We have a lockable cap over the trucks 8' bed. The truck can seat six adults. It handles crosswinds well. We don't have to use the truck for our daily driver. After six years the truck has only 65 k on it. It will probably last me the rest of my natural born days.
D.D.
 
The Xterra has a 3 inch narrower track, 4 inches shorter wheelbase, and rides on relatively soft/tall tires compared to a highlander, not to mention differences in chassis/suspension tune. I like them as off-roaders but like the newer FJ or Wrangler, they are not a towing favorite for most.

A Tacoma would add 17-30 inches of wheelbase to the highlander depending on door/bed configuration which would likely help with general handling significantly.

Towing without trailer brakes would be less than comfortable for any significant distance and I would not do it with our 5000lb class vehicle. I would be right there with you on "not liking it"

Greg
 
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