Towing with a manual 120

[barney1587 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close barney1587]

A question for the brains trust re. towing with a 4litre manual 120 series. We’ve recently bought our first van with all up loaded weight of 1400 kg & my question is should I avoid using 5th gear when towing ? Have towed an off road camper trailer for many years weighing just over 1000kg however thinking that the additional weight and wind drag from the van might unnecessarily strain the 5th gear. The few threads I’ve found on the topic were all about autos with a consensus of not using overdrive, can anyone enlighten me some more on this question ?

[Bobba Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bobba]

I've towed with manuals before and found 5th was fine on flat roads where little strain was put on the gearbox, but whenever a hill was in sight I'd drop back to 4th before hitting it. I think you'll find that's the general consensus from others too. 4th is often direct drive and strong, with 5th (or 6th) being small gears. Being petrol, dropping back to 4th probably puts you in the strongest part of your torque band too, perfect for the hills or overtaking. With that in mind, I've heard of people getting better fuel economy in 4th compared to 5th. If you had time and the right road, do an economy run and see. Fill tank to the brim, do a 50 or 100km round trip in 5th, refill and do the same in 4th, refill. You might be surprised!

[barney1587 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close barney1587]

Thanks Bobba, will give it a go on upcoming trip (travelling in 4th). Anything to improve fuel economy of my juice guzzler will be a bonus. Have also just fitted a throttle controller with towing in mind, will be interesting to see how it goes.

[RedAdventureWagon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RedAdventureWagon]

Not Prado related but I used to tow a 1t camper trailer with my manual car, that got pretty much identical fuel consumption in 4th or 5th - so I just used 4th. I think it was about 14l/100km in 5th and 15l/100km in 4th.

Now with my 90 series Prado 15l/100km is a distant memory in the wrong way!.

[barney1587 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close barney1587]

I feel your pain Red, my 120 averages 17l /100km when not towing (it “may” have a few accessories bolted on that adds some weight......)