Towing assistance

[Turbo Piston Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Turbo Piston]

Hi guys,

Been doing some reading and research and just wondering if I should upgrade. Thinking new Hilux or new Prado but will get to that soon.

I currently have a Prado 120 diesel. Love it! Car weighs 2.2T at the bridge with just under half a tank of fuel. When I go camping and take all my gear and fill up the tank I never take the boat. I need to weight the car when it is fully loaded up for my usual trips to get a better idea but I am guessing it will be around 2.4T+

My boat weight 2.2T with 50L of fuel and that's it. No gear in it. Let's just say I was travelling to go fishing, I don't think I would fill up the tank (160L) as that is just extra weight for the towing. But maybe with rods, gear etc I will add another 50Kg max.

When I travel up the freeway towing the boat the prado feels good, but up the hill it seems to struggle a bit, can't do more than 80km/h which is fine by me, I am not here to race, just wondering if that means the car is struggling?

I am considering the new Hilux at the moment because it has a bit more power and has a higher tow rating. However I have read now many times that the tow car should weigh more than the boat (in my case) because you want the car to take the boat for a ride, not the boat to take the car for a ride.

I have spoken to a new Hilux owner and he was towing a 7M glass boat. He said it towed just as good as his Landcruiser. Thing is on a test drive you can't hook up your boat... I wish I could!

So here are my questions I guess.

Should I consider the Hilux as a better vehcile?
Will it do a better job than my 120 Prado?

or

Will the new Prado even with 2.5T towing do the job better? I am just wondering if I am too close to my towing limits here. With some calculations I think I have about 3-400Kg spare still with the Prado.

Thanks for reading

[Harfir Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Harfir]

Just update to Prado 150 VX

Hi guys,

Been doing some reading and research and just wondering if I should upgrade. Thinking new Hilux or new Prado but will get to that soon.

I currently have a Prado 120 diesel. Love it! Car weighs 2.2T at the bridge with just under half a tank of fuel. When I go camping and take all my gear and fill up the tank I never take the boat. I need to weight the car when it is fully loaded up for my usual trips to get a better idea but I am guessing it will be around 2.4T+

My boat weight 2.2T with 50L of fuel and that's it. No gear in it. Let's just say I was travelling to go fishing, I don't think I would fill up the tank (160L) as that is just extra weight for the towing. But maybe with rods, gear etc I will add another 50Kg max.

When I travel up the freeway towing the boat the prado feels good, but up the hill it seems to struggle a bit, can't do more than 80km/h which is fine by me, I am not here to race, just wondering if that means the car is struggling?

I am considering the new Hilux at the moment because it has a bit more power and has a higher tow rating. However I have read now many times that the tow car should weigh more than the boat (in my case) because you want the car to take the boat for a ride, not the boat to take the car for a ride.

I have spoken to a new Hilux owner and he was towing a 7M glass boat. He said it towed just as good as his Landcruiser. Thing is on a test drive you can't hook up your boat... I wish I could!

So here are my questions I guess.

Should I consider the Hilux as a better vehcile?
Will it do a better job than my 120 Prado?

or

Will the new Prado even with 2.5T towing do the job better? I am just wondering if I am too close to my towing limits here. With some calculations I think I have about 3-400Kg spare still with the Prado.

Thanks for reading

I have just replied on the Caravan and Camping Forum site as well.
I purchased my new Prado 150 VX auto 2015 to tow my brand new Kakoda Van. The Tare weight of the van is 2130 with a ATM of 2500kg. So far I have been on 4 trips around 500kls each trip and it tows quiet well but I do notice the drag when going up a steep hill but I am leaving it in auto and kicks down a gear its self. I does the job quiet well but sometimes I wish I had spent the extra and got the LC instead for the extra power. The main reason for the Prado was the luxury and smooth ride plus the LC was larger as far as limited parking in my carport and the extra cost of course. The fuel economy is the Prado is great when traveling and towing around 16lts per 100 ks. Around town it is about 10 per 100.
Hope this helps

[Turbo Piston Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Turbo Piston]

Great, thanks I saw your reply.

So you don't shift your prado to '4' at all then? You just leave it in D?

Is your car the 2.8?

[Harfir Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Harfir]

Great, thanks I saw your reply.

So you don't shift your prado to '4' at all then? You just leave it in D?

Is your car the 2.8?

Mine is the 3 litre. Bought it just before the new model came out. Would have preferred the 2.8 as it is quieter and suppose to have better fuel economy and more power.
I dont see the need to put it in manual as it handles quiet well in auto. When towing, It drops down a gear as it needs it. Sitting on approx 90kph the revs sit on approx 2000 going up a slight incline it will drop down a gear and revs at 2300 to 2600rpms only when going up a steeper hill it does it drop another gear and can rev up to 3000rpms. I have never used the manual (except off road in the sand) but dont know if this is the correct thing to do.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

The new Prado and the SR and SR5 hilux have the same engine 2.8 with 450nm but in auto only, the manual is 420nm in both. Both up on the old 3.0L D4D in the old hilux (343nm) and Prado's (410nm). But if you go the workmate 2.4L in manual is only 343nm but in auto is 400nm. Such a huge range. (All these are diesel figures not the V6 petrol or 4cyl petrol) cheers

[Guest Close Guest]

It's not usually a good idea to tow in overdrive gears. Not sure on the new 2.8 if you can tow in D. What does the manual say?

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

My 2.8L Prado tows my 1.6T ski boat pretty easily.

Towing a boat should be a lot easier than towing a caravan of the same weight. My boat slipstreams quite nicely behind the car and on flat ground at constant speed the car just cruises along in 6th gear as it would if you weren't pulling anything.

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

Mine is the 3 litre. Bought it just before the new model came out. Would have preferred the 2.8 as it is quieter and suppose to have better fuel economy and more power.
I dont see the need to put it in manual as it handles quiet well in auto. When towing, It drops down a gear as it needs it. Sitting on approx 90kph the revs sit on approx 2000 going up a slight incline it will drop down a gear and revs at 2300 to 2600rpms only when going up a steeper hill it does it drop another gear and can rev up to 3000rpms. I have never used the manual (except off road in the sand) but dont know if this is the correct thing to do.

Unfortunately you will eventually cook your gearbox towing in D. Toyota specify this so you will have no warranty if it happens. This has been extensively discussed on the forum, have a look here for starters http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...g+lock+gearbox

[JohnC80 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JohnC80]

What boat do you have? I have a 6m Haines rated at 2t on the plate. With fuel , gear etc it is closer to 2.3t. I tow it with the new 2.8. I've only done short trips so far but tows it really well and fuel economy is great. I tow in 4th and sit on about 90 - 95 on the highway. Previous car was a 4.2 tdi patrol. Prado is a better tow vehicle apart from when you hit a bump and you can feel the boat move the car. This never happened in the patrol probably due to the weight of it.

[Turbo Piston Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Turbo Piston]

Unfortunately you will eventually cook your gearbox towing in D. Toyota specify this so you will have no warranty if it happens. This has been extensively discussed on the forum, have a look here for starters http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...g+lock+gearbox

Great, good read, thank you!

[Turbo Piston Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Turbo Piston]

What boat do you have? I have a 6m Haines rated at 2t on the plate. With fuel , gear etc it is closer to 2.3t. I tow it with the new 2.8. I've only done short trips so far but tows it really well and fuel economy is great. I tow in 4th and sit on about 90 - 95 on the highway. Previous car was a 4.2 tdi patrol. Prado is a better tow vehicle apart from when you hit a bump and you can feel the boat move the car. This never happened in the patrol probably due to the weight of it.

I have a Seafarer 6.0 Victory. What Haines do you have? Have you taken it to the weigh bridge?

[JohnC80 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JohnC80]

600f. I haven't weighed mine but a mate with the same boat has and it's over 2t. If yours a fry built boat it certainly would be heavy as you described. Where are you. I'm sunny coast if you wanna do a test drive.

[K & M McF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close K & M McF]

Of course a 2+ tonne boat is going to slow you up going up a hill. It also depends on the hill, so hard to provide advice without knowing how steep it is. In any case, the towing rating of a car does not really relate to how well it will pull a boat (etc) but how well it will stop when it has to. Personally, I do not care how slow the combination is going up a hill, but how quick it will stop, especially coming down the hill.

By the way, my 90 series 3.4 tows my 2 tonne boat well, but coming up Mount Ousley from Wollongong really slows it down. But this is not the steepest part of the Princes Highway as the hill past Picton Road is even slower. However, these are very steep hills and I am not sure if this is the sort you are talking about.

[Turbo Piston Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Turbo Piston]

Ok so Mount Ousley I definitely slow down to around 60 KmH and I stay on the truck lane. I have no problem being slow like I said before, I just thought I would be able to pull a bit quicker if I had to. So that's why I was wondering if maybe my car is a little under powered.

[Turbo Piston Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Turbo Piston]

600f. I haven't weighed mine but a mate with the same boat has and it's over 2t. If yours a fry built boat it certainly would be heavy as you described. Where are you. I'm sunny coast if you wanna do a test drive.

Yes it is a Fry boat

I am in Sydney unfortunately!