Towing With The Gx & The Lx

[Gene Williams]

I am curious if anyone has actually towed a heavy load with both of these vehicles. I have a boat that is 5000lbs which is the towing limit of both of these vehicles and I tow on a regular basis. Is this to much for this transmission? Can it handle more? I love the Lexus but do I need to look a truck instead? I would hate to spend the money on a nice vehicle such as these and ruin it.

[Reggie]

I am curious if anyone has actually towed a heavy load with both of these vehicles. I have a boat that is 5000lbs which is the towing limit of both of these vehicles and I tow on a regular basis. Is this to much for this transmission? Can it handle more? I love the Lexus but do I need to look a truck instead? I would hate to spend the money on a nice vehicle such as these and ruin it.

I tow a two-horse trailer about twice a week with my 2004 GX470.

My previous tow vehicle was a 3/4 ton Chevy Suburban with a 7.4 liter V8. It was a wonderful tow vehicle. It got 10.5 miles per gallon with or without the trailer. Sometimes, unless you looked in the rearview mirror, you forgot the trailer and the horses were there. Long upward grades on the interstate were taken without the transmission kicking out of overdrive. The Suburban also seated 11 - I equipped it with a center front seat, and an aftermarket rear-facing seat for two additional passengers. That was so I could take my office staff of 10, plus me, out to lunch every Friday.

Then I retired. No need for the seating capacity. Just needed room for tack and such for the horses. I had to buy the Lexus with 3rd row seats, but they came out and are stored in my attic until trade-in time.

With the Lexus, I definitely know the trailer is behind me. The Lexus downshifts to fourth gear, and sometimes to third, to maintain speed on the same grades the 454 Suburban handled in 5th gear. Gas mileage when I'm towing the trailer is about 11 mpg versus 20-plus without the trailer. Also, there is a really worrisome vibration with the Lexus when towing in the 30 to 40 mph range. It disappears at 40.

I also find that the Lexus, with its shorter wheelbase, makes backing the trailer a little more difficult.

So far I've had no mechanical problems, just the usual hard shifting and clunking that are the subject of Lexus technical service bulletins.

Would I trade the Suburban in for the Lexus if I had it to do over? If city driving interspersed with twice weekly towing was my main function, probably not. The Suburban was paid for, and even at current gasoline prices, the break even point would be several years ahead.

Where the Lexus excels, however, is in 4wd low off road. I tow the horses to foxhunt. The rest of the week I'm off road, driving deep into the woods to finally hike in and clear trails. I'll bet I'm one of an extremely small percentage of GX owners who have ever used 4wd low, let alone use it 3 to 4 times a week. What sets my Lexus apart from the those driven by the cell phone talking soccer moms in my community are manure stains on the floor mats, Georgia red clay in the wheel wells, and the series of long scratches along its sides from driving through heavy underbrush. The Lexus engineers really set up the vehicle to off-road well. It's too bad most owners will never even try this expensive feature, or know what DAC does.

Another real benefit of the Lexus lies with the reverse camera. It makes it a snap to hook up the trailer!

[bree]

I can answer your question from two perspectives--1. I own 4 trailer and trailer hitch centers and 2. I have owned an LX 470 for 5 years and we are now replacing it after 143000 miles--with lots of towing of our 3800 lb boat/trailer combo. Our new car is a GX but I can't haven't towed with it yet.

The LX was the best tow vehicle I have owned. It rode much more comfortably towing than did our 1997 Expedition that it replaced in 2001.

Some cautions on towing and vehicle wear. Its usually the transmission that takes the brunt of towing wear and tear. Most vehicles with tow packages come with a factory installed transmission cooler. If you don't have one, get one.

Also you can increase your towing capacity and the ease by which your vehicle handles towing with an equalizer hitch. In most cities, there will be one or two trailer hitch specialists. Avoid a smaller company who does just a few hitch installs. Equalizer hitches are a bit of a specialty install. NOt too difficult but you want to buy it from someone who has installed several. If you are close to the vehicle towing limit and you tow frequently its worth the investment.