Piranha Posted August 24, 2003 Posted August 24, 2003 im thinking of getting a boat for fishing. the max i can tow with my 1995 is 2000lbs. my boat will most likely weigh 1500-1700lbs with the trailer and motor. no problem with weight. i need to get a hitch. anyone know where i can get a cheap reliable trailer hitch installed?
SW03ES Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 Are you sure its 2000 pounds? I thought the max for all Lexus cars was 1000.
SW03ES Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 Heh, suppose I heard wrong. I'd go check mine, but its out in the car lol. You can actually get a decent hitch at UHaul, they'll install it and everything.
steviej Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 the 02 manual says 2000 lbs, too. I personally wouldn't do it. If you do it, think about an additional tranny cooler and an oil cooler for the increase heat build up due to the added stress. Dont' forget to figure in the weight of gas and gear to the total weight (boat, motor, and trailer). Gas is about 6.5 lbs/gallon. Keep your tongue weight under 200 lbs. If the car has a sunroof, keep in mind this decreases the cars structural integrity, but the manual does say towing is considered. good luck and stay in the slow lane when towing cause you will have definately maxed out you power availability. steviej
SW03ES Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 My opinion is also don't do it, but I was going to keep quiet lol. You also have to keep in mind that the ES is a unibody vehicle, not a full frame like an SUV or a truck, or even a Lincoln Town Car. When you tow with one of these vehicles the stress is spread out all through the frame. A car like an ES is not good for towing because the force is regulated to the area of the unit body the towing occurs from, the direct rear. The car's just not designed for it. I'd reccomend that if you forsee towing as an important need you consider getting into another vehicle. Even an RX300 is no good for towing because its a unitbody.
Piranha Posted August 25, 2003 Author Posted August 25, 2003 yep but i aint got no truck. my friend does whose comin with me to canada next year but its an old 88 dakota (dodge sucks) and it over heats with its own weight. so we need to use my car.
SW03ES Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 I dont know how much better the Lexus will do lol. I'd try Uhaul for a hitch though.
SKperformance Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 the qway the es tranny's are go and rent something it won't take the stress for very long
amanda Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 sorry to disrupt your thread, piranah. i have some questions regarding wind noise for skperformance, so please disregard my posting in realtion to the towing topic. skperformance -- i've found some threads regarding the wind noise trouble with your es300. i bought silicone dressing in a bottle instead of the tire endurance stuff for the rubber around my windows. do you think the tire endurance stuff is much different somehow from what i've purchased? also, you mentioned realigning the window yourself. can you give me some insight into how difficult this might be? thanks so much. i go nuts everytime i am on the highway and the wind starts rushing.
SpeedRacer959 Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 Amanda, You can PM people by cliking "PM" at the lower left of the person you want to send a Personal Message...but it's cool to post when you don't know, so fergettaboutit! :) Unless you are mechanically gifted, I would not attempt to adjust your windows yourself. You can break clips etc. and the Lexus quality may not be the same when your finished. If you choose to do it, then you'll need to remove all the visible clips around the door then slide a thin plastic or metal object (butter knife might work) just under the front side of your electric window switch to pop out the electric panel. You'll put the knife just in front of the wood, not the switch itself. After you get that off w/out breaking it (good luck) you'll see a large gold screw that you'll need to remove. From there, you'll just need to pull real hard all around the outer perimeter of the door panel to break free all the pressure clips that hold the door panel on. Then just wiggle up the panel back and forth until it comes off. I've never done this part.....from there you should see some screws or bolts that adjust the sway of your window...play with them until you get the desired result. Also, yes tire dressing of any kind will work...some better than others. Also some leave more residue than others. Back to the post.......... You can find a hitch like I did for my car...It's a drawtight hidden hitch for right around $100 shipped. go here to buy the hitch. http://search.cartserver.com/search/search...+ES300&GO=GO%21
SpeedRacer959 Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 PS.. It just bolts on too...took me 15 min. to install
ellieoh Posted August 25, 2003 Posted August 25, 2003 I have been towing a trailer with my 1994 ES300 for many years & over 75,000 miles without any problem, the trailer and contents weigh close to the 2000 maximum. The gas milegae sucks when towing. Regards David
Piranha Posted August 25, 2003 Author Posted August 25, 2003 thanks for the hitch recomendation. about how bad is the mileage running on regular 87 octane
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