Trailer Towing

[BobbyB]

I currently have an RX300 and am thinking of moving up to the GX470 partially for trailer towing capabilities. I have a 27' pontoon boat which with trailer weight is about 4,750 lbs. The question I have is what are peoples experiences with trailering that weight, and with trailering that length boat (or other trailerable equipment). Thank you in advance.

[Cookeze]

I tow a 5500 lb travel trailer with a 2005 GX470. I think it does a very good job compared to my 2000 Yukon. I get an average of 10 mpg and have reasonable acceleration under load. The back-up camera is great for hitching up!!

[jsantos615]

Hello,

To answer your question, if you have the right hitch (class III), it will handle that load with no problem. Just make sure that you have tires that will handle the load and that you keep your GX (or any other tow vehicle for that matter) properly aligned.

I tow my boat with my GX 470. It's a 24' Supra Wakeboard boat that weighs more than 5000 pounds with trailer. A who friend trailers his 22' Mailbu with a 2007 Suburban was riding to a lake party with me and we had my boat in tow; he kept commenting on how well the GX rode, even with a large boat in tow.

As for the length of the GX+Trailer, the relatively small turning radius of the GX is great! I used to trailer a smaller boat with my Dad's old GMC Sierra 3500 Dually Pickup Truck and it was tough to back into certain launch ramps because of the large turning radius of the truck. Also, you may have an issue with the length of the trailer and some launch ramp angles. Since your rig will be pretty long, you may exceed the length of the ramp you're on and the trailer tires may drop when you run out of concrete. If the boat ramp has algae growing on it, you may start slipping when tires leave the ramp, since prop wash tends to dig-out the lake bed at the end of the ramp. To minimize slipping or other boat ramp surprises, set your GX's leveling system to "low" and drop your GX into low gear (this will keep your tires from spinning if you have a heavy load and hit the gas quickly, that way you won't be

or

.

There are more towing comments in this thread.

Happy towing!

-joe

[hobiemon]

We just completed a 3 1/2 month, 18,000 mile trip with a 2004 GX470 towing a 5000 lb +,- Airstream. I had self installed a Lexus hitch before we left using downloaded instructions from one of the dealers, this was very easy if you follow the instructions. We had a 1999 GMC Yukon previously for towing and was apprehensive when we left towing with the Lexus. After the first big and long hill and the Lexus outperforming the GMC by a long shot, I was put to ease. The only thing that passed me on the hill was a very large new 1 ton Dodge deisel pulling almost the exact trailer. This did not bother me as we were going 55 mph up the hill anyway. In 18,000 miles we had one slow leak in the tire from a nail, which we caught 5 minutes from the tire dealer as we were alerted by the tire moniter system. After that we probably put 5 lbs of air in total between the trailer and the Lexus. We did 2 oil changes,( the first was due early on in the trip anyways) and one air filter change in El Paso before we started into the hills to let her breathe a little better. This was the total maintanance on the whole trip. We averaged 13 mpg which I thought was not bad considering the speeds that we used. There was no problem keeping up with the 65 and 75 mph on the freeways. Side winds and cross winds were not a problem with either the trailer or Lexus. We have a wieght distributing hitch which left the SUV and trailer extremly level and had no problems with sway from the trailer( this is an airstream with tandem axles other trailers may differ). I did find however that the Lexus performed better with the ride set to sport as the original tires of the Lexus are only 2 ply sidewalls and are a little soft for towing giving the Lexus a side to side rock but it tracked very straight. This will be my only change when I replace the tires, I will go to a heavier sidewall. We did this on the Yukon as well and it made a world of difference. It drives a little stiffer when not towing but I prefer this type of ride anyway. This is just my personal preference. I use the ride adjustment all the time depending on the road conditions and find that it works well. Even my wife notices and that my friends is amazing......We are going to have the Lexus sit for a while to let the time catch up to the mileage but will not hesitate to replace the Lexus with another one down the road. If anyone had any questions regarding any other details that you might be interested in please contact me through the forum. I hope this helps anyone thinking of using the GX470 for towing. I won't hesitate again using mine.... B)

[strindl]

We just completed a 3 1/2 month, 18,000 mile trip with a 2004 GX470 towing a 5000 lb +,- Airstream.

I am curious if you used regular or premium fuel while pulling that trailer, and if you noticed a difference if you used premium. I've tried premium around town and have never noticed my 2004 running any different. My only thought was there may be an advantage to premium if you are towing a trailer..especially in the mountains.

[mike81456]

On 11/3/2007 at 10:34 AM, hobiemon said:

We just completed a 3 1/2 month, 18,000 mile trip with a 2004 GX470 towing a 5000 lb +,- Airstream. I had self installed a Lexus hitch before we left using downloaded instructions from one of the dealers, this was very easy if you follow the instructions. We had a 1999 GMC Yukon previously for towing and was apprehensive when we left towing with the Lexus. After the first big and long hill and the Lexus outperforming the GMC by a long shot, I was put to ease. The only thing that passed me on the hill was a very large new 1 ton Dodge deisel pulling almost the exact trailer. This did not bother me as we were going 55 mph up the hill anyway. In 18,000 miles we had one slow leak in the tire from a nail, which we caught 5 minutes from the tire dealer as we were alerted by the tire moniter system. After that we probably put 5 lbs of air in total between the trailer and the Lexus. We did 2 oil changes,( the first was due early on in the trip anyways) and one air filter change in El Paso before we started into the hills to let her breathe a little better. This was the total maintanance on the whole trip. We averaged 13 mpg which I thought was not bad considering the speeds that we used. There was no problem keeping up with the 65 and 75 mph on the freeways. Side winds and cross winds were not a problem with either the trailer or Lexus. We have a wieght distributing hitch which left the SUV and trailer extremly level and had no problems with sway from the trailer( this is an airstream with tandem axles other trailers may differ). I did find however that the Lexus performed better with the ride set to sport as the original tires of the Lexus are only 2 ply sidewalls and are a little soft for towing giving the Lexus a side to side rock but it tracked very straight. This will be my only change when I replace the tires, I will go to a heavier sidewall. We did this on the Yukon as well and it made a world of difference. It drives a little stiffer when not towing but I prefer this type of ride anyway. This is just my personal preference. I use the ride adjustment all the time depending on the road conditions and find that it works well. Even my wife notices and that my friends is amazing......We are going to have the Lexus sit for a while to let the time catch up to the mileage but will not hesitate to replace the Lexus with another one down the road. If anyone had any questions regarding any other details that you might be interested in please contact me through the forum. I hope this helps anyone thinking of using the GX470 for towing. I won't hesitate again using mine.... B)

You said you were pulling an Airstream weighing about 5000 lbs.   Is 5000lbs the unloaded weight?   I just purchased a trailer that weights 5100 lbs unloaded and I am wondering if I bump up to 6000 lbs with a load if it will handle pulling