Smell After Towing?

[socrates50]

Greetings all! Okay, we tow a 23' travel trailer with our '06 GX470, trailer weighs in around 4K lbs., we use a W/D hitch with anti-sway (Equalizer brand). Tows great, no problems except--after we tow, and as soon as we pull into the campground we notice a "burning" smell that seems to come from the wheel wells. It goes away quickly after a couple of minutes. We also tow with a Prodigy brake controller for the electric brakes on the trailer.

The car has about 95K miles on it, I had the 90K big service done at around 87K and keep the oil changed. The transmission fluid has never been changed (mechanic said not to due to the "sealed" system). Should I go ahead and get the fluid changed? The car has only been used for towing for about 10K miles, before that it was just a family sedan.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks.

[lenore]

Towing with trailer, definetly get the tranny fluid changed....it is required. There is no such thing as lifetime fluid....You might also want them to drop the pan and change filter while doing it. Make sure to use correct fluid for the vehicle (very important.) Note also you may have an issue with prodigy not being set up correctly or the trailer brakes need adjustment...Read the prodigy booklet carefully because I was making a mistake when I adjusted mine. I tow a 4600 lb trailer with a Ford f150. I found on the last check my trailer brakes themselves were not adjusted properply....Two important things to look at.

[xxstewart]

Are you saying the smell is coming from the GX wheel wells or the trailer wheel wells? If the GX, are you a left-foot braker that uses the brake pedal for a foot rest? Do you always brake on long downhills, or do you downshift? Are your wheel rims hot when you touch them?

[socrates50]

xxstewart--the smell is coming from the GX wheel wells. No, I'm not a left-footer, and I haven't really done any long downhills with the trailer. As for the rims, I didn't think to touch those.

[ToolRod]

There are U-Tube Videos on E-Trailer that offer advice on how to properly adjust your Prodigy so that it is correctly applying the voltage to the Trailer's brakes. I notice that if I do not adjust the Prodigy braking level up correctly, the Lexus brakes carry a little too much of the load and tend to smell hot after towing. A few things I do are 1) use the owner manual recommended "4" gear selector when towing instead of "D." 2) Also make sure the prodigy is properly set per the video demonstrations. 3) It is obvious but leave plenty of room for stopping with less brake pressure. 4) I have also had my rotors turned because I did seem to glaze them after a few hard stops with the full trailer being towed. The rotors were not worn significantly nor were the brake pads. However, the rotors had a glaze due to the heat which was removed by turning a very small amount of the surface off. After the slight rotor turning, the brake feel and effectiveness returned to as new so I am very careful to go easy on the brakes as much as possible when towing.