Running high RPMs for long periods

[SailorSam]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Not running at Redline
Oil pressure good/steady
Cooling temps good, not overheating

Enjoy your camping trips


Increase your oil/filter changes
Check transmission fluids ....change earlier then routine schedule

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

This.

Dave

Recently built vehicles are designed to run 200k+ miles - IF PROPERLY MAINTAINED. Use the recommendations for heavy use schedules.

[glenthompson]

I have a 2013 Highlander with the factory tow package. It has 140k miles. Only thing I’ve towed is a car on an open trailer. Total weight about 4,500. Similar issues with needing to run in 3rd or 4th gear most of the time. I also used to live in a mountain community that required high RPMs going up and down the mountain. No problems. Just drive it and heed the recommendations for frequent oil and transmission fluid changes.

[jrlopez]

What type of fuel are you using in your Highlander? I am towing a 3500 lb TrailManor TT with my 2012 Highlander that is equipped pretty much equal to your vehicle and I'm not seeing anything like what you are reporting. The difference may be that I only use Premium 91 - 92 octane gasoline when I'm towing. I can cruse at 65 - 67 mph in drive on relatively flat ground with more or less gentile hills. Going up 5 - 6 % grades I use 4th gear while climbing and going down hill. I only use 3rd gear when going up or down a 6 - 8% grade.



This is the experience I have had on several 1,100 mi. trips between Aspendell California at 8,500 ft to Nanaimo Vancouver Island Canada at 300 ft.. You can't make this trip without crossing the Sierra Nevada's several times over.



You may think that paying for Premium as opposed to regular gas is a prohibitive solution but I can tell you from my experience that the difference is like night and day. Your vehicle and engine will thank you for it by acting like the vehicle you are expecting it to be and your stress level will drop by 200%. You'll also get much better gas mileage to boot. It's not going to be like not towing but it won't be as dismal as you may be getting now. Try it and let us know if it makes a difference.

[2pilgrims]

I have a 2012Toyota go cruiser and towed a 2500 lb maybe closer to 3000lb loaded to Alaska and back about 21000 miles no problem. That was in 2012 it now has 185 thousand miles and still runs great. I ran 1 gear down as recomended in owners book. I changed the oil at 8k instead of 10k with Toyota 0/20 oil. The fj never over heated even while climbing 10000 foot pass with AC running. Did you weigh your trailer? That makes a big difference. I was aiming for half the suggested weight knowing it was gonna make the engine work hard.
Our trailer was all aluminum and 15 ft. Made in Quebec name is Alto. Great rig for such a trip.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by jrlopez

What type of fuel are you using in your Highlander? I am towing a 3500 lb TrailManor TT with my 2012 Highlander that is equipped pretty much equal to your vehicle and I'm not seeing anything like what you are reporting. The difference may be that I only use Premium 91 - 92 octane gasoline when I'm towing. I can cruse at 65 - 67 mph in drive on relatively flat ground with more or less gentile hills. Going up 5 - 6 % grades I use 4th gear while climbing and going down hill. I only use 3rd gear when going up or down a 6 - 8% grade.



This is the experience I have had on several 1,100 mi. trips between Aspendell California at 8,500 ft to Nanaimo Vancouver Island Canada at 300 ft.. You can't make this trip without crossing the Sierra Nevada's several times over.



You may think that paying for Premium as opposed to regular gas is a prohibitive solution but I can tell you from my experience that the difference is like night and day. Your vehicle and engine will thank you for it by acting like the vehicle you are expecting it to be and your stress level will drop by 200%. You'll also get much better gas mileage to boot. It's not going to be like not towing but it won't be as dismal as you may be getting now. Try it and let us know if it makes a difference.

FWIW, the higher the altitude, the lower the octane level required due to thinner air. You'll find 85 octane at the pumps at higher altitude locations and I've used that without issue hauling uphill with my truck.

[PhilAndTee]

I can tell you our experience doing this. Not with a Toyota, but with a 2013 Ford Explorer v6. 290 hp 255 ft lbs torque. We towed a 5000 lbs trailer.
It towed really well, initially.
We drove from Florida to the SW, the NW, South Dakota and back to the NW.
At this point I would estimate it lost between 50 and 75 horsepower.
Going up hills, going in headwinds, it had to rev. I changed oil frequently with synthetic oil and quality filters. It jist wore it out. The more you rev and the more pressure you put on it, the faster it will wear.
It would also argue the diesel vs gas stroke being so different that revving a gas engine is the same as a diesel turning at low speed.
We replaced the Explorer with a GMC Duramax 6.6l diesel. At 75 mph we see about 1600 to 1700 rpms. Even on relatively large grades it doesn't hit 2000 rpms.
The Cummins stroke is considerably longer than the Toyota, but the Duramax is only about .6 inches longer. At 1700 rpms, that doesn't give the v6 much revving room at the same piston speed.
Anyway, the harder you run an engine, the faster it will wear.
Just my experience.

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by jrlopez

What type of fuel are you using in your Highlander? I am towing a 3500 lb TrailManor TT with my 2012 Highlander that is equipped pretty much equal to your vehicle and I'm not seeing anything like what you are reporting. The difference may be that I only use Premium 91 - 92 octane gasoline when I'm towing. I can cruse at 65 - 67 mph in drive on relatively flat ground with more or less gentile hills. Going up 5 - 6 % grades I use 4th gear while climbing and going down hill. I only use 3rd gear when going up or down a 6 - 8% grade.



This is the experience I have had on several 1,100 mi. trips between Aspendell California at 8,500 ft to Nanaimo Vancouver Island Canada at 300 ft.. You can't make this trip without crossing the Sierra Nevada's several times over.



You may think that paying for Premium as opposed to regular gas is a prohibitive solution but I can tell you from my experience that the difference is like night and day. Your vehicle and engine will thank you for it by acting like the vehicle you are expecting it to be and your stress level will drop by 200%. You'll also get much better gas mileage to boot. It's not going to be like not towing but it won't be as dismal as you may be getting now. Try it and let us know if it makes a difference.

I've used 89, 90, and 91 octane while traveling out west because I didn't want to use the 85 octane crap that they sell as "regular" out there. At times I got slightly better gas mileage (maybe 0.5 to 1.0 mpg), but that may have been because some of that was non-ethanol gas. Otherwise I didn't see any real difference in performance. I think the reason you see better performance is because you are towing a trailmanor, which has much less frontal area than a typical TT.

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by 2pilgrims

I have a 2012Toyota go cruiser and towed a 2500 lb maybe closer to 3000lb loaded to Alaska and back about 21000 miles no problem. That was in 2012 it now has 185 thousand miles and still runs great. I ran 1 gear down as recomended in owners book. I changed the oil at 8k instead of 10k with Toyota 0/20 oil. The fj never over heated even while climbing 10000 foot pass with AC running. Did you weigh your trailer? That makes a big difference. I was aiming for half the suggested weight knowing it was gonna make the engine work hard.
Our trailer was all aluminum and 15 ft. Made in Quebec name is Alto. Great rig for such a trip.

I haven't weighed it, but I always travel long distances with the tanks empty. It also doesn't have a lot of storage space, so I'm pretty sure I'm not over the GVWR. So if I were at GVWR, that would be 2/3 of the Highlander's rated towing capacity.

[Steve Rankin]

Ditto.


The 2010 Toyota Highlander is a crossover, meaning that it is a car with an SUV body instead of a sedan body. More specifically, the Highlander is build on a Camry platform.



As a result, It should be obvious that the Highlander was intended to do serious work like a truck. Certainly, the radiator opening is larger and more upright so air flow through the radiator may be better, and it is possible that the cooling of the transmission is also better, but it still nothing like a truck that was intended to tow a trailer. Another factor that is involved is the wheelbase - short wheelbase SUVs are not as stable as long wheelbase trucks.



One of the more unfortunate facts is that most auto makers only spec a max GVW for their tow ratings while ignoring the other factors that affect a tow vehicle's ability. OTOH, Ford publishes a very informative booklet "RV & Trailer Towing Guide". Follow the link to the 2010 issue. I believe the Ford Edge is the closest equivalent to the Toyota Highlander. Both are cross-over SUVs with 3.5L V6 engines. The Edge max trailer GVW rating is a much more modest and practical 3,500#. But, it's the maximum frontal square area that truly demonstrates the limited abiliy of the medium cross-over SUV; only 25 sq ft. That would be an 8' wide x 3' high tent trailer.



Nineteen years ago we bought an 18' travel trailer to tow behind our 1998 Lexus LX470 (aka Land Cruiser) with a 4.7L V8 and 5,000# tow rating. I drove the trailer around the block once. It was awful, so we traded for a K2500 Suburban 454. So much better, but before we took our run to Alaska that summer, we traded the 'Burb for an F350.



I'd like to compare a Highlander to my wife's 2010 Ram 1500. I have little doubt that the 5.7L V8 Hemi is better suited for towing than the Toyota's 3.5L V6. Ditto for the truck frame, larger brakes & 20" wheels, the Ram's 3.73 axle ratio vs the Highlander's 3.48, etc. Yet, the Ram is only rated for a 7,500# trailer; not much heavier than the Highlander. OTOH, our 2019 Ram 3500 is rated for a 24,870# trailer and tows our 15,000# 5th wheel with ease and grace.



One of the key differences is that her Ram is "designed to tow" which is quite different from "allowed to tow", which results in a conservative tow rating because the manufacturer expects buyers to actually tow trailers with it.



Service life of engine & transmission. It should be obvious that an engine/transmission is capable of doing X amount of work before being worn out. Treat it gently and it will last longer than if you work it hard. If you take a 4000# SUV and tow a 5000# trailer you just increased the work needed to go up grades by 225%. But, aerodynamic loads are the big deal at highway speeds. Per my HP calculator, the bare SUV needs less than 30 HP to maintain 60 MPH. Add a 5,000# travel trailer that's 8' wide and 10' tall and we need about 90 HP - at least 3 times as much.



Everything suffers as a result. Fuel economy, engine life, transmission life.


Safety. Trailer sway is a real issue with travel trailers. Check out these videos of SUV's towing travel trailers

here

and

here

.

[Wellibe]

Thanks for the info, Steve. Pretty much agree with everything you said.

I will note though, that I've had zero issues with stability. It's a fairly short, tongue-heavy trailer, and I'm using an Equalizer WDH. Even in stiff sidewinds, I'm not getting any sway. Of course with a unibody vehicle, I'm very careful to disengage the spring bars before going over big dips or sharp changes in grade (or just avoid those situations if possible).

[portjon]

I towed a 6000 pound tt with a 04 V8 tundra, it struggled on hills and got 9 mpg instead of14.4 got a05 chev 2500hd with a 6.0 gas tows it very good and gets 10 mpg ,loaded or empty. It's a real gas hog but does the job

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by Wellibe

Thanks for the info, Steve. Pretty much agree with everything you said.

I will note though, that I've had zero issues with stability. It's a fairly short, tongue-heavy trailer, and I'm using an Equalizer WDH. Even in stiff sidewinds, I'm not getting any sway. Of course with a unibody vehicle, I'm very careful to disengage the spring bars before going over big dips or sharp changes in grade (or just avoid those situations if possible).

You better check your manual as to using a WDH on this. I had one of those Highlanders on the lift last week. The hitch is not braced very far inboard and this is a weak unibody design.

[Gary Miller]

There is no law that you have to maintain highway speed, especially when towing a trailer. Sometimes it is best to place the transmission into the lower gear and slow down so you're not rapping the engine up so much. Your transmission trying to shift back and forth between 3rd and 4th is a good clue that it is one of those times to place it in third and back off on the fuel so your not rapping out the engine.

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by kdauto

You better check your manual as to using a WDH on this. I had one of those Highlanders on the lift last week. The hitch is not braced very far inboard and this is a weak unibody design.

The manual says nothing about using a WDH, either for or against. I've seen on the interwebs where Highlander owners have asked Toyota whether they should or shouldn't use a WDH and have gotten conflicting answers. Personally, I don't think you can get anywhere near the 500 lb tongue weight rating without it. Your headlights would be pointing up at the sky. Of course you need to drive like you have some sense - don't go off-roading or anything like that. I disengage the bars before I back up my driveway, which is angled up moderately steeply from the street.