Towing a caravan

[paulnanrod]

Hi I’ve read a couple of things about possibly needing a secondary cooler for towing. I’ve got a caravan (mtplm approx 1500kg) that has seen too much of the storage over the last year, so when we can get it out have plans of using the land cruiser to tow it. Mainly an hour or two of towing, with the odd long trip and usually an annual trip to the south/west of France.

is it necessary to have a secondary cooler fitted?
Thanks

 

[Grimbo]

I would think the standard cooler is well up to the job .... towing on the road is not going to stress it much .
Some fit a cooler to remove the water cooled trans cooler in the bottom of the rad from the circuit as if this leaks it can put water into the gearbox ....having said that I'm not sure 120's have this or are prone to failure ....too modern for me ;-)

 

[Higgy]

I use to haul Tri axle trailers around with my 120 (lc5).... No trouble at all, Everything standard..... Most 4x4s are capable of hauling trailers/Caravans etc without drastic mods..

 

[Juddian]

As above, can't see any need for additional cooling, unless you tow in extreme heat up into hilly areas when in the hot zones.
It does make sense though to make sure the transmission oils are up to spec, maybe if you haven't changed the transmission oils in some time do that once the weather breaks?

Given the lunatics in charge of the asylum presently don't make too concrete your plans for escape, nothing this lot like better than proving to us plebs just how powerful they are and how insignificant we are, who knows when, if, things will ever get back to normal.

 

[paulnanrod]

No - problem. I’d just read a few things online about it so wasn’t sure if it was something that needed to be done, but doesn’t sound it. At most it will be in France in early-mid 30s but no great inclines, and we’ll be travelling at a pace that we can stop for a while if needed.

yes, juddian. All booked for full service including fluids etc when my mechanic has availability, for peace of mind. and yes - we have booked a site for the summer near Bordeaux, but also have a plan b in case we can’t get on the euro tunnel

 

[Graham]

Our 120 didn't have any additional coolers fitted, and behaved just fine, towing in the hot 40 deg Spanish and Morroco sun.
Longer than an Eddie Stobart,
Caravan was around 1800kg

 

[Geoff 28]

I used to tow a 1900kg twin axle with my 120 with the standard transmission cooler set up ( in the bottom of the rad) and didn’t have any problems at all.
If you have the 5 speed box and just in case your mechanic isn’t fully clued up on cruisers, make sure he knows that the filler plug on the right hand side of the box is NOT a level plug.
This plug should be stamped WS (World Series) if so the box should only be refilled with the correct WS fluid from Toyota.
Totally agree about our vans seeing far too much of the storage compound by the way!!

 

[Juddian]

Good point Geoff about the level check on the 5 speed box, luckily there are a few good videos on the tube how to go about a fluid change and level checking.
Confess i didn't use the short circuiting of the OBD connections nor did i have Techstream working at the time, i used a laser thermometer to check the sump temp was thereabouts for level checking.
Didn't use Mr T's own fluid, instead bought 20 litres of full synth Dexron 6, which had WS listed.

 

[paulnanrod]

Thanks for everyone’s help

Those of you that tow caravans - does the boot door open much on the back? I’ve not our caravan on this car so haven’t checked it - too late if it doesn’t and I’m not changing the car!

also, I’ve got a 2007 LC4. Am I right in thinking that’s a 5 speed auto?

 

[Juddian]

Can't help you with the rear door, last time i pulled a caravan was with the 70 which had different sized barn doors.

Yes a 2007 should have the 5 speed.

 

[Tractionman]

Can't help either sorry, not towed with it yet due covid.
The two offset barn doors mentioned on the 70s, were great. Could always get narrow open and if truck was turned at the correct angle to caravan, could get wide open too.

 

[AdventureWagon]

Those of you that tow caravans - does the boot door open much on the back? I’ve not our caravan on this car so haven’t checked it - too late if it doesn’t and I’m not changing the car!

Not very far, especially if you have a taller hitch on the caravan. You can get an arm in and grab things OK but only will open about 9"-12" or so

 

[Tractionman]

Looks like Graham or Geoff could hold the definitive answer to the door question at present.

 

[Geoff 28]

I’m having to do a bit of head scratching here as I sold my 120 6 years ago but I think the door would just clear the hitch (Alko) and it was the jockey wheel stem that limited how far it would open so there was some limited access. I soon got used to leaving the odds and sods I needed where I could reach them!
It will all depend on the height of the tow ball and as Adventure Wagon said the type of hitch.
The 120 turned into a 100 so the split gate solved that problem and the rear camera is a real bonus.
My wife thought the camera would make her redundant when we hitched up but I told her to just carry on and I’d make her look really good!!
(she was anyway to be fair but it’s good for the brownie points!)

 

[Graham]

The side opening door of the 120 would catch the handle of the jockey wheel.
I used to take it off, by winding it clear of the road, then releasing the side clamp.
Then it lived in the front caravan locker.