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Posted

Have recently bought a 300 series landcruiser. Was towing a 2 tonne van with a prado before this. In the Prado manual it was stipulated that you have to lock the transmission in 4th gear to stop transmission from hunting through overdrive gears 5 and 6. I haven't found any information about this with regard to the 300 series. Does anyone have any information on this?

  • 3 months later...

Posted

Good practice to tow in 4th. Lots of information on the now defunct LCCOL forum

but everyone was in agreement about towing in 4th. I have done this towing a 3.5t

rated van. Fuel consumption is so similar it is not an issue. It is more about getting 

the engine spinning. New diesel like to spin as opposed to chug along like the old

style ones. Proof for me was when I had the ECU remapped and installed a lockup

kit. Whilst the car was happy to hold 5th and 6th - extra power and locked - the

EGTs were telling a different story. Towing in 4ht at a GPS 90 - 95 kph turned out

to be the best combination for forward progress and fuel consumption.

  • 7 months later...
Posted (edited)

No replies ... but let the computer figure things out. With 10 speeds manually holding gears makes no sense. If the vehicle runs at higher revs it will typically use more fuel. But the extra fuel cost is probably mitigated by less wear on the transmission. I suspect Toyota did not put paddle gears on the steering wheel because they did not want people chasing fuel economy and playing with the gears. And using a 300 to two what the Prado could handle, is an easy job for the 300. You should be getting better fuel consumption IMO.

I looking at a LC instead of my D4 LR - although I make keep the D4 as its incredible and I love it. But I fear a breakdown happening somewhere in the far West and being stuck out there with a van and the vehicle half a continent away. I have not had a beak down ever though! (I do have other Toyotas too). But the D4 recognises there is a trailer attached, by checking the rear trailer light plug when one indicates to the right. When there one indicates, a trailer icon appears, and the vehicle recognises its towing, and hence this effects various components such as the gearbox.

I find it bewildering that the LC 300 doesn't let the driver know that it realises there is a trailer attached. And maybe the 300 doesn't even know? Even my 10 year old 8 speed ZF transmission learns how the driver operates the vehicle. My D4 has paddle shifts, and keeping it in top gear - 8th - I reduce the fuel consumption from 17 to 15.4. Just one gear. But doing so puts more strain on that top gear. Wise? I suspect its not smart to do that.

Transmissions learn and have driving modes. But how can a transmission learn if one tows for 1,500 km, and then uncouples and goes shopping without the caravan attached? It seems crazy to me for a vehicle which for Australia is often sold for the purpose of towing a trailer weighing a couple of tonne. 

Edited by Melbourne Park

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