Please tell us your Motivation

[MCDenny]

Just another comment on mfr's ratings. My RAV4 owners manual explictly states not to exceed 45 mph when towing. Who would think it imprudent to exceed that?

[841K9]

Originally Posted by avfn

I think i'm gonna get a transmission cooler as I heard that was supposedto help increase the towing capacity. do people agree?

It wouldn't change the capacity, but it would help your transmission last longer.

[841K9]

Originally Posted by 2wiresdave

In the event of an accident, is going over the ratings going to open you up to the liability

You bet.

[melissab]

Seriously? Is that a misprint? I'd call Toyota and ask them about it just to see what they say. That's crazy, lol! My Toyota Sienna's manual doesnt list a speed restriction.

Originally Posted by MCDenny

Just another comment on mfr's ratings. My RAV4 owners manual explictly states not to exceed 45 mph when towing. Who would think it imprudent to exceed that?

[841K9]

Originally Posted by MCDenny

Just another comment on mfr's ratings. My RAV4 owners manual explictly states not to exceed 45 mph when towing. Who would think it imprudent to exceed that?

That is... well.. strange.
Perhaps you should talk to your dealer.

I know my limit is 74mph- when the engine hits the governor.

[Alf S.]

Hi: All...My motivation for towing over the limit was MONEY!!! When we bought our Boler in '06 we owned the Ford Taurus Wagon w/ V6 Auto. Tow cap. listed 1250 lbs. Trailer axle rated at 1650 lbs. The wagon was also rated to carry 2000 lbs. of cargo so I subtracted the excess trailer weight from that as it only carried the two of us when towing. Still have that wagon but sold the Boler when we got our Escape 5.0.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[MC1]

Originally Posted by 841K9

I know my limit is 74mph- when the engine hits the governor.

Our TV has a speed limiter which is factory set at 151MPH but we try to keep our towing speed at around 40% of that...... to save fuel!

[cpaharley2008]

Hopefully they will standardize car tow ratings just like they did with trucks as discussed here:
J2807 | Woodall's Campgrounds, RV Blog and Family Camping Blog
this should save a lot of wasted server space holding these discussions.

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Hopefully they will standardize car tow ratings just like they did with trucks as discussed here:
J2807 | Woodall's Campgrounds, RV Blog and Family Camping Blog
this should save a lot of wasted server space holding these discussions.

What makes you think that will change anything?

[MCDenny]

Originally Posted by melissab

Seriously? Is that a misprint? I'd call Toyota and ask them about it just to see what they say. That's crazy, lol! My Toyota Sienna's manual doesnt list a speed restriction.

I just checked - it says not to exceed 45 mph twice in a yellow caution box. No misprint and I doubt a Toyota customer service person will say to ignore the yellow safety notice in the owners manual. This is a 2007 RAV4.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by MCDenny

I just checked - it says not to exceed 45 mph twice in a yellow caution box. No misprint and I doubt a Toyota customer service person will say to ignore the yellow safety notice in the owners manual. This is a 2007 RAV4.

My UHaul manual says 45 mph maximum also.

Any faster, certain death!

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

I agree with all of the above reasons stated for exceeding a vehicles tow rating. After all, consider tow loads experienced by our parents or grandparents in the 20's, 30's, 40's, and even into the fifties with vehicles having less than 100 hp and very anemic brakes.
But as mentioned in an earlier post, the real issue today is liability. Standing in front of a court room team of lawyers attempting to prove you know better than the manufacturers would prove to be a humiliating experience.

[DannyH]

We originally had our TV when we bought our trailer. It stated in the manual that with trailer brakes we could tow 2000# and still have 500# or so for the passengers and stuff in the TV. I figured that with a 13-foot scamp that wouldn’t be a problem, but was surprised when it weighed in at 1950# at one of the meets. That was fully loaded with our stuff and food, but we are right at the max for towing. Knowing that, I wanted to make sure that we were OK and found through internet research that we have an additional built in transmission and oil cooler right behind the radiator. To be completely safe, I have the entire transmission fluid replaced at the beginning of each season. I also ordered a hitch setup that had a 6-bolt connection instead of a 4 bolt from another brand.

On our 2 week trip to Jasper, we never felt underpowered and instead, had to really watch our speed to keep it under the 65 mph tire ratings. My wife and I split the driving in half and she felt completely comfortable driving. To be fair, while she was driving we did get behind a large trailer going 25 mph up a steep grade. We knew from other hills that the TV did great doing hills as long as we kept the speed up to 45 mph, but if slower it would not pick up any speed while on a steep incline. As the large trailer pulled off the side of the road we continued on for another 100 yards going just 25 mph, as we couldn’t go any faster. This was the only time that a larger engine would have been great, but I have never had a large displacement engine, so I’m only guessing on how it would have done.

I also looked into what other countries had for tow limits and learned that in Australia they regularly tow 3000# with it, but they have a diesel engine and different transmission. I was mainly interested in the frame, which was the same. I did read about someone breaking the main TV support in half by towing 4500#, so I will try and keep it under that.

Hope this helps.

[melissab]

Hmmmmmmm, in today's world of Litigation that is scarry prospect having that speed limitation put in writing in the owner's manual. A good lawyer who finds that could put forth the argument one was towing above the limit of the vehicle and therefore is at fault for an accident/incident if driving above 45 mph when whatever happened happened. Not a very comforting thought....

[MCDenny]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Hopefully they will standardize car tow ratings just like they did with trucks as discussed here:
J2807 | Woodall's Campgrounds, RV Blog and Family Camping Blog
this should save a lot of wasted server space holding these discussions.

Wouldn't it be great if all vehicles had a standards based tow rating? The current problem, as I see it, is that different mfrs use very different tow rating rules, some so conservative that they invite exceeding them.

As I learn more about safe towing I'm thinking MY rule will be

trailer < 85% tow vehicle weight (Uk gov't guideline) and

vehicle weight with cargo, passengers and tongue weight < max gross vehicle weight mfr's spec and

tongue weight between 7% and 10% of total trailer weight.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

My UHaul manual says 45 mph maximum also.

I have seen that painted on many of U-Haul's utility trailers.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Frederick L. Simson

I have seen that painted on many of U-Haul's utility trailers.

It is right in the UHaul user's guide that I posted in the documents center, page 4, under "Towing". And it further states that if road conditions deteriorate, go even slower.

[Roger Kimble]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

My UHaul manual says 45 mph maximum also.

Any faster, certain death!

My U-Haul manual says 45 mph also

[841K9]

Originally Posted by MC1

Our TV has a speed limiter which is factory set at 151MPH but we try to keep our towing speed at around 40% of that...... to save fuel!

What are you towing with?

My limiter is engine speed. A 6.2 Detroit can only turn so fast before rods start flying through the block.

[Daniel A.]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Hopefully they will standardize car tow ratings just like they did with trucks as discussed here:
J2807 | Woodall's Campgrounds, RV Blog and Family Camping Blog
this should save a lot of wasted server space holding these discussions.

Ed's point is good I tend to agree.

I fail to see why you would think this or any other topic is wasted space on a server, forums promote discussion that is there purpose.

I own a forum and moderators generally don't have access to server issues.