Towing with a Prado

Hi there Yuilly, mates got one in auto tows a fairly big fishing boat 18 foot has had no trouble, I no it's not the same as towing a van around oz covering big klms as the most he's done in one hit is about 260klms. I would suggest a cooler but I think for memory his is fitted with one from toyota standard, just stick your head under bonnett and check in front of radiator/air con condenser and should be one there with two rubber hosses running from it one supplies the fluid while the other is the return either back to the radiator or back to the transmission. If not I would suggest getting one fitted.On the flats he just leaves in in 4th (overdrive). When he's climbing hills he knocks it back to third as he said he finds it hunts between 3rd and 4th.But power wise no troubles, bit thirsty on the fuel but what petrol isn't when towing a decent load. Overall I cant see you having any problems what so ever just remember to change the fluid when required or some times a bit earlier if working it hard off road sand etc. Take care happy caravaning. Regards Vitara

I tow a 14 Ft Freedom with our 3400 Prado and have no problem, but there are a couple of things to be aware of.

I stopped on the top of a fairly steep range to take a photo one day and smelt overheating oil. My suspicion was an auto oil smell. When I got to Cairns I checked with RACQ who referred me to their local gearbox repairer. He informed me that it was normal for that vehicle and that there was nothing I could do about it. They have a built in oil cooler which probably isn't adequate for extreme towing, but it really can't be changed because it would alter other related vehicle specifications eg. sensors etc. His advice was change the auto oil each time you do a caravan trip.

It was still under warranty so I went to the Cairns Toyota Dealer and the guy there gave me the exact same advice.

As far as gears are concerned I use "Overdrive Off" unless I am going down hill or have a stiff tail wind. I have had experience with my previous vehicle (also a Toyota) which cost lots because I used overdrive while towing over a long distance.

I also manually change the gears down early at times to reduce the stress on the motor/ gearbox. I change my auto oil after each long trip and have had no problems since.

Brian DJ

Just thought I would mention that a Prado has the same rear axel as a 2.4 diesel hilux, that means SMALL. However a mate blew is gear box up in a troopy towing a boat, Toyota said to him never to tow in 5th gear. So with the TOJO boxes becareful with gear selection, however if the caravan is only mid size you should be ok, by the way the 3.4l v6 respopnds well to a snorkel and exhaust modification, extractors etc.

Yuilly,
We towed a campertrailer, with boat loaded on top (total weight 1200kg), with our 2002 3.4 auto from Sydney to Broome via Darwin & return thru the centre .We found that the biggest problem was mainaining reasonable fuel economy by making sure that the convertor was "locked" which meant limiting speed to 90-95 km and not using cruise.

Marty