RoyaleB

Im in a bit of debate with my family regarding if getting the new GX as my daily driver is a good idea.

I will be towing a lightweight horse trailer (1900lbs) with 2 horses, for a total of 4,000lbs (tack and supplies are minimal, equaling maybe 100lbs).

I tow them short distances for the most part (30 miles or less) over flat terrain, paved or dirt roads (Florida lacks any real hills), to local trailheads, and no more than 1-2 times per week.

My current daily is a Ford Explorer ST 2020, and it has been doing this job for almost 5 years, and is having transmission slipping issues, which my family has attributed to the towing.

I know the GX is rated to tow approx 7600-9000 pounds, dependent on model selected, but they said just because it can tow that doesn't mean I should be towing even 4,000lbs, and that it will ruin the transmission. Does anyone with true mechanical knowledge have advice?

What does your typical F150/Tundra type truck have in their transmission that the GX does not? TIA!!!!!!!

jbuffett

Any towing shortens the life of a transmission through additional wear & tear, because towing means significantly increasing the weight of the vehicle. There's no way to know if the shortened lifespan of the transmission will be a problem during your ownership window or before some other major part fails.

What your typical F150 / Tundra type truck has is a "towing package" which usually consists of a dedicated transmission cooler. Vehicles without a dedicated transmission cooler often use the bottom of the radiator that cools engine coolant to also cool the transmission fluid. Which is far less effective than a dedicated trans cooler. The GX550 Premium+, Overtrail and Overtrail+ all have 9000+ pound towing capacity. I'm not seeing "transmission cooler" on the build sheets for these, it's possible that these trims have it and the rest don't but I'd want to confirm that on a real vehicle first.

skylolow

Considering with the Explorer your approaching its max towing limit compared to the GX your about half of its limit. Simple logic would say you'll have much less stress on everything with the GX. The Aisin transmissions are solid.

jonshonda

Lexus would be just fine.

Carnevino

Lexus offers a transmission cooler for previous years of the GX. I live in Fl as you do but trailer a boat about every other month from our home in the Destin area to our home in Islamorada. It costs around 400$ and took Lexus about 2 hours to install. I’d bet they are coming out with another cooler for the newer model, just might take some time. Several companies make aftermarket tranny coolers, but I stuck with the Lexus one. Monitoring transmission temps is pretty easy if you buy an OBD scanner/tool, although this might seem excessive…it’s actually very simple to use/learn.