motoguzzim

In 2 weeks I am moving my daughter 620 miles to school. I have reserved a 5x8 Uhaul trailer for her furniture and stuff. It weighs 1800 lbs. empty, single axle. I have a receiver hitch and 2" ball and a trans cooler, both of which I installed for my small utility trailer, which I rarely use.

How is this car at towing? Should I worry? My friend's identical car just lost his transmission, but I have never had problems. His had about 85K mi. on it, mine has 135K.

If this will be too much load I can rent a truck for hundreds more, which I'd rather spend on something else.

any experience/knowledge/advice will be appreciated.

TIA

motoguzzim

oh yes, my car is not the AWD.

salimshah

I have 160+k miles on my FWD with no cooler.

Just yesterday in a 5x8 uhaul trailer, I moved my son about 60 miles away with washer, dryer, queen bed, chest, chairs , [table in the back of rx]. You need to load it with attention and tie things down.

The only annoying part was keeping at 55 and braking, watching out for merging traffic, at 55 you are in the merging lane. Some folks are idiot drivers, and you have to tolerate them.

As far as the RX is concerned, on a mostly flat road there is no problem.

Here are my recommendations:

If things can be boxed and specially the heavy and compact stuff, like books and clothes+towels+bedding [put them in the vac-bag (walmart-target-harfborfrieght)] and ship them. [less than 1$/Lb]
Consider renting a van/truck as you are going 600miles, to save yourself the aggravation and wear and tear (if any). watch out for c/miles
If you do decide to pull a trailer, choose your travel time, based on traffic patterns.

FYI the transmission will be in lock-up mode as you reach constant crusing speed. Heat generated would be from lubrication only. The heat build-up that every one talks about in a transmission is from the clutch like action (when the energy differential between the engine and the wheel side) ends up in heating the fluid.

[If you have not reversed with a trailer, you start by doing opposite of what you want to do and then correct yourself, and no tight turns going forward]
Salim

motoguzzim

Thanks. Taking a truck instead is appealing but will necessitate taking a 3rd vehicle to drive home in. The 10' van is $905 (for the rental + gas for truck and 2nd car) and 14' is $1065. the 5x8 trailer is $109 so there is definitely incentive to make it work. My friend is getting his transmission fixed for a quote of $1800 ($4600 at the Toyota dealer). The other option is to put the hitch back on the Honda Odessey and get lights installed. I took the hitch off after the dealer said it would invalidate the warranty. We have 15K more miles on the warranty. What would you do?

salimshah

You can add car-tow hitch to the truck/van. Check what adjustments need to be done to the drive of 2 wheels of the vehicle being towed.

Fuel cost will be there on all options and may not vary significantly. You may save since one vehicle would be dead weight.

Also eject some stuff that you can purchase locally at destination. Mattress/ box spring can be purchased on a->zon etc.

Salim

hypervish

The Odyssey has a worse transmission than the RX.

I vote for the RX, it's a champ it'll handle it with ease. Keep overdrive off, and the emergency blinkers on, and keep it below 60 (don't rush, take your time, drive carefully) Good to go!

Justin2JZ

620 miles with your hazards on the whole way, that would drive me insane. Does the trailer have brakes? A RX w/ the tow package is good for 3,500 pound so you should be good but U-Haul's trailers cant exceed 55 mph. Be really easy on the brakes. Brake as early as possible.

carguy07

Couldn't you just rent a mini van and stuff everything in it? I do that all the time when I need to move light cargo around.

hypervish

Yeah, keeping the hazards on would annoy me too, only reason I mentioned it was because some highways require you to use hazards if your going below the speed limit.

Justin2JZ

Does the OP have the tow package on the RX?

LA4Mead

How does your transmission fluid look and smell? Some - not all - RX300 trans beat the fluid and/or worn parts spread contamination in the fluid. I wouldn't tow if that's the case. I'd also perform a tranny fluid change in addition to the engine oil before towing that far.

My experience has been OK towing with the RX on a few occasions, but my trans was replaced by Lexus with an updated new, not rebuilt transmission that's been great. I also added an additional cooler behind the OE tranny cooler in the fender, along with a thermostatic fan, and this one does not beat the fluid like the original transmission.

I have a lot of experience towing with larger vehicles in very hot weather, and for a small car, the RX worked well occasionally towing a small motorcycle trailer that fully loaded would not approach the 350/3500 lb. rating my '99 2wd is rated at (includes the OE "tow package"). I had no problem in very hot weather, although I normally toggle the A/C when going up hill. FWIW, the thermostatic fan I added to the two auxiliary tranny coolers rarely goes on while the vehicle is moving, but almost always when speeds are slow or stopped. The hard part is not going over the prescribed 55 mph/3rd gear (OD off) as stated in the manual. The engine is revving pretty well at that point, and I found it tempting to cruise at a higher speed (60-65mph) and engage the OD 4th gear, although I don't recommend it and either does the Lexus manual or the CHP. I never felt at a loss for power to pass slower vehicles, but you're limited to the right two lanes when towing. Even so, cruising 55 with OD off when the trailer was empty, I think averaged at very best 14 mpg, and lower when the trailer loaded. So there might be some fuel savings compared to renting a van, but not as much as you may be expecting.

Good luck with your move!

cdduqu

FYI- towed a 20 ft boat up and down hills in Mass for several years-used several times with uhaul for moving kids over 800 miles-no issues- also towed boat from Mass to Florida- only issue is that you find yourself easliy going over 55 and it drops my MPG from 20 to around 10 miles/gal- still using it and going on 100 K miles-I like it as a tow vehicle-
just remember to keep overdrive off.

salimshah

I would suggest to lock out overdrive only, if the transmission can not decide between gears (if you notice your rpm and pull power changing -> hunting for the best gear). On a open flat road where, when you are crusing, keep the ove drive on. Refer to owners manual and read about towing (or when hauling weight). When the transmission is shifting (up or down) you are heating the transmission fluid. Rest of the time, the heat is produced due to energy loss of moving gear parts.

Salim