How Came To By The Lx-470

[Coloradobus]

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Morning Gary and thanks we will have great time,

After exhaustive reserach with the help of the serveral different dealers, and after market 4X4 shop. and with Roadmaster and Blue OX, we bought the Lexus.
Toyota just doesn't want to deal with a towing customer, period. We bought the LX used so there is NO warranty. Toyota is off the hook!

Here's the dilemma.
Contenders were:
2003-05 Pilot/Acura MDX --Remco, Honda, Blue Ox, Roadmaster all say towable. but the drivers seat was not good on my back like the ROVER.
2006-newer Pilots, Honda says NO,, Remco says YES???????????
The Honda products are termed "all wheel drive when needed, principly front wheel drive. They have speed limits, altho it may be like the earlier Saturns that had a 65mph limit, for liability sakes, Tennessee's max limit they said was 65. I called them 8 years ago to ask towing a 2000 SW-2 up to 70-75mph, that is common here in the WEST. Are there any mechical problems doing so, the engineer I talked to said "NO." Whatever the post speed was.


1998-2008 Lexus LX-470 (seats good for my back), 2004-08 GX-470, BlueOX, Roadmaster Yes, Remco&Toyota NO......... Yet above '06 newer Pilots, REMCO says YES?????? HOnda says NO! So I don't understand how they can conflict, one says yes , the other says no, or the other way around.
The new 2009 LX-570 is ""NOT"" towable with its new electronic controlled drivetrain.
BlueOX normally follows what Remco says, yet LX/GX-470/Toyota Land Cruiser all have baseplates made, and BlueOX/Roadmaster say towable with out modifications, ei Lube Pump.
Mercedes Benz G-500 GalaendeWagon, Remco, BlueOX say NO,,,,, Mercedes Benz of North America and dealers internal database say YES, since G-Wagon has a TRANSFER NEUTRAL. ROADMASTER did say they would explore building a baseplate. I also faxed them the internal Merc Benz tow info from dealer internal date base. The G-500 platform atho fluffed up for US market, in the end is a military 4X4.

Now are you totally confused?.

TRANSFER NEUTRAL IS THE KEY FOR THE TRANSFER CASE here along with being a true 4 wheel drive unit, not "All wheel drive":

So my question was basic: Equipped with a transfer neutral manual shifter or electronically, like the Range Rover/or G-500 that shift transfer case, independent of the motor/transmission, is there any mechanical reason why we can't tow, say, the LX/GX470/ Toy Land Cruiser or G-500 4 down. Will the transfer case turned by wheels rolling 4 down enable it to lubricate itself, without the engine turning the tranny/transfer to driveshaft to wheels.
The answer was, "there is no mechanical reason why these vehicles can't be towed for down with a Transfer Case, neutral position, and placing the transmission is park. Just like a Chevy 4X4, Jeep Grand Cherokee/Liberty or Dodge Trucks . Manufacturers like Toyota don't want to be bothered by the RV enthusiats.


We know at least 6 owners of busses that tow the LX/GX-470 and Toy Land Cruiser for 10's of thousands of miles with NO speed/distance limitations and no mechanical problems in their drivetrains other than normal maintenance regulated by the miles towed instead of driven. For ei: our '04 Chevy 4X4 Duramax shortbox X-tend cab has more miles on it towed than driven. I just follow the drivetrain maintenance protocols as if the miles were driven.


We are trying to make one vehicle be the tower, and the towee. If the LX-470 proves to be a great towcar for the 1979 25ft Airstream, then we may consider selling the '04 Chevy Duramax. Unitl that time, we will keep the Chevy.

Long winded, but I did get my answers.
__________________

[truk4u]

I nominate the bus boys to be our "Toad" experts!;)

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Thanks Chris, SO GLAD I ASKED :D

Gary S.

[Will Garner]

Tom,

Be careful there with those recommendations. It took JDUB 10 days to be in condition to leave the Rose Bowl Parade Port-a-Potty after the chili celebration the night before. He could make up a special batch with a bunch of Texas "toads" for the next POG Rally.

Later ...

[Johnny]

I have been using a 2001 Lexus LX470 as a Toad for 2Yrs without any problems. Transfer case in neutral and the key in the iginition to free up the steering wheel. You also need a positive wire from the coach to the lexus battery. Without this you'll arrive with a bead battery with the key in the iginition. I hope this helps.
Johnny

[Coloradobus]

Thanks Johnny

I was wondering about the key in the ignition. Are you using the key with the remote attached or just a valet key. I might do an experiment in the garage with the valet key, to see if the battery dies. I do see that the cigarette lighter with phone charger in it goes dark ( small light) when you turn off the 470's ignitionby turing the key all the wat counterclockwise, but are you aware of other parasitic battery drains? Mercedes told me I needed to add a charge line to the G-500, if we towed one. When the tow baseplate comes in, I will wire a charge line up to keep "Lex's" battery happy.:D

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

So what is it that places a draw on the battery?
Wouldn't that draw be harming something when it is created.
I mean if something were at the ready so to speak, where is the current being dissipated if no work is being done?
Is something getting hot in waiting for some action and maybe shortening its life?
Is it a fused circuit?
What if the fuse blows and you don't know it? Will the 470 still tow properly?

Just wondering.

JIM

[Coloradobus]

JIM,

On our Land Rovers, all three that we had, the computers are awake so-to-speak. On the 1999 Land Rover Range Rover (air suspension), not the 2003,then 2001 that just died, Land Rover Discovery (coil spring suspension), the computers that controlled the air springs suspension, if the key fob/remote was near the car, ie, the ignition, would wake up and continually adjust the air suspension while we were towing. While running a charge line solved the battery drain, the suspension computer was using up a finite supply of air reserved in the tank making the adjustments. Air was only generated for the suspension when the engine was running to run the compressor. There maybe computers running in the Lexus, so that is why Johnny runs a charge line. But with the key off in the LX, I noticed that the cigarette lighter plug with the phone recharge cord with LED light would not shine if the key is twisted conterclockwise but not removed to keep the steering free., On the Land Rover Discovery, we had to turn the A/C ventilation completely off, turn off the radio, heated seats, etc with the key off, but the cigarette lighter remained on. To prevent battery drain, we place a solar panel with cigarette plug in the lighter to provide Rover's battery with some juice and that eliminated running a charge line for Rover's battery. The Lexus is an unfolding story.
My question to Johnny, "was he using the keyless entry keyfob to keep ther steering unlocked, or was he using the valet key?

[Johnny]

I am not using the valet key and don't know what drains the battery?

[GDeen]

Jim,
What is the update on towing the Lexus? My wife has a GX470 that I would like to use as a tow vehicle. Anything necessary other than a battery charge wire??

Thanks

[rahangman]

We are looking for a replacement towed vehicle. We currently use an old 1989 Honda Accord which is ok, but lacks room and is difficult to say the least for me at 6'2 & 250lbs to enter/exit. Anyway, we have a 99 Lexus LX470 and would love to use this vehicle for a towed......how about in plain english , the yes/no and the how's? Sure would to make things easier than trading vehicles.

[lewpopp]

Hangman,

We are about ready to sell out coach and retire to a house. I have a brand new 2008 saturn Outlok and I will not need this vehicle with all of the equipment on it. I trully like this car. I even have car cover to cover it while towing it cuz I care for it that much.

In addition to the towing equip (Air Force One) I have it wired so I won't have to remove the fuse when I tow. More explaination is need on that later.

The problem is, I would like to have the same thing and what is my current vehicle worth with all the hookups? Don't know. We'd have to research that.

Send me aprivate message or email if you are interested.

[Coloradobus]

GDeen, we are currently Airstreaming in the new to us 1984 279 motorhome without towed. the LX is a bit too heavy for the airstream/P-30 chevy chassis to tow. We are looking at a 2004 Wrangler Rubicon for that coach.
The bus pulls the LX without trouble. We put the LX into tranny neutral, then transfer neutral, then turn engine off, place transmission into PARK, and make sure key, better to use the valet key, is in place turned all the way counter clockwise like you are going to pull it out but DON'T. Your set!

We use a BlueOx Baseplate, installed ourselves, 4 bolts, and ran a wire from the baseplate plug to a T-Bar light bar that goes inot the hitch reciever and we are off. Towed the LX now for 7,700 miles without incident.:)
BlueOx makes a base for the GX too

[GDeen]

GDeen, we are currently Airstreaming in the new to us 1984 279 motorhome without towed. the LX is a bit too heavy for the airstream/P-30 chevy chassis to tow. We are looking at a 2004 Wrangler Rubicon for that coach.
The bus pulls the LX without trouble. We put the LX into tranny neutral, then transfer neutral, then turn engine off, place transmission into PARK, and make sure key, better to use the valet key, is in place turned all the way counter clockwise like you are going to pull it out but DON'T. Your set!

We use a BlueOx Baseplate, installed ourselves, 4 bolts, and ran a wire from the baseplate plug to a T-Bar light bar that goes inot the hitch reciever and we are off. Towed the LX now for 7,700 miles without incident.:)
BlueOx makes a base for the GX too

Good deal, thanks Jim.

[Matt_in_AZ]

The resurrection of this thread is intentional. I am a relatively new Prevost owner and have been searching for my ideal "toad". Like those here and elsewhere on the Internet, the Toyota Land Cruiser Model 100 and its dressed up twin the Lexus LX470 have been successfully towed for many miles without issue. While I am confident now that an LC Model 100 or LX470 can be towed, I'd like to hear about any updated research into the LC Model 200 and its twin the LX570. As stated above, these newer models use an electronically controlled transfer case; however, there are instructions on the proper sequence to activate "Neutral" on the transfer case.

The link below is to a popular forum for owners of Land Cruisers where recently an owner of an LC Model 200 was considering towing his after learning how to activate neutral on his transfer case. See link below.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/flat-tow-a-200-are-you-crazy-i-am.947498/

The same author found this link below on Blue Ox's site showing a kit that is available for a Lexus LX570 for the purpose of flat towing the vehicle.

http://blueox.com/products/baseplates/bx3772-lexus-lx570/

For all we know there is only one person out there towing his LX570 and he might be easy to spot due to the sparks emanating from under his rig as he drags it down the highway. I would love to know if anyone has had any future discussion or research into this possibility now that (6 years later) many of the LX570 models are available at reasonable prices to consider as a "toad".

I have a friend who is active in the local AZ Land Cruiser club which includes an active member who works for Toyota as one of their top service technicians. I may have to join them at an upcoming club meeting just to figure out the answer to my quest.