How Came To By The Lx-470

[truk4u]

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

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Thanks Chris, SO GLAD I ASKED

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.

[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?