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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Highlander Hybrid Towing with the Highlander Hybrid
84 messages, Last post on Sep 16, 2009 at 1:27 PM
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Replying to: ljmiii (Mar 16, 2007 6:01 pm) I bought a 16' Airstream Bambi Quicksilver Edition last year and have been towing it with a monster 15 person Dodge Van! Our other car is a Prius (to even out the carbon footprint playing field!) and I would love to get a 2006 or later Highlander Hybrid to tow it just like you. Now that you have been at it for a while do you have any further insights and does the HH still do the job with the Airstream. I would love to prove the doubters wrong and buy a Highlander Hybrid for the Bambi. Do you still feel the same as your previous posting and what exactly should I do to modify the HH for towing the Bambi. Thanks so much for any input you have and I commend you on making the hybrid work with the Bambi. I await your reply
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Replying to: robanglin (Mar 10, 2008 8:38 pm) We bought a Toyota hitch and necessary gear for the '06 HH and had a local shop install the whole thing. It seemed simple enough to do it myself but too busy. We have not towed something as large as an Airstream but we have tow trailers totaling about 2000 lbs for ranch work and no problem so far. This is in Northern CA, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen area so the roads are windy and mountainous. Our '06 has no problem taking this load and maintaining posted speed. We do slow to 55-MPH when towing on freeways. Absolutely no problem. THis is using an old low-tech tow bar. Starting from a dead stop is not a problem especially when the hybrid pack is fully charged. There is more than enough torque to get things rolling. I am used to an old V8 and this HH easily beats our V8. Mileage will come down though, especially in mountainous terrain. We average 25-26 MPG a tank but when we tow, mileage can drop as low as 20-MPG on a heavier long haul or 22-MPG on a lighter load. The '07-'08 HH are heavier than the '06 HH so in terms of stability, the car provides excellent damping. As ijimii wrote, be sure to get good tow bars. Newer models now work to control swaying and so on. They are worth every penny when towing something like a camper. We will be getting one of these to replace our old bar after some more research. Hope this helps a bit. |
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If you want to get an aftermarket hitch, view this youtube link and it will show you how to install. I got lucky and forced the sales person at Toyota to toss in a toyota hitch to make the deal. They were 12 cars off their number for the month. |
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| I have a boat and trailer that weights 3300 lbs. How will this Hybrid pull my boat? Looking at purchasing this vehicle but concerned with damaging the engine or batteries. Any concerns with this. | |
I have a boat and trailer that weights 3400 lbs. Any issue with towing to the designed limit.
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Replying to: gerkcraig (Apr 16, 2008 4:51 am) We have now towed up to 2500-lb without problems. If this old trailer of ours were bigger and heavier duty, I will have no qualm pushing the weight to 3000-lbs. We have towed on mountain freeways (Northern CA - Redding, Shasta area) and no detectable problems at all. Our '06 HH performs normally and we are confident it can tow up to rated load. Except for the need to slow down and be safe when towing, we have detected nothing of concern from the engine and the battery pack. The engine runs fine as usual, oil change is 7500 miles (Synthetic) and I did not see any early darkening or thinning. Brakes work fine and no excessive wear as of last service about 1 month ago. Our tires do wear out faster though but we also drive a lot of dirt and nasty ranch roads. We normally have only two adults in the car when towing and few gear in the trunk. If you load up the car with people, gear and such, please do estimate the weight and see if it impacts the tow-rating. Hope that helps a bit. |
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I have a '08 HH and plan on installing a trailer hitch. I can purchase the wiring harness on line at a significant discount from the dealer price. I need to know how to install the wiring. I understand that the harness just plugs into the HH wiring, but where is the access and how difficult is this? I have viewed the hitch installation video on YouTube. This answered many questions on the exact steps for installation, including resolving some common problems. |
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| I have a 2007 HiHy and want to tow my boat with it. The total weight for boat/motor/trailer adds up to 3446 lbs, that's without gas or gear. Add a full tank of gas and it's another 300 lbs. I know the tow limit is 3500 lbs so I'm past the limit but if I'm only going a short distance (<10 miles) and it's flat, Florida terrain, can I do it? Also, at that weight, will the car be strong enough to get the thing up the ramp and out of the water? | |
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Just towed a 3200 lb. travel trailer from Mi. to Ariz.and back.No problems.It is a 2006 hybrid.See my carspace page for a small picture.Took the grades easily.18 mpg avg. |
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I decided to buy a Toyota factory hitch from the dealer for my 2008 HL and, rather than pay the dealer $260 for installation, thought I'd take a crack at installing it myself. I watched the video on etrailer.com showing the installation of an aftermarket hitch and it seemed like a snap. But I'm assuming that the factory hitch installation might be a bit more involved. I'm not installing the electrical connection, since I'll just be using it for a bike rack. Can anyone give me some advice on what differences exist between installing the factory hitch and the aftermarket one? I'm fairly handy and have most tools I think I'll need but if you think I'd be foolish to attempt it myself, that advice would be welcomed, too. Thanks! Bob BTW, the hitch was $450 less 15% for my Costco Executive Member discount.
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