Tow Vehicle - 2015 Toyota Highlander LEPlus - R-pod Owners Forum

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doxielover View Drop Down

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Joined: 20 Oct 2018
Location: Mesa, Arizona
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Topic: Tow Vehicle - 2015 Toyota Highlander LEPlus
Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 11:10am

I recently purchased a 2015 Toyota Highlander LE Plus with the assumption and being told by the sales person that it had a tow capacity of 5,000 pounds. Now that I'm checking the manual, it says only 2000 towing capacity. I'm heart sick. Have I truly messed up? Is there a way to fix this?

Diana

Future Rpod 179 owner

Diana
Soon to be R-Pod owner

mcarter

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 11:18am

You need to determine how it is equipped. Is it a V6 and does it have towing options? I believe the Highlander does having a 2000 lb capacity which can be as high as 5000 with proper accessories and engine options.

Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

Kup-Pod

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 12:14pm

+1 to Mike,

and maybe it's just a Canadian thing, but make sure you aren't getting mixed up between pounds and kilograms. 2000kg gets close to 5000lbs

I got that same sickly feeling when I checked things initially until I read the units. Some Canadian dealers like to cite the trailer weight in kg's because the number looks smaller.

2017 RP-178
2021 F150 5.0l
"Lead me on a level path"

offgrid

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 1:58pm

Looks like the gen 3 2015 Highlander Le plus is indeed rated at 2000 lbs. Before you give up hope though you should find out exactly what is limiting it. My 2012 gen 2 Hi is rated at 5000 lbs. The only differences as far as I can tell are the radiator, trans cooler, and alternator.

I found this for the 2015s:

The upper trims of the Highlander have the towing prep package that features an upgraded radiator and engine cooler with a special fan coupling and 150-amp alternator.

The “engine cooler” is going to be a tranny cooler. And the alternator upgrade is IMHO optional. So it might not be a big deal to install a new radiator and tranny cooler to bring your Highlander up to specs. Not sure what the “special fan coupling” is. An aftermarket upgrade would most probably jeopardize your warranty though.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

mcarter

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 4:03pm

I've included a link to an article about issues with Highlander and towing capacities. I personally find it hard to believe a radiator, alternator and a trans cooler can add 3000 lbs in tow capacity. Without any change to engine size or suspension modification. The article is a somewhat interesting read on the issues(s).

https://rvingwithmarkpolk.com/2016/03/26/toyota-highlander-tow-rating-questioned/

Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

GlueGuy

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 4:46pm

Originally posted by mcarter

I've included a link to an article about issues with Highlander and towing capacities. I personally find it hard to believe a radiator, alternator and a trans cooler can add 3000 lbs in tow capacity. Without any change to engine size or suspension modification. The article is a somewhat interesting read on the issues(s).

https://rvingwithmarkpolk.com/2016/03/26/toyota-highlander-tow-rating-questioned/

Damn! Reading that would scare the bejeebers out of me if I had a Highlander. For sure, I would question the towing ability of said vehicle if I had a FWD version. For sure, I would make sure that I had the AWD version AND that it had the towing package.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

offgrid

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 7:12pm

Well, be scared if you want to I guess. I read that article prior to buying my Toyota too. I tow a near 4000 lb trailer with a tongue weight of well over 500 lbs with my Highlander through mountains all the time. I’ve never had even a hint of my front wheels leaving the ground even without the wd hitch tensioned. The measured weight on my front axle is exactly what it calcs out it should be and is well within specs.

Mine is an all wheel drive and that certainly does make a difference in traction, but if the front wheels were going to depart the pavement then I don’t think that would change things much. There are probably tens if not hundreds of thousands or more of other folks towing with their Highlanders as well. And unibody vehicles can’t handle towing or a wd hitch? Seriously? That’s got to be millions of folks and many different makes and models. In my opinion I think we have a case of a disgruntled customer spouting nonsense here, not a case of an evil corporation committing misdeeds.

Would I personally tow with a fwd vehicle? No. Makes no sense when the drive wheels have the lightest load of any of the axles. But there’s no way the scenario in that article could realistically occur the way it was described.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

GlueGuy

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 7:20pm

What I'm saying is that I don't believe you can get a FWD Highlander with the 5000 lb towing capacity. Why Toyota wouldn't just say that is puzzling.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

StephenH

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Posted: 28 Oct 2018 at 7:50pm

With my Escape which was FWD, the front wheels never left the ground. However, if the wheels were on one of those broad painted stop lines, they would spin easily. If there were sand, they would spin. That was with a well-adjusted Equal-i-zer hitch. That was also a unibody vehicle. I would not recommend towing with a FWD vehicle without a WDH with sway control. Preferable is RWD and best of all is AWD or 4WD. The Frontier we have now is 4WD so it is RWD unless I rotate the switch to engage the 4WD. I've had to do that a couple of times. Once was when we got home from a trip and the road and our driveway were slick with snow. The second time was trying to get started on an uphill exit from an RV park with loose dirt on the road. Both of those would have been problems for a FWD vehicle but switching to 4WD kept us from having a problem with them. I think the truth is that Toyota is stretching it to say that a FWD Highlander has a 5000 lb tow capacity. 3500 lbs with a 350 lb tongue weight is more realistic.

StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
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offgrid

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Posted: 29 Oct 2018 at 5:32am

"What I'm saying is that I don't believe you can get a FWD Highlander with the 5000 lb towing capacity. Why Toyota wouldn't just say that is puzzling."

Glueguy, that is not what you said originally, but more importantly its not correct, not in 2015 and not now.

https://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/2015+toyota+highlander+product+specs.download

So guys, all this started from this guy who tried to tow a 4200 lb/468 hitch EMPTY trailer behind his Highlander? Here is this guy's 2015 posting from another forum, with the original accompanying comments:

My wife and I purchased a new 2015 Highlander XLE and were planning on traveling across the USA. Having the standard towing features, heavy duty radiator, oil cooler, trans cooler, heavy duty battery, etc, we did all the research to find that we could tow 500 lbs hitch, 5,000 lbs total. We ordered a new Forest River travel trailer with specs showing 468 hitch, 4200 total. After having the best Curt hitch installed professionally, I found that Toyota had made no pre wires for electric brakes. In addition to having to completely wire the car for a 7 pin round connector, the trailer dealer had to spend hours wiring for electric brakes. My electrical bill not including the hitch was $650!!!
Everything turned out to be a disaster! When I picked up the special ordered trailer a month later, driving home dropped my gas mileage from 28 mpg down to 8 mpg, without even any cargo! In addition, even having the BlueOx distribution hitch, my front tires were coming off the pavement while driving down the road. We tried to sell the brand new trailer back to the dealer but the answer was no, we shopped buying a larger tow vehicle (a Tahoe) but the trade difference was $22,000. We tried to trade it to another dealer for a smaller travel trailer but was told that the only trailer that our front wheel drive Highlander should pull should be a pop-up camper being very light weight. We were told by an expert that our 4,200 lb travel trailer would burn up the Highlanders transmission and engine as the rpms were very high when driving the rig 60 mph.
Long story short, we sold the brand new trailer, never plugged in at a $1,200 loss and are still very upset with Toyota for advertising 500/5000. This is deceit on behalf of Toyota. To prove my point even further, the law states that if you pull a trailer over 2,000 lbs, you must have electric brakes. However, Toyota makes NO pre-wire at all for electric brakes. Also, a trailer with electric brakes will nee a 7 pin round plug and Toyota provides the pre-wire for only a 4 pin. In my opinion, Toyota Motor Co. Should reimburse me the $1,200 that I lost.
DO NOT buy a Highlander to pull a trailer over 2,000 lbs or you will be sorry.
Thanks,
Charlie, in Georgia

David V. Feb 19, 2016  
The XLE is rated for 5000 pounds towing, whether it is FWD or AWD. I suspect your low mileage and difficulty driving was due to problems with the 7-way connector and brake controller that you had installed.
devilsadvocate Jun 2, 2016  
@Charlie Gibson This doesn’t pass the smell test.
Nearly every travel trailer manufacturer lists a gigantic asterisk next to their Hitch Weight and UVW could be in some cases significantly higher than the stated amount depending on accessories/options fitted when ordered.
Be that as it may, the trailer specs you list are already nearly at the maximum ratings for the Highlander when the trailer was unloaded yet most 20-25ft TTs have a 1250-2000lbs carrying capacity that would make you way over weight when you put you gear in there. If you had filled the water tanks and put some gear in there you could have very easily been at or even over a 700lbs tongue weight.
I went out in the garage with a buddy of mine (we both weight 215-230ish) and we stood on the hitch of my wife’s 2016 Highlander, and we could barely get the suspension to sag unless we jumped, your claim that the ~450lbs hitch weight made the wheels physically come off the ground like some cartoon car popping wheelies is patently bullsh**. Some embellishment to add emphasis is ok, but fabricating to Hollywood levels is not.
Your trailer on the road was likely significantly heavier than you thought it was, hence the poor mileage and light front-end. That and your gross usage of hyperbole and stretching the facts is probably why you haven’t gotten any information from Toyota. Given that you have conveniently sold you trailer and (at least from the above) have no other actual evidence beyond a far fetched story, there is no way they are going to answer you and encourage any more nonsense.

I agree fully with the comments made to this guy at the time. Far from doing "all his research" he bought a huge trailer that is way oversized and tried to tow it around with a mid sized FWD SUV. Who knows what he had so messed up as to get his front wheels "coming of the pavement" and getting 8 mpg?

If there is anyone to blame here for this guy's fiasco besides the buyer himself, it is FR and the trailer dealer, not Toyota. Personally I think the ridiculous trailer and tongue weights the trailer manufacturers put out create a completely false picture in the minds of new buyers as to what their trailers actually end up weighing.

So since we've probably now scared and confused doxielover (if she hasn't given up on us) lets try to restate the facts:

The 2015 Highlander LEPlus you bought does have a 2000 lb tow rating. Sorry your salesperson misled you.

The tow prep package that allows for 5000 lbs tow capacity includes changes to the radiator and radiator fans, transmission cooler, and alternator, and they run a 4 pin connector to the rear of the car. As far as I can tell those are the only changes. I have a 2012 with the tow package and those were the only changes then too.

You can consider making those upgrades yourself (or ask your dealer to do it because your salesperson misled you) but that would potentially void your warranty from Toyota..

Toyota does spec both FWD and AWD versions with a 5000 lb tow rating.

However, most of us on this forum (including me) would not recommend towing an rPod with FWD, regardless of whether the manufacturer authorizes it or not, because hanging the trailer on the back of the car reduces traction on the front wheels. The weight can be rebalanced by a weight distribution hitch but even that won't fully compensate.

Since your original post didn't say whether you have FWD or AWD, can you confirm?

Your objective sounds like it is to tow a 179, so be aware that the stated trailer empty weights are misleading. My 179 weighs in at about 3850 with a 550 tongue weight fully loaded. I boondock with mine so its pretty heavy, but realistically you probably won't end up a whole lot below that.

Despite that, my 2012 Highlander does a great job of towing my 179, including on steep mountain roads, dirt roads, rainy and windy conditions. I drive conservatively, use engine braking on downhill grades, I do have AWD and the tow prep package, and I use a weight distribution hitch.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold