08 Sienna towing

[sirwreck]

Hi
I am looking to tow my small popup camper , it weighs 1075lbs, with a max weight of 1875lbs.
I have an 08 Sienna LE FWD
I don't have the tow package installed.

We will probably be towing 6-8 times during the summers...with an occasional 2 hour drive, but mostly less than 1 hour drives. Really that will be the extent of our towing.

It seems as though it wouldn't hurt to get the transmission oil cooler installed...are these expensive to have installed? Would you guys recommend anything else to have installed ? Or am I over thinking this? I mean it is under the 1200lbs that it says in the manual, but I will be loading the back of the minivan with various camping supplies.

Also, am i suppose to take it out of overdrive when towing? 4th gear

Thanks for the help.

[who1975]

I have a 3000lbs pop-up that i tow sometimes with the Sienna. We do have the tow-prep package. I would go to a trusted transmission shop and get a cooler installed. I also use a WDH (weight distribution hitch) and a sway bar. I am not sure if you need one because of the weight, but I got a single bar WDH that can handle up to 450lbs of tounge weight. It was not very expensive and I think it helps. It might even help yours. I also like the WDH because with the hitch being installed so low on the van, the WDH allows the ball to be placed higher up so you won't bottom out when you are going through a dip. The sway bar is a must even if you don't get a WDH because it will keep the trailer under control. Hope this helps.

Bill

[bobsienna1]

I am getting discouraged about towing with my 2009 Sienna LE without the towing package. I have a 2000 Coleman Taos with a dry weight of 900 pounds that I have been towing with my 99 Sienna CE with no towing package. I have made a lot of local trips and two camping trips to Colorado and Mississippi. I have had no problems with the towing. The camper follows the van like a puppy. The only thing I did different to the van is that I changed the AT fluid every 15K miles.

With all that I have read on this forum and the old forum, I am having second thoughts about towing anything with the 2009. I have conflicting advice from the various Toyota people. One service advisor gave me an 800 number with Toyota, but the Toyota rep couldn't tell me anything. He transferred me to another dealer who said all I needed was a hitch.

The 99 Sienna manual says towing is limited to 2000 lbs. whereas the 2009 says 1200 lbs. The cargo capacity according to the manual are both close to 1200 lbs. If the 99 can tow the Taos with no problems will I be able to tow it with the 2009 without a lot of problems? I am finding out that I know little about towing. On my previous Viking camper and other vehicles, I just hitched it up and hit the road.

I am about to the point of confiscating my daughter's 2002 Tundra SR5 and letting her drive my old van.

Sorry about the rambling.

[jroden]

I intend to tow my 3200 lbs hybrid w/ my 2008 and don't anticipate any problmes. I towed the same camper for 2 years with a Quest and it rolled fine, the Sienna has one more gear, more HP and more torque. I'm adding a hitch, trans cooler and brake control next week.

[FloridaNative]

I wouldn't think twice about towing a Taos with a 2004+ Sienna, even withOUT the tow package.

[brian_bp]

As discussed separately in topics about the towing package, the package for Siennas with the 2GR-FE engine (2007-2009) does not include any change to the transmission cooler. From that, my conclusion is that there is no need to add one to use a 2008 Sienna without the packageto tow a trailer up to the same full 3500 lb towing capacity of a Sienna with the package... as far as the transmission is concerned.

What is included in the 2GR-FE towing package is an engine oil cooler. I think what is happening, and causing the relatively low 1200 lb tow rating without the package, is that the 2GR-FE engine has so much power that one could be using a lot of power continuously, blasting down the highway at 80 mph or climbing a mountain grade as if it were flat land... things that the earlier Siennas just wouldn't be able to do, and a current Sienna without a trailer would not need to work so hard at. I would never recommend to anyone else that they violate any limit of a vehicle, but if it were me I think that I would very consciously avoid using high power for extended periods when towing, and be relatively confident that I wasn't producing enough heat in the engine oil to be destroying anything.

[magicalme]

There is a reason Toyota dropped the weight to 1200 . Call a good Toyota Tec and find out why . There's a lot of people that are overloaded and that is a safety problem ,not just mechanical .

[magicalme]

Hey , Bobsienna1 . I just talked to my Toyota Tec ( a very good one ) and he said that you will be fine with that weight trailer .

[brian_bp]

There is a reason Toyota dropped the weight to 1200 . Call a good Toyota Tec and find out why . There's a lot of people that are overloaded and that is a safety problem ,not just mechanical .

I agree that the safety of the whole rig is important - more important than mechanical reliablity - but I don't understand how the 1200 lb limit could be established on a safety basis. The same vehicle with the towing package is rated for 3500 lb, and there are no safety-related items in the 2008 (2007-2009) towing package... it's an engine oil cooler for reliability.

[magicalme]

Sorry I'm not clear about what I said . The Better Half tells me all the time about that . when I was saying , SAFETY , I was meaning at 3500 . There seem to be some people that don't understand about GCVW . And that a WD hitch does not let you pull more weight . I have a problem putting words togethere but I'm one hell of a welder .

[brian_bp]

Sorry I'm not clear about what I said . The Better Half tells me all the time about that ...
I have a problem putting words togethere but I'm one hell of a welder .

In this case, perhaps I didn't read carefully enough... thanks for the clarification.
And I have yet to even try welding...

...
when I was saying , SAFETY , I was meaning at 3500 . There seem to be some people that don't understand about GCVW .

If the Sienna were rated for towing based only on the GCWR (like most trucks), the limit would be even higher than 3500 lb. It is possible that this limit, and the lower limits without towing package which correspond to lower GCWRs, was chosen so that people who never check the GCWR won't be in too much trouble if they both load the van and hook up the maximum trailer.

Exceeding GCWR still seems like a reliability rather than safety issue to me, but a heavier-than-3500 lb trailer in weight-carrying mode, combined with passengers and cargo, risks exceeding the load rating of the rear axle (rear GAWR)... and that is a safety issue.

...
And that a WD hitch does not let you pull more weight .

Good point... but it does shift load from the Sienna's rear axle to the trailer's axle and the Sienna's front axle, and that's what it takes sometimes to safely handle the heavier trailers without exceed the rear GAWR. The WD hitch doesn't fix any GCWR limit problem, but it can address a GAWR problem.

With a trailer having a GVWR of only 1875 lb, it's hard for me to see a concern with rear axle load, unless the trailer is loaded too tongue-heavy and passenger and cargo load is carried too far back in the Sienna... I think that's worth checking.