Is towing with the 250 really that bad?

[David T Champion]

Hey There, I have towed my 2019 Airstream NEST (17’ 3400lb. Dry 4000lb. Max) with my 2024 LC250 1958 with 285/75R17s around So Cal and to Las Vegas in the early summer. I was very pleased with how it tows and climbs grades (I never push it too hard).
I also added a Greenlane aluminum stump bumper and a 12k warn winch. I decided not to add a 20” light bar because I was worried about blocking more of the lower grill. Didn’t overheat on the Vegas trip.

 

[lcscoob]

My Bean is 14 feet and about 2000 lbs. Pulling it up and over the Rockies was very nice compared to the Jeep Gladiator it replaced. The Jeep would whine and get very loud in 4th pulling the same trailer. This one just glided without any noticeable effort. Smaller trailer agreed, and that is perhaps the key. View attachment 46072

Sick bean

 

[jag0130]

Have a look at the used Bean's lots of them for sale on marketplace, Bean group, not sure of the name, Bean Owners or something like that.

I did, most of them of higher optioned and pricey…new 2.0 with few options is better deal. That said, still pricey with little base options. I like the mammoth trailers, similarly priced, it many more standard options. And also the little buggy 12lrk. Thanks.

 

[jag0130]

I towed a 2000 lb 12x6 truck closed U-Haul trailer last weekend helping out a friend move some furniture. I thought it handled the trailer great, highway, curves, hills etc. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I feel that the majority of issues towing are people towing too much weight. I know what the limit says, but I agree with several others here. I wouldn’t tow more than 50% of the dry rating.

 

[Midwest Duo]

Just towed my teardrop trailer today… so this is fresh.

I’m sick and tired of being messaged CONSTANTLY that certain features are disabled. Yes! Of course they are! Tow button pressed!!! 7-Pin connected. I disabled what I have to per the manual (page 212).

Why is certain tech in this $70K vehicle so bad? Where is the STFU button?! Ok. Rant over.

 

[MSINAL]

Just towed my teardrop trailer today… so this is fresh.

I’m sick and tired of being messaged CONSTANTLY that certain features are disabled. Yes! Of course they are! Tow button pressed!!! 7-Pin connected. I disabled what I have to per the manual (page 212).

Why is certain tech in this $70K vehicle so bad? Where is the STFU button?! Ok. Rant over.

Definitely needs the stfu option!

 

[EOD Guy]

Just towed my teardrop trailer today… so this is fresh.

I’m sick and tired of being messaged CONSTANTLY that certain features are disabled. Yes! Of course they are! Tow button pressed!!! 7-Pin connected. I disabled what I have to per the manual (page 212).

Why is certain tech in this $70K vehicle so bad? Where is the STFU button?! Ok. Rant over.

If Toyota ever offers this, they should label it "STFU"

 

[Winchester44]

I've towed right at 2.5 Tons pounds on a dual axle trailer and lots of smaller ones. I had read some negative press on towing, but it was absolutely fine at 5,000 pounds. Overall great and capable vehicle at that weight minus the tiny fuel tank for the petrol hybrid. I would be aware of the published limitations and definitely read the manual as there are a lot of electronic setting related to towing and getting the hitch cover off. All the cameras and tight turning radius make backing the trailer a dream. I'm coming from a Toyota Tundra with the big 5.7 V8. That truck was certainly capable of towing more weight vs. the Land Cruiser, but honestly I like this powertrain better. The Tundra was always hunting for the right gear. The LC seems to always be in the right gear once you engage tow haul mode.

You might like this video:

 

[Midwest Duo]

I've towed right at 2.5 Tons pounds on a dual axle trailer and lots of smaller ones. I had read some negative press on towing, but it was absolutely fine at 5,000 pounds. Overall great and capable vehicle at that weight minus the tiny fuel tank for the petrol hybrid. I would be aware of the published limitations and definitely read the manual as there are a lot of electronic setting related to towing and getting the hitch cover off. All the cameras and tight turning radius make backing the trailer a dream. I'm coming from a Toyota Tundra with the big 5.7 V8. That truck was certainly capable of towing more weight vs. the Land Cruiser, but honestly I like this powertrain better. The Tundra was always hunting for the right gear. The LC seems to always be in the right gear once you engage tow haul mode.

You might like this video:

My problem is not with the towing capability, it’s with the truly shitty driver experience while doing so. I find the constant messages a distraction from the task at hand. It’s like pop-up ads on my phone pointing out the obvious.

 

[RideWithYanu]

Those pop ups when you turn the sensors off are

 

[ultane]

You might like this video:

Such incompetence.. which is why I told YouTube to not recommend that channel several years ago. They couldn’t be bothered to call the dealer, or anyone to figure out how to use the brake controller… Or even search for ‘Brake Controller’ in the owners manual. Instead blaming Toyota for a faulty designed or implemented vehicle.

 

[WeGo250]

Such incompetence.. which is why I told YouTube to not recommend that channel several years ago. They couldn’t be bothered to call the dealer, or anyone to figure out how to use the brake controller… Or even search for ‘Brake Controller’ in the owners manual. Instead blaming Toyota for a faulty designed or implemented vehicle.

The first time I hooked up a trailer to tow the system showed that my trailer was connected, but when I went to adjust the gain it stated that the TBC was not turned on. I went into the options and it was in fact turned on and the electric low-weight range was selected. The owners manual was in fact not helpful at all, mentioned no trouble shooting that was helpful. I called two or three dealers here in Western Washington with nobody having any ideas what to do, even called and talked to the service dept at Ed Martin Toyota who seems to (as far as dealerships go) know quite a lot about the new LC's, and again no help. Finally I went back into the settings and adjusted the TBC to the electric high-weight range, and only then would the TBC actually let me adjust the gain. No rhyme or reason why the TBC logic is set up that way........ I was then able to after that use the TBC with full functionality in low-weight range again. I don't think TFL was at fault for that scenario, they did look through the manual which is not helpful at trouble shooting the TBC.

 

[RideWithYanu]

The first time I hooked up a trailer to tow the system showed that my trailer was connected, but when I went to adjust the gain it stated that the TBC was not turned on. I went into the options and it was in fact turned on and the electric low-weight range was selected. The owners manual was in fact not helpful at all, mentioned no trouble shooting that was helpful. I called two or three dealers here in Western Washington with nobody having any ideas what to do, even called and talked to the service dept at Ed Martin Toyota who seems to (as far as dealerships go) know quite a lot about the new LC's, and again no help. Finally I went back into the settings and adjusted the TBC to the electric high-weight range, and only then would the TBC actually let me adjust the gain. No rhyme or reason why the TBC logic is set up that way........ I was then able to after that use the TBC with full functionality in low-weight range again. I don't think TFL was at fault for that scenario, they did look through the manual which is not helpful at trouble shooting the TBC.

Which version of the manual are you looking at? I was able to extract the following steps from the version currently posted on Toyota’s website, which seem to provide what you need in a straightforward way:

Check trailer brakes – Make sure the trailer brakes are in good working order and functioning normally. See trailer dealer if needed.
Manual page 455

1. Hook up the trailer – Connect the trailer and make proper electrical connections.
   Manual page 455
2. Select brake type – On the multi-information display, select the correct type of trailer brakes (electric or electric-over-hydraulic).
   Manual page 455
3. Test drive – Drive the vehicle with trailer attached on a level, traffic-free road that matches your towing conditions. Maintain 20–25 mph (35–40 km/h).
   Manual page 455
4. Set starting gain – Using the GAIN (+/–) buttons, set the starting gain to 5.0.
   Manual page 455
5. Apply manual brake – While driving at 20–25 mph, fully apply the manual brake slider.
   Manual page 456
6. Adjust the gain – Use the GAIN (+/–) buttons to increase or decrease gain until just below trailer wheel lock-up (wheel squeal or smoke).
   Manual page 456
7. Confirm setting – Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the correct gain is reached (just below lock-up).
   Manual page 456

Additional notes:

• Gain must be readjusted whenever load, road, or weather conditions change. Page 455
• Setting gain to 0 disables trailer brake output. Page 455
• Heavily loaded trailers may not lock up; in that case, set gain to the highest safe level. Page 456
• System does not work with surge-type hydraulic brakes. Page 456

Seems like solid instructions.

 

[WeGo250]

Which version of the manual are you looking at? I was able to extract the following steps from the version currently posted on Toyota’s website, which seem to provide what you need in a straightforward way:

Check trailer brakes – Make sure the trailer brakes are in good working order and functioning normally. See trailer dealer if needed.
Manual page 455

1. Hook up the trailer – Connect the trailer and make proper electrical connections.
   Manual page 455
2. Select brake type – On the multi-information display, select the correct type of trailer brakes (electric or electric-over-hydraulic).
   Manual page 455
3. Test drive – Drive the vehicle with trailer attached on a level, traffic-free road that matches your towing conditions. Maintain 20–25 mph (35–40 km/h).
   Manual page 455
4. Set starting gain – Using the GAIN (+/–) buttons, set the starting gain to 5.0.
   Manual page 455
5. Apply manual brake – While driving at 20–25 mph, fully apply the manual brake slider.
   Manual page 456
6. Adjust the gain – Use the GAIN (+/–) buttons to increase or decrease gain until just below trailer wheel lock-up (wheel squeal or smoke).
   Manual page 456
7. Confirm setting – Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the correct gain is reached (just below lock-up).
   Manual page 456

Additional notes:

• Gain must be readjusted whenever load, road, or weather conditions change. Page 455
• Setting gain to 0 disables trailer brake output. Page 455
• Heavily loaded trailers may not lock up; in that case, set gain to the highest safe level. Page 456
• System does not work with surge-type hydraulic brakes. Page 456

Seems like solid instructions.

These are pretty darn good instructions, but, you must not have read where I said the TBC was in fact set to the electric low-weight setting but when I tried to adjust gain it told me the system was turned off.......... In the TBC settings there are low-weight electric, high-weight electric, low-weight EOH, high-weight EOH, or OFF. Apologies I don't know the actual weight ranges listed in the settings......

Again, the system was turned on by default by having a weight selected and brake type selected. For whatever reason it would not work until I "randomly" selected the higher electric range.........

 

[WeGo250]

Which version of the manual are you looking at? I was able to extract the following steps from the version currently posted on Toyota’s website, which seem to provide what you need in a straightforward way:

Check trailer brakes – Make sure the trailer brakes are in good working order and functioning normally. See trailer dealer if needed.
Manual page 455

1. Hook up the trailer – Connect the trailer and make proper electrical connections.
   Manual page 455
2. Select brake type – On the multi-information display, select the correct type of trailer brakes (electric or electric-over-hydraulic).
   Manual page 455
3. Test drive – Drive the vehicle with trailer attached on a level, traffic-free road that matches your towing conditions. Maintain 20–25 mph (35–40 km/h).
   Manual page 455
4. Set starting gain – Using the GAIN (+/–) buttons, set the starting gain to 5.0.
   Manual page 455
5. Apply manual brake – While driving at 20–25 mph, fully apply the manual brake slider.
   Manual page 456
6. Adjust the gain – Use the GAIN (+/–) buttons to increase or decrease gain until just below trailer wheel lock-up (wheel squeal or smoke).
   Manual page 456
7. Confirm setting – Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the correct gain is reached (just below lock-up).
   Manual page 456

Additional notes:

• Gain must be readjusted whenever load, road, or weather conditions change. Page 455
• Setting gain to 0 disables trailer brake output. Page 455
• Heavily loaded trailers may not lock up; in that case, set gain to the highest safe level. Page 456
• System does not work with surge-type hydraulic brakes. Page 456

Seems like solid instructions.

There is also a definite logic to which vehicle safety settings need to be turned off for the cruise control to work while towing a trailer that the manual does not cover......

 

[RideWithYanu]

These are pretty darn good instructions, but, you must not have read where I said the TBC was in fact set to the electric low-weight setting but when I tried to adjust gain it told me the system was turned off.......... In the TBC settings there are low-weight electric, high-weight electric, low-weight EOH, high-weight EOH, or OFF. Apologies I don't know the actual weight ranges listed in the settings......

Again, the system was turned on by default by having a weight selected and brake type selected. For whatever reason it would not work until I "randomly" selected the higher electric range.........

This line on page 456 is probably hinting at what you experienced:

“Some electric-over-hydraulic trailer brakes will take some minimum output to activate.”

That sounds a lot like what you ran into: in certain modes (or with certain modules), the baseline output may be too low for the trailer’s brake controller to recognize, so the system feels “off” (and won’t let you set a value) until you bump the output higher. After that first activation, the system behaves normally. Guessing here, so no need to criticize my reading.

My read is that the lack of detail in the instructions is deliberate. Manufacturers often keep towing guidance fairly general to limit liability; they don’t want to publish detailed procedures that could be misapplied with different trailer types, brake controllers, or load conditions, or by users with little towing experience.

I haven’t used the brake controller myself, so don’t have firsthand experience with interpreting the manual in a real-life scenario.

 

[ultane]

I don't think TFL was at fault for that scenario, they did look through the manual which is not helpful at trouble shooting the TBC.

They said… AND SHOWED, that they just looked up ‘Trailer Towing’. They have a lot of nothing to say, that should not need to take up 30-35 min of peoples time.

 

[ultane]

My read is that the lack of detail in the instructions is deliberate. Manufacturers often keep towing guidance fairly general to limit liability; they don’t want to publish detailed procedures that could be misapplied with different trailer types, brake controllers, or load conditions, or by users with little towing experience.

I haven’t used the brake controller myself, so don’t have firsthand experience with interpreting the manual in a real-life scenario.

Having used trailer brakes in the past, in my opinion, the instructions in the Toyota manual are in fact detailed enough to allow anyone to use their Toyota trailer brakes, without ANY problems. This isn’t rocket science..

 

[WeGo250]

Having used trailer brakes in the past, in my opinion, the instructions in the Toyota manual are in fact detailed enough to allow anyone to use their Toyota trailer brakes, without ANY problems. This isn’t rocket science..

I can use the TBC just fine, have used them plenty in multiple vehicles, and agree that as far as usage goes, the manual is in fact just fine.

However though my vehicle for some reason required me to select the heavier Electric setting for the controller to in fact internally turn on. In the lower weight range, which matches what I was towing, the dash did confirm that the trailer was hooked up/connected, but initially while originally in the lower weight range would tell me the TBC was not turned on. in our LC's having a brake type/weight range selected is by default "turned on".

 

[Midwest Duo]

First long trip with our teardrop… I decided that if the LC wants to tell me blah, blah, blah is disabled, ok. I’ll just be here enjoying the beautiful Northern CA coast.

On the ride home, when the message first popped up leaving the campground, I let it sit there for about 50 miles or so before I really wanted to see my tire pressure gauge… I acknowledged the message, changed to the display I wanted, and get this… didn’t see the message pop up the rest of the trip home (160 miles?)

Maybe it’s like a child. Ignore the games and they get bored and move on.