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How to Determine if a 2013 Toyota Highlander Limited Can Tow a Trailer with a 5,250 lb GVWR  

Question:

Hi etrailer, I have a 2013 Toyota Hylander Limited and want to tow a 2007 Fleetwood Pegasus Ultralight 19 footer. I am not sure what weight of the travel trailer to use to gauge if my Hylander will be good enough to tow it, do I use the GVW, Dry Weight or the UVW? Here are the specs on my Fleetwood: GVWR - 5,250 Dry - 2,565 And a thread on your site encouraged me by saying I have a 5,000 lb towing weight, but it does not say the size of his travel trailer. Thx, ps- When I tow, all the fluid tanks will be empty, just traveling with standard cargo with wife and 2 kids. Thx

1

Helpful Expert Reply:

If you have a 5,000 lb trailer towing weight capacity for your 2013 Toyota Highlander Limited and you will not be filling your tanks before traveling then you should be okay. The difference between your dry trailer weight and the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is 2,685 lbs. Since the GVWR is the max weight that your 2007 Fleetwood Pegasus Ultralite can weigh that means you have to take a lot of cargo with you.

Be sure to check your owner's manual to ensure that you do have a trailer towing weight rating of 5,000 lbs before traveling. If you have the model code ASU40L-ARTNKA for your Highlander then you can only tow 3,500 lbs. It would be worth noting as well that on page 256 of the online version of your owner's manual the trailer needs to have brakes otherwise the total weight cannot exceed 1,000 lbs.

If you don't already have a trailer hitch and wiring then I recommend using the Draw-Tite # 75726 and the Curt # 56042 if you do have the factory tow package or the Tekonsha # 118449 if you don't have the factory tow package. To utilize brakes you also need to install the Wiring Kit # ETBC7 and use a brake controller like the popular Prodigy P3 # 90195. I have attached an installation video of both of these products on a 2013 Highlander for you to reference.

For any trailer that weighs at least half of the weight of the tow vehicle we recommend using a Weight Distribution (WD) system such as the Fastway e2 # FA92-00-0800 which would be perfect for your application. You just need a hitch ball like the # A-90 or the # 19286 and a thin-walled socket like part # EQ70-00-4800 to install it.

Please check out the attached towing articles and review videos I have linked.

expert reply by:
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Jon G
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Instructions

Instructions for 118449Instructions for 56042Instructions for 75726Instructions for FA92-00-0800Instructions for C13200

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