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The truck has 8k miles. I have had it about 14 months and mainly use it for towing. The battery reads 12.2v this morning and it read 12.3v yesterday morning. This is what I have come to expect. It goes to 15v on startup and after a couple of miles it drops down to 12.6 while driving. It starts up but it cranks like the battery is not fully charged (which it’s not)
One effect of this is that the trailers batteries actually drop while I am towing. I have the tow/haul switch engaged while towing which I have read is supposed to step up the charging but that doesn’t seem to be the case.You should have a sticker on the drivers door that lists the GAWR this is the gross axle weight front and rear. It is this number, which is you, any passengers, all your stuff, and the tongue weight of the trailer. This is what the cars suspension is designed to carry, it doesn’t go into power to climb a grade or braking. My guess is you have sufficient capacity to tow what you are talking about. The trailer’s axle will support 90 percent of the towed weight. This is a big plus over hanging the entire weight of the scooter off the back of your car. My thinking is that a car and trailer would drive better than a car with weight hung off the back. You really want sufficient tongue weight to keep the trailer from swaying. I’m sure there are good hitches for your car
The dirty little secret is that GAWR is more accurate than any towing spec from the manufacturer. Maybe talk to a reputable trailer dealer.
I have three trailers; a 29′ airstream that tows like a dream; a boat that tows like a pig; and a new 5×8 utility trailer I got to replace my pickup which has enough tongue weight to tow pretty well. Remember that backing a small trailer takes some practice.
You should have a sticker on the drivers door that lists the GAWR this is the gross axle weight front and rear. It is this number, which is you, any passengers, all your stuff, and the tongue weight of the trailer. This is what the cars suspension is designed to carry, it doesn’t go into power to climb a grade or braking. My guess is you have sufficient capacity to tow what you are talking about. The trailer’s axle will support 90 percent of the towed weight. This is a big plus over hanging the entire weight of the scooter off the back of your car. My thinking is that a car and trailer would drive better than a car with weight hung off the back. You really want sufficient tongue weight to keep the trailer from swaying. I’m sure there are good hitches for your car
The dirty little secret is that GAWR is more accurate than any towing spec from the manufacturer. Maybe talk to a reputable trailer dealer.
I have three trailers; a 29′ airstream that tows like a dream; a boat that tows like a pig; and a new 5×8 utility trailer I got to replace my pickup which has enough tongue weight to tow pretty well. Remember that backing a small trailer takes some practice.
This morning I called the dealer that serviced the car before I got it and he measured a dipstick for me which I will compare when the car comes home later today. I now expect my dipstick to be correct.
He also checked with his master techs that have 20 and25 years on these cars. They were surprised the spec is 4 quarts as they always use a little less than 6 quarts on an oil change. How about that? I’m thinking now the dipstick is right and the spec is wrong.
Thanks for helping me think this through. I will follow up when I compare the measurements
This morning I called the dealer that serviced the car before I got it and he measured a dipstick for me which I will compare when the car comes home later today. I now expect my dipstick to be correct.
He also checked with his master techs that have 20 and25 years on these cars. They were surprised the spec is 4 quarts as they always use a little less than 6 quarts on an oil change. How about that? I’m thinking now the dipstick is right and the spec is wrong.
Thanks for helping me think this through. I will follow up when I compare the measurements
I am for sure pushing the dipstick all the way in.
I am waiting several minutes for the oil to drain back into the sump before I check it.
I guess my question is whether it’s possible that the capacity of the sump is like 5.5 qts in spite of what the owners manual says.
for example I have 3 identical old mercedes with the same engine. They have a capacity of slightly less than 8 qts, and when I put that amount of oil in they are at max on the dipstick.
This mazda would take like 5.5 qts to read full on the dipstick; like 1.5 quarts more than the specification. I Just want to know if there is any reason the capacity is really 5.5 qts. I
I am for sure pushing the dipstick all the way in.
I am waiting several minutes for the oil to drain back into the sump before I check it.
I guess my question is whether it’s possible that the capacity of the sump is like 5.5 qts in spite of what the owners manual says.
for example I have 3 identical old mercedes with the same engine. They have a capacity of slightly less than 8 qts, and when I put that amount of oil in they are at max on the dipstick.
This mazda would take like 5.5 qts to read full on the dipstick; like 1.5 quarts more than the specification. I Just want to know if there is any reason the capacity is really 5.5 qts. I
I too have heard bad things about old dex-cool. I understood that it was introduced to work with the reverse-flow cooling in the vortec v-8s.
Older Mercedes Benzes use an element style filter. If you ever get a chance, look at the manual to see just how complicated the filter and housing together are. My wife has a 1995 E320 with an inline twin cam 6 she says she wants to keep it forever. Changing the oil is a dream. After you have unscrewed the canister housing and lifted it to drain back you then pump the oil out through the dip stick tube. the only time you have any contact with oil is when you unsnap the cartridge from the housing and replace the one oring. Go get a cup of coffee and when you come back the oil is in the vacuum tank. (These cars are designed to have the oil pumped out and eventually I believe they even made them with a drain plug)
Anyway, you never have to jack the car up and the filter never drips on everything.
Do you have good grounds between the engine and the frame/battery? Eric has a couple of videos about looking for current loss. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Is there a lip on the brake drum where the old shoes did not touch? Sometimes I have encounter that. If you take a shoe off does the curve of the new shoe match the curve of your drum?
People used to arch the shoes to match the curve of the drum with a special grinder that made the arch of the shoe the same as the arch of the drum. I would think they do not do it anymore. I would be careful about breathing any of the brake material as it has been nosty stuff traditionally.
It is very unlikely that the arch of a new drum would be larger than your old drum’s arch. Also compare the new and old shoes to make sure they are the same.
Does your e-brake work and is all the tension off the e-brake cable?
after 50 miles around town and 250 miles of towing the check engine light has stayed off. I have owned this truck from new and I am not sure this thing ever ran this smooth. Thanks again.
In the US the 4wd version of the hilux has 4 piston calipers and the 2wd has one piston sliding calipers. The 4 piston calipers begin to bind up and 1 or the other pistons stops moving so there is less effect on that side and the overall braking decreases. On my 1988 4runner what you may call a Surf, the inner pistons on one side stopped working and as a result the side of the brake rotor that you can see through the wheel looks fine but the inside is making less to no contact and if you continue to drive that way long enough it can get really rusty from lack of use but but still sort of stop. Here, there are enough of these trucks around that rebuilt calipers are very affordable for both the 4piston and single piston calipers. If you have the single piston caliper a sticking slide can make the brake half work like the 4piston.
The single piston caliper can stick on. This makes the car brake more to one side because one caliper is dragging and is hot and ready to go I guess. If after driving you can sort of roll to a stop and get out and feel of the wheels a hot wheel has a dragging caliper. Note this can be really hot.