thronson

Now that we are on the subject of towing, here is my question: I am in the market to replace my great 2001 LX with (I had planned) a new 2007 LX. I love the reliability, comfort for my bad back and build quality of my LX, and happen to think that the LX styling has aged gracefully, if at all. I am nervous that I won't like the replacement as much.

However, I also just bought a trailerable boat, with a dry weight of 7500 lbs, so for the first time I checked the towing capacity of the LX--6500 lbs. The new Mercedes GL has a rated towing capacity of 7500 lbs, and even the Cayenne has a rated towing capacity of 7700 lbs (!). So I have something of a dilemma. Why would the LX be rated so much lower when it has so much torque and is so well-built? Who rates these things, anyway? The manufacturer, DOT, or ???. Would it be safe to tow this 7500 lb boat with a 6500 lb rated vehicle, even for a short distance? How about a longer distance, like 700 miles?

Thanks for any info.

thronson

Sorry, just found the August discussion. I am interested in who sets the rating, and why buying a Reese hitch, for instance, dramatically increases the towing capacity.

dcentric

To be frank i'd be very cautious about towing a 7500 lb boat, especially at high altitudes. You definitely want a transmission cooler but that said, I used to pull my Mastercraft when we lived in Reno (5000 ft elv) and it pulled it well on a flat but any kind of uphill was less than optimal. If you're wanting to pull something that heavy you're going to want more torque than a 4.7 liter will give. Might i suggest you get a Ford F150 with a 5+ liter engine to pull it and save yourself the cash/stress of a new LX470. Remember, there's no replacement for displacement.

Hope that helps.