All good things must come to an end, and, in our 'Can My Vehicle Be Towed?' series, this is the end of the line. If you've enjoyed these articles, let us know in the comments!
This week, we'll be looking at Toyota vehicles. Toyota is a manufacturer that doesn't make any current year-model flat-towable vehicles (not without third-party modification at least), but some of their older vehicles - especially their sedans - can be towed and make for great, reliable options.
Before we get into all of that though, let's cover our usual disclaimer:
This article series isn't designed to dive into the details of every single towable vehicle. While we may reference specific cars as examples, this series is designed to give you general guidelines and words of wisdom when it comes to entire vehicle lineups. The things we cover here will be generally true across all flat towable models of a particular make - or, at least, true in the majority of cases. However, as with any guidance we give in this area, it's very important you review the Recreational Towing section of your vehicle's Owner's Manual. That's the only way to verify that the things we discuss here are applicable to your car.
Now, having said all that, let's look deeper at Toyotas!
The Complexity Scale
Toyota models that are flat-towable are extremely easy to tow.
Really the only added layer of complexity to things is that there are several models of Toyota that have Active braking systems instead of Vacuum ones. That means that your supplemental braking system will need to be set to accommodate Active brakes in order to make sure your tires don't lock up while driving. On an RVibrake3, that simply means setting your brake to the 'Active' setting on your Command Center. On an RVibrake Shadow, you'll need to install the brake using the instructions for Active vehicles.
Because there are many Toyota vehicles that utilize these Active brakes, we'll give them a 2 on the Complexity Scale instead of a 1.
Again, Toyotas are incredibly easy to tow and make for a great option!
What Additional Equipment Do I Need To Tow?
As of time of writing (2024), no Toyota models need any additional equipment beyond maybe a brace or bracket to keep your portable supplemental braking system from sliding under the seat (for example, every RVibrake3 comes with our Phantom Bracket). Outside of this, you won't need to do any special modification to your vehicle to make it towable.
Recommended Model
We believe the best bang for your buck here is a sedan of some kind. A lot of the manufacturers we've looked at specialize in trucks or SUVs, so Toyotas are a great option if you need something smaller.
You can't ever go wrong with a model like the Corolla or Camry. However, we're going to give the edge to the Corolla here, since it was more recently flat-towable (the last towable model of Corolla was in 2020, the last towable model of Camry was 1996).
Conclusion
Thanks so much for joining us on this journey as we've looked at different vehicles and whether or not they're towable. Hopefully this series has been informative for you. If you have any questions beyond what we've talked about in these posts, don't hesitate to reach out to our Customer Service Team at (800) 815-2159 or by sending an email to contact@rvibrake.com.
And, in the meantime, happy RVing!
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