A toyota sienna toad
Now that I purchased an Allegro Red I want to tow my 2005 Toyota Sienna LX as a flat tow. Remco makes the transmission pump, I have the new cable for the ReadyBrake, and I believe I will have R&E Raci...
Forum Discussion
crasster wrote:
....I'd call a toyota dealer and get more info.
..In this case, a Toyota dealer's advice would be almost useless. They are going to say they've never heard of, nor do they endorse use of a lube pump. And, they will say the van can't be towed without a dolly or a flat bed trailer, period. Been there, done that.
..Same thing, with your owner's manual in this case.
If Remco indicates that they have a lube pump that will work with the Toyota Sienna minivan, that is probably your only option if you really want to tow the van 4 down.
However, the 'warnings' other posts have mentioned about installing a lube pump are definitely something to consider. A lube pump is a pretty expensive modification to make, and you have to decide if thats what you want to do or not. You'll spend upwards of $1k for the lube pump itself, plus several more hundred in labor to get it installed. Is a 9 year old vehicle worth sinking that much into to make it flat towable, or is that $$ better spent in trading that van for a vehicle that can be flat towed from the factory? Only you can decide that.
..Not to mention, as some already implied: A lube pump is yet one more component you have to worry about, one more place for potential problems to occur. Have to decide if its worth it to you, to be able to tow the vehicle you have.
One other 'controversial' method I've seen some people do, that you might think about as a temporary solution until you can get a vehicle better suited for flat towing: Leave the engine running/idling in the van, tranny in neutral, when towing it. Using this approach, nearly any FWD automatic tranny vehicle can be flat towed. That approach saves you the cost of a lube pump, but isn't without its downsides, either: Uses up more fuel, will almost certainly log miles on the toad odometer when towing it, and concerns over engine running in toad when you can't monitor it very well.
We towed a minivan (a Kia Sedona) for a while, using a lube pump. It worked OK, but ultimately we got to where we just didn't trust the lube pump anymore for various reasons, and got a vehicle that is flat-towable from the factory (Ford Fusion hybrid we tow now). The lube pump solution can work, but like I said, it comes with its own set of pros and cons, like anything else.
