Towing concerns about 2015 Toyota RAV4

And any gear in the car itself cuts down on the tow weight .

Really???

Golly!!

Tester

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Just goes to show how any comment can be easily misinterpreted. Donā€™t ever ever ever go to AAMCO. Really though 1500# is not much. When I tow though, I just use the manual shift option so I can choose when to shift and not cause clutch slippage.

Guess I didnā€™t catch the AAMCO joke.

I will try another independent for a second opinion.

:+1:
That bears repeating!

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There is no guarantee a local trans shop will be better, had good and bad experiences with our local.

Of course!
That is why folks should solicit recommendations for local shops from friends, neighbors, relatives, and co-workers. Many years ago, a friend had a very negative experience with an indy trans shop that had been open for less than one year. Shortly after his bad experience, they closed their doors permanently.

An indy trans shop that has been in business for at least 3 or 4 years, and which is recommended by people whom you know, would undoubtedly be preferable to an AAMCO shop.

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Yup but times can change. Iā€™ve used one shop for gee, maybe 30 years. Then my last trip for a fluid change, the guy had retired. Still one of the oldsters in charge but you never know who the current mechanics are. They can move with the wind. This is the one that changed my oil instead of the trans fluid. They made good on it and everything and just cost me another trip and me doing an unscheduled oil change just to get their stuff out, but still made me wonder a little and file it away in my head. Not the first time that great mechanics have left and the replacements left a lot to be desired. So I guess you never know for sure.

My wife and I went on a Model T tour. We towed a 1924 Willys Overland on a car trailer with a 1990 Dodge Caravan. The trans was becoming so hot that the fluid was boiling out. We had a large cooler installed and it did the trick. Go to another place and have it done.

At 75 MPH youā€™re on the edge of disaster if you lose a tire on your boat trailer. Best thing you can do is lower your speed to somewhere near the posted limit.
Your towing capacity is probably an arbitrary figure given IDEAL conditions.
The relatively short wheelbase on your RAV4 would be a real disadvantage if the rig starts to sway.
By the way, have you read the Toyota ownerā€™s manual? Iā€™m sure high speeds are not recommended by the maker.

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Seeing we donā€™t know where they are, 75 might be the posted speed limit.
Parts of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas , Utah, and Wyoming are 80 mph,
There is a stretch of highway in Texas that 85 mph is the speed limit.

It does not matter what the posted speed is it is what the safe speed is also when towing anything your speed needā€™s to be lowered. Boat trailerā€™s usualy have smaller wheelā€™s & the few that I have seen have the max. speed on the tireā€™s.

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The problem with hills is that they often cause the torque converter to unlock, resulting in massive amounts of heat being generated in the transmission fluid. Locked up, an automatic transmission does not have (to a handwaving approximation) any more problems with a load behind it than without one. The problem that towing creates is that the transmission will run with the torque converter unlocked more frequently and for longer.

By the way, the towing limit on most vehicles is probably more related to the brakes, than to the transmission or anything else. Starting is optional. Stopping is mandatory.

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For passenger cars.

The towing speed limit in all states is lower than the regular posted limit.
No state has a towing limit higher than 65 MPH.

Follow this link to see what speed you can legally tow your boat. And donā€™t forget that the load in the vehicle counts as part of the weight limit.