My 2 cents...a black sheep view.
Watch out for spending dollars to save dimes.
If your vehicle is throwing codes on the OBD-II port, by all means, address those issues. Otherwise, you're going to spend a ton to get marginal improvements.
Essentials for towing:
- Clean air filter;
- Fresh oil and filter;
- Accessory drive belts in good shape;
- Coolant fush and refill;
- Brake fluid drain and refill...have you ever done this?
- Transmission flush, fill and service;
- Differentials drain and refill;
- Check your U-Joints and CV Joints;
- Check your brakes...pads and rotors.
Those are the basics, and they will set you back at least a kilobuck.
If you start digging into plugs, plug wires, induction and exhaust carbon buildup, injectors, and so on, you may add another $2K to that.
I don't presume all your trips will be 115 mile round trips. But let's use 500 miles round trip as an example.
If you got 7 MPG over 500 miles and gas costs $5.00/gallon, you'll spend $357 on gas.
Now let's up the mileage to 10 MPG. Gas would cost $250.
You'd save $107 on fuel.
Let's say you go all in with engine tweaks to extract that 10 MPG towing at a cost of $2000. You'd have to make almost nineteen round trips of 500 miles to recover your investment.
3 MPG increase is likely to be some serious wishful thinking. That's a 43% increase in fuel economy...one helluva lot to ask from a "tune up", especially on a vehicle that's computer controlled and port fuel injected (2008).
My bulleted list is what you more or less MUST do to tow safely and not ruin your Sequoia due to lack of maintenance. The tune up list only addresses performance and efficiency. From your OP, I detect no comments about the vehicle not running well.
If you're going to be a frequent long-hauler with your RV, by all means make the investment...or perhaps buy a new TV that's twice as efficient. But if you're going to go out 5 to 10 times a year and be largely local (115 miles round trip), think long and hard before buying new fuel injectors, etc.
Alternatively, park the Sequoia and use it mostly for towing, and get yourself a Prius as a daily driver. Then you save some serious bucks on gas...and preserve that Sequoia as a workhorse. That, in fact, is what I do. My 2006 RAM 1500 has barely 100,000 miles on it. We bought it for towing and work...and an occasional off-road romp on two-tracks in the mountains. It's not a grocery getter or commuter car.
By the way, when towing, I see lots of 7s on the display. Dead flat and no wind, I might see 9 or 10. But I NEVER exceed 60 MPH...as much as anything to baby the RV tires. Empty, on the other hand, I'll get 17 mpg all day and sometimes see as much as 20. So when I'm towing, my mileage is cut in half or worse.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents...like I said, a black sheep viewpoint.
Linear Mode
