2024 Toyota Land Cruiser: How Well Does It Tow?

The new 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser is only available with a single powertrain, a gasoline-electric hybrid with a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder making a respectable 326 horsepower, and thanks to the electric motor sitting between the engine and eight-speed automatic transmission, an impressive 465 pounds-feet of torque. Even with only four cylinders, the Land Cruiser offers a decent towing capacity of 6,000 pounds. But a number is only a number, so how well does it actually tow?
Related: Is the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser a Good SUV? 5 Pros, 2 Cons
Towing Credentials
While not the main focus, it is clear that Toyota spent significant time on towing. With a factory installed trailer brake controller, four- and seven-pin trailer wiring, and a standard receiver hitch, it comes set up with all the needed hardware from the factory. On top of that, there are software aids for setting up specific trailer types.
Toyota recommends using sway control for any load over 2,000 pounds and a weight-distribution hitch for anything over 5,000 pounds. With an as-tested payload rating of 957 pounds, there’s plenty of room for Toyota’s recommended 9%-11% trailer tongue weight.
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What I Towed
The trailer I use in my towing tests (such as with the Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier) is almost always this same travel trailer. It weighs approximately 4,700 pounds; is 22 feet long, 8 feet wide and 10 feet tall; has a tongue weight of 490 pounds; and has similar aerodynamics to a billboard. The reason I use this trailer is because it’s light enough to be within the tow rating of most vehicles but is still very challenging to tow because of the high center of gravity and massive flat sides.

I use a Fastway Flash Scale Ball Mount to connect the trailer and tow vehicle together. This adjustable height ball mount is used, but for testing purposes, not a weight distribution hitch. I’m a mechanical engineer and former product engineer for Progress Manufacturing in Utah, makers of the Equal-i-zer hitch and Fastway Flash ball mounts. Using a high-end weight-distribution hitch with sway control would mask some vehicle characteristics, as the hitch would reduce trailer sway and instability, rather than the tow vehicle having to manage all that on its own.
One major flaw I’ve experienced with multiple Toyota vehicles equipped with a factory trailer brake controller is the complete nonfunction of the brake controller until a trailer is selected in the gauge cluster. You cannot simply hook up a trailer, adjust the gain and go like a normal brake controller; even with the trailer wiring connected properly, the trailer brake controller will not function without first having a trailer selected.
Towing Route
My towing route includes a variety of road types — everything from small side roads, steep and curvy mountain climbs, steep grades going back down the mountain, and four-lane highway and freeway — and elevation starts at 4,550 feet and tops out at 6,170 feet. All of this is done in just under 25 miles of driving. The mountain climb portion gains 1,500 feet of elevation in a little under 5 miles; this averages out to a 6% grade, and some short sections top out at nearly 10% with longer sections of 8%. Having such variety gives a good feeling for how the vehicle can tow in a variety of conditions and speeds both up and down steep grades.
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How Does the 2024 Land Cruiser Tow?
Unladen, the Land Cruiser is floaty and feels heavy, making it a little unwieldy in comparison to mid-size pickup trucks and even compared to its sibling, the Lexus GX. This gave me concerns for how it would handle the trailer when towing. Turns out those concerns were unfounded.

Merging onto the freeway with a fairly steep uphill on-ramp required full throttle for the 2024 Land Cruiser to get the trailer up to speed. Once at speed, there was minimal sway from the trailer, and it felt stable overall. I did notice a small amount of movement from the bow wave of a passing semi that didn’t completely upset the Land Cruiser but did cause some side-to-side sway.
From there, driving the four-lane highway with frequent traffic signals wasn’t an issue. Once properly set up, Toyota’s factory trailer brakes worked well in bringing the combination to a smooth stop without additional driver input. Getting up to highway speed also wasn’t an issue thanks to the 465 pounds-feet of torque.
Moving to the mountain climb was an interesting feeling. The torque felt endless, and I needed less throttle than expected for most of the climb. However, going from partial throttle to full throttle didn’t bring a whole lot more acceleration. It felt really good and confident while cruising but lacking in the top end at the same time. Ultimately, keeping up with the 45 mph speed limit for the entire length of the grade wasn’t an issue.
The estimated fuel mileage based on the vehicle’s trip computer is 11.4 mpg. This is slightly above average for vehicles in this test. Most report between 9 mpg and 11 mpg. This is just a ballpark figure, as this was a very short distance test, and trip computers aren’t exactly known to provide highly accurate values in short drives.
Towing Takeaways
While the 2024 Land Cruiser is a stable towing platform, be sure to follow Toyota’s recommendation of using a weight-distribution hitch and sway control above 2,000 and 5,000 pounds, respectively. I always recommend using a weight-distribution hitch with sway control for any trailer with a high center of gravity and broad sides.
Having such a high torque output makes for an excellent towing experience overall. Despite having suspension the glides over rough terrain when leaving the pavement, the 2024 Land Cruiser still makes for a stable towing platform.




























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