Nice. I know that you think HEMI is better, but I have Sequoia and I had Durango HEMI, and love my sequoia better for towing. As far as fuel and upgrades under $1,000 - I would recomend you putting that money aside for a trip. You are not going to find anything to improve dramaticaly with $1,000. My only advise would be (as far as up-grades for towing) is get a Supercharger, and then definately you would of noticed a big difference in towing and gas savings. But Supercharger is expensive, and hard to find. So for this Alaska trip, get extra canisters of Gas and fill up with premium gas, and don't driver over 60mph with overdrive off. I drove to Fairbanks Alaska straight from Sarasota Florida, and its a bit over 5000 miles. Enjoy your trip, and I hope you have fun!
Here is my trip with my toy hauler (21 feet long and about 6,000 loaded) - in TN rest area
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2006 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4x4 w/ lxr package, 7008 navi, rear entartaiment system, 20" x-sp enkei
2001 Toyota Tundra SR5 4x4 Supercharged w/ lots of miles on it!
