Towing a Jay Feather 19H with a 2009 Nissan Pathfinder SE

handye9 wrote:

Ryan01463 wrote:
I'm looking at WD Hitches and adding the airlift 1000 to the rear springs to keep the rear from any possible sagging.

If it were me, I would look at Andersen WD hitches.

Reasons being:

Standard WD hitches require lubrication (this collects dirt) on the trunion bars, hitch head, and the ball. Andersen hitch requires no lubrication of any kind. If you wanted to throw your hitch in the back end of your Pathfinder, cleaning up from an Andersen hitch, could be done with a vaccum cleaner. The other hitches could be a different story. A common response to questions about which grease to use on standard WD hitches is "whatever color matches your clothing".

Andersen hitch has been reported as working very well on trailers of the size you are looking at. I've been using one, 4 - 5 years now, with a much heavier trailer.

Standard WD hitches are known for groaning noises, while backing and turning. These noises are non existant with the Andersen WD hitch.

Standard hitches weigh an average of 80 to 100 lbs. Andersen hitch weighs 60 lbs, including the parts that stay on the trailer. Putting the hitch in and out of the receiver, is much easier and cleaner.

Andersen hitch has built in sway control.

Thanks for the advice, I'll look into them. Any insight on the WD hitches from etrailer?

Ryan01463 wrote:
I'm looking at WD Hitches and adding the airlift 1000 to the rear springs to keep the rear from any possible sagging.

If it were me, I would look at Andersen WD hitches.

Reasons being:

Standard WD hitches require lubrication (this collects dirt) on the trunion bars, hitch head, and the ball. Andersen hitch requires no lubrication of any kind. If you wanted to throw your hitch in the back end of your Pathfinder, cleaning up from an Andersen hitch, could be done with a vaccum cleaner. The other hitches could be a different story. A common response to questions about which grease to use on standard WD hitches is "whatever color matches your clothing".

Andersen hitch has been reported as working very well on trailers of the size you are looking at. I've been using one, 4 - 5 years now, with a much heavier trailer.

Standard WD hitches are known for groaning noises, while backing and turning. These noises are non existant with the Andersen WD hitch.

Standard hitches weigh an average of 80 to 100 lbs. Andersen hitch weighs 60 lbs, including the parts that stay on the trailer. Putting the hitch in and out of the receiver, is much easier and cleaner.

Andersen hitch has built in sway control.

SoundGuy,

Sorry for your frustration. Regardless of the many million times something has been discussed, us new folks were not privy to those discussions.

If you are tired of this discussion, you could just avoid the thread.

I for one am glad that new TT users are asking the right questions as it is not just their safety at stake. Everyone driving down the road is vulnerable to the other drivers around them.

All of these tongue wgts, dry wgts., gross wgts., etc can be very confusing to us new folks and it may take time to get it straight BUT we are trying to do the right thing.

...off

Ryan01463 wrote:
Mine is a V6 model and came equppied with the Tow Package with a 2" Receiver. Sticker on the trailer hitch says 6000lb Tow Capacity and 600lb Tongue weight. I'm looking at WD Hitches and adding the airlift 1000 to the rear springs to keep the rear from any possible sagging.

handye9 wrote:
When you hang the tongue weight on your hitch, it takes weight off (like a see saw) from your front axle. If the front axle is too light, it can cause sway issues, due to subconscious hand movements and winds pushing on the tow vehicle. The purpose of weight distributing hitch, is to restore weight to your front axle. Airbags will lift the rear of the vehicle and make it look level, but, they will not restore any weight lost from the front end. They can be used with WD hitch and may improve your ride. Just know they are not helping with how the trailer weight is affecting your axles, and should not be used in place of the WD hitch.

Every time I read this sage advice I have to wonder why so many just don't appreciate how important using a properly sized and adjusted weight distribution system is and why air bags are just not the solution. Pretty hard to understand 'cause If this has been repeated once on pretty well every towing forum out there it's surely been repeated hundreds of thousands if not millions of times by now. :S

Yeah, yeah I know ... off my soapbox now. But geez! :R

Ryan01463 wrote:
Mine is a V6 model and came equppied with the Tow Package with a 2" Receiver.

Sticker on the trailer hitch says 6000lb Tow Capacity and 600lb Tongue weight.

I'm looking at WD Hitches and adding the airlift 1000 to the rear springs to keep the rear from any possible sagging.

Just a note:

When you hang the tongue weight on your hitch, it takes weight off (like a see saw) from your front axle.

If the front axle is too light, it can cause sway issues, due to subconscious hand movements and winds pushing on the tow vehicle.

The purpose of weight distributing hitch, is to restore weight to your front axle.

Airbags will lift the rear of the vehicle and make it look level, but, they will not restore any weight lost from the front end. They can be used with WD hitch and may improve your ride. Just know they are not helping with how the trailer weight is affecting your axles, and should not be used in place of the WD hitch.

Suggest you do a search and consider whether the source really knows this vehicle or not.

Airlift- no. WD- yes.

handye9 wrote:


Maybe, maybe not.

These max capacities are manufacturer advertised numbers. They only apply to properly equipped versions of Pathfinders. All others will have max tow capacity of 5000 lbs.

If your vehicle did not come with factory tow package, it's not in the group with 6000 lb tow capacity. There may be some modifications needed, to get it there.

Look for a tire / loading sticker on your drivers door jamb. It should show a max occupant / cargo (payload) weight. That number is your Pathfinder's capacity to carry aftermarket accessories, people, cargo, weight distributing hitch (if needed), and trailer tongue weight, combined.

As you add accessories, people, and cargo, your max available payload and max towing capacity are going down, pound for pound. Example: Put 200 lbs of luggage on the roof rack, and 500 lbs of people and stuff inside the vehicle, it's max towing capacity is 700 lbs less.

The need for a weight distributing hitch is based on trailer weight. If loaded (key word = loaded, not UVW) trailer weight is less than 5000 lbs, WD hitch is not required. Though it may be desired when loaded weight is close to 5000. WD hitch will add approximately 100 lbs to your tow vehicle cargo (takes away from payload and tow capacity) weight.

The hitch receiver must be class III / IV with 2" receiver to have more than 5000 lb capacity.

Average trailer load (dealer options, battery, propane, camping gear, dishes, bedding, water, groceries, etc) is approximately 800 - 1000 lbs.

Average tongue weight is about 12.5 percent of loaded trailer weight.

Mine is a V6 model and came equppied with the Tow Package with a 2" Receiver.

Sticker on the trailer hitch says 6000lb Tow Capacity and 600lb Tongue weight.

I'm looking at WD Hitches and adding the airlift 1000 to the rear springs to keep the rear from any possible sagging.

Ryan01463 wrote:
Any worries here?

MAXIMUM TOWING CAPACITY** 6000 lbs.
MAXIMUM PAYLOAD** 1564 lbs.
GROSS WEIGHT 6000 lbs.
CURB WEIGHT 4446 lbs.

Maybe, maybe not.

These max capacities are manufacturer advertised numbers. They only apply to properly equipped versions of Pathfinders. All others will have max tow capacity of 5000 lbs.

If your vehicle did not come with factory tow package, it's not in the group with 6000 lb tow capacity. There may be some modifications needed, to get it there.

Look for a tire / loading sticker on your drivers door jamb. It should show a max occupant / cargo (payload) weight. That number is your Pathfinder's capacity to carry aftermarket accessories, people, cargo, weight distributing hitch (if needed), and trailer tongue weight, combined.

As you add accessories, people, and cargo, your max available payload and max towing capacity are going down, pound for pound. Example: Put 200 lbs of luggage on the roof rack, and 500 lbs of people and stuff inside the vehicle, it's max towing capacity is 700 lbs less.

The need for a weight distributing hitch is based on trailer weight. If loaded (key word = loaded, not UVW) trailer weight is less than 5000 lbs, WD hitch is not required. Though it may be desired when loaded weight is close to 5000. WD hitch will add approximately 100 lbs to your tow vehicle cargo (takes away from payload and tow capacity) weight.

The hitch receiver must be class III / IV with 2" receiver to have more than 5000 lb capacity.

Average trailer load (dealer options, battery, propane, camping gear, dishes, bedding, water, groceries, etc) is approximately 800 - 1000 lbs.

Average tongue weight is about 12.5 percent of loaded trailer weight.


Here's a link to another thread about towing with a Pathfinder. It may shed some light on your questions.

You haven't said but I'm guessing this is a V6? If so, especially if so, I wouldn't do it, particularly if you're planning to carry passengers at the same time. JMO, but if any combination would benefit from the use of a properly sized and adjusted weight distribution this sure would be it considering your PF's short wheelbase. Rather than add further repetition to the subject you might want to read through this similar discussion.