first time RV towing

Boon Docker wrote:
Still can't quite figure how a trailer weighing 3800 lbs with a tongue weight of 350 lb (9 percent) when loaded correctly to 4800 lb can increase the tongue weight to 14 percent of the trailer weight. It should still be 9 percent of the total trailer weight.

Regardless of any stated factory dry tongue weight it's up to every owner to ensure gross tongue weight falls within 10% to 15% of the trailer's gross weight, loaded and ready to camp. While 10% may be within the "recommended" range most would find that awfully light, with the trailer exhibiting a tendency to sway with so little tongue weight. I personally consider 13% to be minimal but as I said earlier I prefer even more as I know from experience that even more leads to a much improved towing experience.

9 percent of empty weight on the ball may very well be true as it assembled, but for safe and happy towing of a travel trailer, 12 to 15 percent is recommended. It is not a goal to simply maintain the same ratio as an empty trailer.
Also keep in mind that every pound on the hitch ball translates to slightly more than a pound on your rear axle due to the due to the leverage of the distance from axle to the ball.
I tow a tiny hybrid with my 2006 Explorer and with 2 adults, 3 kids, and stuff, we max our rear axle capacity.

towing capacity dosent limit you hear payload does. figure out your max payload. subtract weight of everything in the vehicle (you, passangers, gear, your weight distribution hitch, ect) that leaves you with whats left for tongue weight. im rate at my limit with the rig in my sig. I have 1000 lb payload (take away 400 lb of people, 100 lbs of gear and I have 500 lb for tongue weight. mine comes in at 480 so im just inside my numbers

Still can't quite figure how a trailer weighing 3800 lbs with a tongue weight of 350 lb (9 percent) when loaded correctly to 4800 lb can increase the tongue weight to 14 percent of the trailer weight. It should still be 9 percent of the total trailer weight.

Boon Docker wrote:
So what you are saying is that the manufacturer lied about the dry tongue weight (of 9 percent) 350 lb and you are correct about it being 14 percent.

Of course I'm correct! :W No need to be dramatic, the factory has no need to "lie" as the factory dry weight of this particular trailer could easily be 9%. So what? ... it's the trailer's gross tongue weight relative to it's gross weight loaded and ready to camp that's important, the ideal target being 13% to 14%. Currently I'm running closer to 13% but would prefer a bit more, closer to 14%, as I've proven to myself over the years that more is better, yet 14% still allows a reasonable buffer to a max of 15% those times I may run a little heavy.

So what you are saying is that the manufacturer lied about the dry tongue weight (of 9 percent) 350 lb and you are correct about it being 14 percent.

Boon Docker wrote:
The dry tongue weight on this model is 350 lb which is 9 percent. So with a loaded weight of 4700 the tongue weight should be around 425 lb.

Nonsense. Doesn't matter what the so-called dry tongue weight is listed at ... fact is, this trailer loaded and ready to camp is going to weigh at least 4500 lbs but more likely closer to 4700 to 4800 lbs even with careful loading. 14% of 4700 lbs is 658 lbs ... which corresponds quite closely with my own Coachmen Freedom Express which is a bit lighter than the OP's Minnie, typically averages ~ 4500 lbs loaded and ready to camp, and which averages a gross tongue weight in the 600 to 625 lb range depending on the cargo I'm carrying at the time and how much content may be in any one of the three holding tanks. No way, no how will the OP be running just 425 lbs of gross tongue weight ... no way.

The dry tongue weight on this model is 350 lb which is 9 percent. So with a loaded weight of 4700 the tongue weight should be around 425 lb.

If the OP hasn't already done so he'd be wise to read through this current discussion on the same subject. ;)

pmlevine wrote:
The Nissan Frontier GVWR is 5815 lbs.
The Nissan front axle GAWR is 3296 lbs, the rear axle is 3331 lbs. With travel trailer loaded, I estimate the tongue weight to be around 650 lbs.
The Micro Minnie dry weight is 3705 lbs. The front end of the Micro Minnie is curved, and hopefully will help on wind resistance.

Oh boy, here we go. :R

First of all, dream on about that so-called "curved" front wall on your trailer - travel trailers ALL have a curved front wall and the only difference that might be noted is if it was compared to a perfectly vertical wall. NO travel trailer front wall is perfectly vertical so any minor difference in curvature between trailer front walls will have zero impact on your ability to tow any TT with your Nissan.

Secondly, your V6 truck will be working hard towing this trailer, count on it ... and that will be reflected in it's fuel mileage returns which you can bet won't be any better and probably worse on average than what a properly geared 1/2 ton would get towing the same trailer. When it comes to towing a barn door at highway speeds it's all about grunt under the hood.

So now you know your truck's GVWR, what you don't know is what it actually weighs sitting there with a full tank of gas ready to be hitched to a trailer. To determine this fill the tank and with the weight distribution mounted on the truck (and even spring bars in the back) go weigh the truck. If you're in it at the time subtract your weight from the scale reading - that's your truck's actual real world curb weight, ready to hitch up to a trailer. Subtract that number from it's stated GVWR and the difference will be it's actual real world payload capacity. That's the number you're going to use to account for the weight of all people in the truck, all cargo you may toss into the truck, plus any gross tongue weight transferred from the trailer to the truck.

With a factory dry weight of 3705 lbs you can bet the trailer's actual weight as it sits there with any options & accessories it may have, a battery, propane in the tanks, water in the water heater tank, and some reserve water in the fresh water holding tank, will be several hundred pounds more. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this trailer's actual GVW hit at least 4000 lb before you add any of your personal gear - clothes, bedding, food, camping equipment, etc, etc, etc. Loaded and ready to camp I doubt you'd be as heavy as 5300 lbs but it certainly would be at least in the 4500 to 4700 lb range even if you're really careful about what you load into the trailer. 14% of 4700 lbs (as an example) is 658 lbs and dollars to donuts I'd bet that's approximately the gross tongue weight you'll be running with this trailer. That's weight your truck has to accommodate within it's payload capacity ... exceed that and you're sure to also exceed it's GRAWR (Gross Rear Axle Weight Rating).

Not only are you expecting your V6 with it's rather modest HP and torque ratings to deal with twice the weight when towing this trailer than it normally does but you haven't even considered it's axle ratio and transmission characteristics, both of which are vitally important. I run GM's ubiquitous but non-tow friendly 3.42 axle ratio coupled to an older wide ratio 4-speed transmission in my Avalanche ... works OK but is hardly sterling and I would be far better off with a 3.73 axle ratio coupled to GM's more recent narrow ratio 6-speed transmission. As far as I can tell from what you've told us so far you haven't even considered this but believe me these details make a HUGE difference in the ability of your truck to tow. Unfortunately most off shore vehicle manufacturers don't offer different axles whereas domestic manufacturers (GM, Ford, Dodge) do, because those trucks are designed to tow.

Unfortunately, you have what you have and since it seems like this is a done deal the best I can do is wish you well but with the prediction it will only be a matter of time before you, like many before you, will be looking for more truck. ;)