Nissan Frontier V6

I think you'll be fine. Definitely get a wd hitch. I towed a Lance 1685 with a similar Toyota Tacoma v6 and it did fine, though lacked a bit of power at medium altitude (Bozeman MT area) with strong headwinds.

that truck has serious tranny problems. it will fail without warning due to radiator falure and coolant entering the tranny. there is a class action law suit which is to late for us. it is a 7K fix once it fails. google it and check it out. there is an aftermarket fix.

I became aware of that in December and took a proactive approach and changed out the radiator! So thats all good! Tahnks for posting that though some Frontier owners may not be aare of the potential problem!

I had an 07 and towed similar load.

Add a trans temp gauge or ELM27 to Torque app on your smart phone...

Go easy on the up hills monitoring temps.

Wills250psd wrote:
that truck has serious tranny problems. it will fail without warning due to radiator falure and coolant entering the tranny. there is a class action law suit which is to late for us. it is a 7K fix once it fails. google it and check it out. there is an aftermarket fix.

Heres the link;
http://classaction.kccllc.net/CaseInfo.aspx?pas=nissanatoilcoolersettlement
I towed with my 06 Frontier v6 2wd AT.
Wasn't a pleasent experience. I know that TT tires are only rated for 65mph but thats were the Frontier lost power. Step on the gas @65mph and theres nothing there. Tells me it's maxed out. 8.5 mpg towing in Oregon. Handling was fine, towing was horrible. TT weighed in at 4050lbs loaded. 22' long x 7'6" wide and 9'9" high. So not a huge wind drag. The trucks feels like a rocket empty, but when hooked up to a load it's lets you know it's only a NA V6. Moved up to an 08 F150 5.4 3.73 and it was great. MPG went up to 10.5 as the motor wasn't working as hard. Also Nissan reccomends you lock out OD while towing and it gets a little noisy cruising that way.

You should be fine. I towed a much larger heavier trailer 400+ miles with my Pathfinder with the same drivetrain. Not sure if the truck has the same rear squat problem the Path does, if so some airbags will firm up the ride very nicely.

Not sure you'll need to, but don't be afraid to throw it in 3rd for long distances.

Unless something drastically changed between the 2005, and the current models, it should do just fine.

I had a 2005 Nissan Xterra. Same engine/transmission/drivetrain, as the longer Frontier.

I towed our current travel trailer with it for 5 years before trading for the F150. The Nissan had 90K miles on it, ran great, no issues.

It had plenty of power towing our 25' TT. It is 3995 lbs empty with the options. I loaded it lightly, and kept the waste tanks empty when traveling. Kept maybe 10 gallons of water onboard.

My F150 is bigger, with a 5.4L V8, and I don't think it would outrun the Xterra while towing by much of a margin. 4.0L, 265 HP, 284 lb.-ft. of torque, vs. 5.4L 3V V8, which develops 310 hp and 365 lb.-ft. of torque. The F150 is much heavier, so the added 26 HP, and 81 lb.-ft. of torque, go towards carrying the extra weight of the truck, not necessarily the payload.





I'm in FL, and towed all year. Engine and transmission stayed cool. When I changed the transmission fluid, it was still a pretty color, no burnt smell. But when towing, I change the tranny fluid once a year. 90K miles, I couldn't find any flaws. I only traded to get more room for hauling 'stuff'.

We towed 3K pound jet ski's and the Xterra did fine. Same chassis/engine/transmission. Unfortunately the rear suspension is a weak point on my X. Thanks to Wills I found out about the tranny issue. I'm still under warranty and will be ditching the X in 2 years.

Thanks! Makes me feel a little more comfortable about going for the 1881 instead of the 1575.

washie26 wrote:
I became aware of that in December and took a proactive approach and changed out the radiator! So thats all good! Tahnks for posting that though some Frontier owners may not be aare of the potential problem!

This vehicle really does not have a transmission issue. The issue is with SOME radiators that fail internally and mix fluids. Worse case is that it is not found early and you need to rebuild your trans....$4000. If you don't have the issue you can prevent it permanately by just bypassing the lower trans to the radiator. It is super cheap and very easy to do. If you do heavy towing you could even add and external trans cooler to the line you bypassed. You just prevented and issue and gave yourself extra cooling.
Personally I would not tow that much with the Frontier....
You'll notice lots of problems in wind and at higher speeds. Plus the footprint of the vehicle is overshadowed by the trailer.