Towing with a Pathfinder

I towed for one year with 08 Nissan V-6 automatic and 18ft Rockwood Mini-Lite. Added Timbren helper springs in rear, and Monroe Sensa-Trac HD shocks, and Blue Ox Sway Pro WDH. On the flat it was ok, but any hills, and +9000ft passes in Colorado, the Nissan just bogged down and screamed in 2nd gear (also added a HD Trans cooler). Stay below 20ft, and you should be ok. AWD also is not great for towing and power. Add 1000lbs to the dry weight, and try to stay below 80% of your TV capacity (Ultra Light wt TT).
Now towing Lance 1685 with HD Ram with 5.7 Hemi and 3.92 gears (also with Blue Ox Sway Pro) and seems to be the perfect combination with no issues.

I have owned 3 Pathfinders and also I used to work at a Nissan dealership for 17 years. I towed 4,000 lbs on my 2002 Pathfinder with a small 3.5L engine. I used airbags to help the rear suspension. I towed from Michigan to Yellowstone and took the high roads with no issues. I upgraded to the newer 2006 Pathfinder and also had zero issues. Recently I upgraded to a 2008 - V6 Pathfinder and a 24 foot TT. It weighs 3800lbs empty. I have towed with it a few times on relatively flat hwys in Michigan. I am probably 4500lbs all loaded up. I have no suspension issues or sag. At 70mph I feel a little too much wiggle at times even with an equilizer hitch. At 55mph I feel rock steady. I may wish I had a V8 when going to higher elevations.
My TT is quite a bit taller and wider than the Pathfinder and that I am sure takes away from handling and tow weights....well towing safely anyway.

Thanks for all the comments. I want to keep the empty weight under 4000#. I am interested in a Trailmanor 3326 but the DW thinks they are too narrow. A friend has their trailmanor 2720 stored in our back yard. It is small but it also has the front bed also. We would only use it for long weekends so I don't think the width would be a problem. But as they say if mom ain't happy nobody is. But then again she does not have to tow it.

Thanks again,
Mark

I towed my little trailer with a Pathfinder -- it was ok. My Tacoma is somewhat more capable. Your trailer is pretty close to the limit of the Pathfinder. At 60 mph, you should be ok on the flatlands, but don't go into the Florida Mountains. ;)

We tow with an F-150 CC with a rating of 8000#. Our HTT fully loaded for camping weighed 5000# on the nose. so we had plenty of wiggle room. Our new TT is a bit heavier, but still well within our safety limits. Remember, the numbers you consider need to include the trailer, passengers in the vehicle, stuff in the back of the vehicle, all the stuff in the trailer, propane in the tanks and anything in the tanks. It adds up pretty quickly. 6000# rating means that you should not be towing a trailer that weighs over 5000# fully loaded. I am thinking that you need to be looking at a smaller, lightweight TT. Rockwood makes a line called the Mini Lites that may be something you'd be interested in. Most of the manufacturers have models that would be good for you. WDH...absolutely. Sway.....you betcha. We had an Equalizer on the HTT and it was excellent. Our dealer for the TT recommended the Blue Ox 1000, or would order us an Equalizer, if we preferred. DH went to the Blue Ox website and watched their videos. He liked what he saw, especially the grease fittings and the fact that it was easier to hook up, much less messy and QUIET, which the Equalizer is not. You might take a look at it. We've towed about 1000 miles since we took delivery and he's very pleased. Good luck shopping for the perfect TT for your family, but watch that weight. BTW, don't believe everything a salesman tells you.....might be stretching the truth a bit.

I've had two, a '96 and a '06. My trailer is 18' and 3400 lbs. Pathfinders are not good tow vehicles. Not enough suspension. You could do it, but I was never very comfortable towing. I have an '06 Chevy 2500 now, 6.0 liter, and it tows way better!

I don't think you will be happy towing any high walled RV with the Pathfinder. Few people are pleased with the performance.

I am towing a Jayco 23J with my 6 cylinder 2011 pathfinder. I use a decent weight dist. Hitch and sway bars. I keep the trailer weight (fully loaded) at 4900 lbs. the trailer handles surprising well in terms of sway. Took a 2500 mile trip over 2 weeks last summer and was pleased by the handling. Power is a different story. Basically kept my speed at 50 mph.
We travelled to the Black Hills of SD and with elevations over 5000 feet, there are some decent climbs. Speed dropped to 35-40 in second gear on a couple of the longer climbs. RPM about 3500-4000 during same climbs.. Duration of those climbs was about 10 minutes but felt longer. As long as I took my time it was fine, just can't be In a hurry.
Something to watch is tongue weight. I'm really pushing the limit on that. I used air bags in the rear suspension of the Pathy to firm up the rear end. I also have the transmission cooler which helps.
All in all it's manageable, but I do not believe I could safely tow in the Rockies without cooking the trany.
Hope this info is useful.
Phil

One big difference between towing a boat and a travel trailer is wind resistance. A trailer will probably feel about double what a boat feels like at highway speeds.

It is doable. Some will post on here absolutely against it. My suggestion is do what I did. Rent something similar to what you want, see how it tows, and go from there.

As for the WDH, for ease of setup, I would try and go with the Equ-a-lizer. If I was to do it again, I would have ordered my own hitch and gone that route. Seems a lot easier to setup than the reese dual cam, which is also a nice hitch. When you rent though, you will most likely get a simple WDH, which doesn't help as much with crosswinds and the push/pull draft from trucks and busses like a good WDH will.