Towing 34'11" TT with Titan and Equalizer Hitch?

[Quadcab]

Well, it happened just last weekend. Took my wife to the RV Show locally & we both fell in love with a 2014 Windjammer 3029W TT. Now I do not want to have to upgrade my 2010 Titan truck if we do decide to trade up to this new unit. What do you think? Here are the specs:

Truck: Nissan Titan SE - Max Tow: 9,400 lbs; Max Payload: 1914 lbs.
Trailer: Windjammer (V-Nose) - 34'11" L; 6345 lbs. Dry Wt; 971 lbs.
Hitch Wt.
Hitch: Equalizer Brand with 10k bars.

I have been towing an RV over 15 years and know enough not to push my towing limits too far. My biggest concern is not overloading my truck, but whether my hitch will control this long of a unit with passing Semis & wind gusts. What do you think?

Thanks! Quadcab

[zogg]

Yep...I was initially mad as he!!, because I could not take the trailer home and the wife would not let me cancel the deal. But, it was the right thing for him to do...I know that and I knew it then. Plus, I got to buy a new truck....yoohoo!

[JBarca]

zogg wrote:

When I bought the trailer, the dealer would not let me route it off the lot with the titan. He insisted that I was over weight and it was against the law for him to let me leave his lot with the new trailer.

I thought I was fine but he shows me the specs for the titan, and unless you have the PRO4X, the towing weight is less than 7000 pounds. He refused to let me pull off the lot with the truck.

He even offered to cancel the contract.....

You have a very good dealer. They are a keeper for sure. It is so pleasing to hear your post where the dealer did the right thing and they truly help the customer even if they had no sale.

I wish they would infect the rest of their association.... with that good practice. What a breath of fresh air.

[zogg]

I had a 2012 Titan, which I dearly loved. I was towing a 5000 pounds trailer and it did pretty well.

I was forced to trade to a ram 2500 when I bought a new trailer that has a dry weight of 7300 pounds, which means about 8000 or more loaded.

When I bought the trailer, the dealer would not let me route it off the lot with the titan. He insisted that I was over weight and it was against the law for him to let me leave his lot with the new trailer.

I thought I was fine but he shows me the specs for the titan, and unless you have the PRO4X, the towing weight is less than 7000 pounds. He refused to let me pull off the lot with the truck. He even offered to cancel the contract.....

I also had the titan sV with the towing package. Only the PRO4x will handle the load from all the charts I saw. I even went to the Nissan dealer to verify the numbers, and the to the dodge dealer to but the new ram.

[Ron3rd]

Quadcab wrote:
Thanks for the good feedback! And it looks like the brochure that was handed to me with the dry weight at 6345 lbs. IS completely wrong! Forest River's web site shows a 7263 lbs. dry weight. Why there is such a difference is beyond me (maybe a typo or, like someone said, this was an old brochure?). Regardless, I will make sure ALL the specs are accurate & doable before committing to any deal.
Since this TT is "The One" my wife loves, I will make it happen eventually, if not right away. I appreciate all who have voiced their concern over overloading my truck beyond it's safety limits. Since the new TT has a mid-kitchen layout, I'm confident we will be able to load it up without putting too much weight onto the hitch. And it is just the two of us travelling nowadays. As suggested, one of the premium hitches will be in our future. I know first hand how important towing stability is, especially on the major freeways!
Thanks to all who responded! I kind of knew most of your concerns already. But the feedback was very insightful and will help in our planning!

Few people on this forum know what a Windjammer is. This line of trailers was designed to be 1/2 ton towable in most models with a properly equipped 1/2 ton. If you like the trailer, go for it, your Titan will handle it. Will you be close to your limits? Sure, but many Super Dutys I see on the road are maxed out or over their limits with their Toy Haulers.

[Ron3rd]

Quadcab, I tow the similar Windjammer 3001W with my Tundra. Sign up for the Forest River Owners Group (FROG) forum and you'll get a lot of FR specific info. Lots of 1/2 ton owners are towing Windjammers. Great trailer, you're gonna love it, tows like a dream. Wasn't sold on the V-Hull design until we owned it and would not go back to a conventional design. Better mileage, tows better, great room in the front closet, and best of all, no bugs on the front cap due to the aerodynamic design. BTW, I went with the Equilzer with 1200 lb bars.

[Gman22]

carringb wrote:
That trailer is solidly in 3/4-ton territory. I agree with APT. Actual tongue weight will be around 1200 pounds, and that's even before loading up the trailer!

I'd have to second that.

When we had our 33' 7000 lb. Spree, moving from a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 ton was a significant improvement.

[traildog66]

tomman58 wrote:
We travel all over the US and stay at a lot of RV parks. We stay in parks that a lot of folks full time or are retired and travel for a few months each year.
The point is that I see what folks that tow A LOT use for their TV.
Bottom line There are few a far between people that are using anything but Chevys,Fords or Dodge that a serious about towing larger trailers. Trailers that are 30+ feet and 5ers at 35+ feet and those big triple wheel 5er are all being towed by the aforementioned trucks. I think there is a reason for that.

Per the above statement, the reason for what youre seeing is that Nissan and Toyota don't offer 3/4 ton models...yet. Also the market share is skewed towards Ford/Chevy/GMC/Dodge because they have been making full size trucks for over 70 yrs while Nissan and Toyota have been in the full size truck market less than 20 years.

To the OP I have a '12 Nissan Titan CC SV 4x4 and love it. It's my 3rd Titan. I tow a 32.7ft/7500lb loaded TT. As much as I love my Titan, this is as heavy and long as I would ever be comfortable towing with it. The measured box length of my TT is 29ft with 3+ ft of A - frame to the coupler making it brochure length of 32.7ft. I'm not sure if this is how all TT's are measured or listed, but I wanted to give a detailed description to reflect my experiences. My dry hitch weight is listed as 664lb, but I'm certain it's more like 750lb with propane & battery and closer to 900lb fully loaded. I plan to buy a tongue weight scale soon to verify.

The Titan is a very capable 1/2+ ton and the 5.6L V8 is plenty strong. The actual payload # on my SV model is 1598lbs (door sticker). It pulls like crazy and prefers 64-67mph when towing in 4th gear. I'm using an Equalizer 4pt hitch and sway is minimal.

All that being said I would NOT recommend the TT you're looking at for use with the Titan due to the combination of TT weight and length and shorter wheel base of the Titan. Will it tow it, absolutely. Would it be safe, marginally IMHO.

[goducks10]

W.E.BGood wrote:
Quadcab...the hitch weight of the trailer you quoted is #971. The owners manual for YOUR truck as best I can tell shows a maximum "tongue load" of #940, See page 380.

Good point. It's a double whammy with that setup. Too low of a receiver rating and too long of a heavy TT. A Hensley Arrow or ProPride would be the ticket but they just add more weight to an overloaded receiver.

[W_E_BGood]

Quadcab...the hitch weight of the trailer you quoted is #971. The owners manual for YOUR truck as best I can tell shows a maximum "tongue load" of #940, See page 380.

[Quadcab]

Thanks for the good feedback! And it looks like the brochure that was handed to me with the dry weight at 6345 lbs. IS completely wrong! Forest River's web site shows a 7263 lbs. dry weight. Why there is such a difference is beyond me (maybe a typo or, like someone said, this was an old brochure?). Regardless, I will make sure ALL the specs are accurate & doable before committing to any deal.
Since this TT is "The One" my wife loves, I will make it happen eventually, if not right away. I appreciate all who have voiced their concern over overloading my truck beyond it's safety limits. Since the new TT has a mid-kitchen layout, I'm confident we will be able to load it up without putting too much weight onto the hitch. And it is just the two of us travelling nowadays. As suggested, one of the premium hitches will be in our future. I know first hand how important towing stability is, especially on the major freeways!
Thanks to all who responded! I kind of knew most of your concerns already. But the feedback was very insightful and will help in our planning!

[Sandia_Man]

First of all that's a very nice TT, but I have to believe you'll be maxed out with your current TV although I have seen much worse many a time. You might very well be looking to upgrade the truck if you get the new rig, but you can always tow it a few times and decide for yourself later down the road. Your biggest issue will more than likely be the length of your new TT, an upgrade to a proactive type WD/SC (ProPride or Hensley) hitch will greatly improve overall towing stability. Here's hoping you get that beautiful rig one way or another. Happy Camping!!!

[carringb]

That trailer is solidly in 3/4-ton territory. I agree with APT. Actual tongue weight will be around 1200 pounds, and that's even before loading up the trailer!

[APT]

RV OEM specs.

IMO, that is too much trailer (weight) for the trucks' receiver and payload. Loaded weights I estimate will be about 8500 pounds and 1200 pounds of TW. If your Titan is 2006+, check the as equipped payload per the Tire and Loading sticker on the driver's door or door jamb. "The maximum weight of occupants and cargo shall not exceed xxxx pounds". I doubt your truck has 1900 pounds of payload. No one buys the base model no options truck.

[goducks10]

I see several things that cause problems.
The Forestriver site lists the dry weight at 7263lbs not 6345lbs.
The Forestriver site lists the TW at 918lbs. Adding normal front cargo will easily take the TW over 1000lbs.
The 1970lb payload is from the Nissan web site. How much lower in the real world is it? Still probably okay with only 2 passengers though.
The Titan only has a 139" WB. A little short for an 8000lb+ 35' TT IMO.