2008Wildcat wrote:
A friend of mine tows their 2650 with a 2009 Nissan Pathfinder and it does well.
We did add rear airbags, and he uses a Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch.
The 2009 is mechanically the same as the 2005 Pathfinder I had. The 2005 Pathfinder was a TERRIBLE tow vehicle. The suspension was much to soft, bottoming out and porpoising terrible on every none smooth area on the road. Suspension was so weak it sagged terribly, looking like it was riding a wheely! Oh, this was only towing a smaller pop up. Would never EVER try towing any type of travel trailer or hybrid with this, without a major suspension upgrade. The wheelbase is very short on these Pathfinders as well making them sway prone for longer trailers. I wouldn't tow a long lightweight trailer without a very high end hitch/sway system. Not the friction based sway control systems.
Sagging Pathfinder with Pop Up
Plus the integrated hitch on the Pathfinder is rated only for 600 lbs with the V6 or 700 lbs with the V8. Both are rated to low to tow the heavier hitch weight of a travel trailer safely.
On top of that, despite the high torque rating, the engine offers no low rpm torque worth a darn. The engine offers little torque where you need it for towing, despite the hopeful 4000 rpm rating. I upgraded to a Ford Sport Trac that offered only 9 more lbs of torque at the same rpms yet down in the low rpms it had plenty of torque where the Pathfinder's 4.0L felt anemic. Once again, pulling a pop up.
When I upgraded to the V8 Ford Sport Trac, it pulled the same pop up like nothing was there. The Pathfinder was controlled by that same pop up.
Sport Trac suspension didn't even drop from the pop up's hitch weight.
That Passport 2650BH is the about the same weight and size as my Jay Flight 26BH. I would never EVER pull my trailer with a short wheel based SUV and would make sure you have enough torque (not just Horsepower) to keep the trailer moving in high winds and on hills. My 5.0L with 360 Hp and 380 ft lbs of torque pulls my trailer effortlessly in all situations so towing with less power could be done.
The main factor is having enough truck to tow it. I use a Reese Strait-line hitch system which is their best anti-sway system. It locks the trailer and truck as one, but with strong side winds, the wind still pushes the rig around, but as ONE. So having enough truck is definitely a consideration.
If I pulled more, I would surely put some LT tires on. You have to go with the lower load ratings as most standard wheels will not hold up to the higher tire pressures that are required for the higher capacity LT tires.
