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Old 11-13-2017, 08:11 PM   #1
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Nissan Frontier

Just wondering if anyone else is towing with a Nissan Frontier? If so, what has your experience been with towing?
I have a 2017 Frontier SL V6 4x4 long bed.
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Old 11-15-2017, 04:34 PM   #2
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Great question because I was wondering if I can tow my T-1950 with my 06 Frontier. Lets hope we get some feedback soon.
Do you have an operator manual for your 17 Frontier, and does it tell the towing capacity?
My senses tell me the truck is too small, so I'm very interested in a reply.
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Old 11-15-2017, 07:25 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Boondocker View Post
Great question because I was wondering if I can tow my T-1950 with my 06 Frontier. Lets hope we get some feedback soon.
Do you have an operator manual for your 17 Frontier, and does it tell the towing capacity?
My senses tell me the truck is too small, so I'm very interested in a reply.
The towing on mine is around 6000lbs, which is plenty for the T-1950. I towed it for 250 miles round trip with no real problems. I didn't have a sway control but do have an equalizer hitch. Where I bought the trailer they didn't think I need a sway control because I have the longest wheelbase. Even thought the trailer handled OK, I think I might add the sway control.
I ran at 65mph on the highway most of the time. The other issue is the gas mileage, it is terrible when towing.
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Old 11-16-2017, 06:33 AM   #4
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This is an excellent amount of information.. http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...ing-10775.html My husband and I have a GMC 1500, and we recently added 10 ply tires to it to make sure we are safe in that respect as well. I hope you all have a brake controller too....something we learned after driving our Sunline home.
Good luck. I am sure you will get some great advice here!
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Old 11-16-2017, 10:06 AM   #5
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These are tough questions because unless someone, other than the neighbor of your SIL's cousin, has actually used the identical Frontier to tow a full size travel trailer of the 1950's front profile and weight, we don't know the answer. As well we don't know your weights, performance expectations or the terrain in which you routinely tow... but, since your asking I'll assume you have some concerns and I'll take the bait.

Take your fully loaded camping ready rig across a scale and compare your axle FGAW and RGAW, GVW and GCW numbers to the factory F&RGAWR, GVWR and GCWR numbers. These numbers are easily found on the truck's yellow and silver door stickers or owner's manual. These are the only numbers that matter. Payload can be important too, but odds are you will be below payload if the rear axle weight and GVWR are within spec. If you are comfortable with your weights, then the performance of the Frontier is what it is, but the closer you are to GCWR, the worse the performance. I used to drive a really nice Ford Ranger--a great daily driver, but limited performance from the V6 for towing a very light Aliner popup.

Tow rating is a mythical number created by marketing/advertising departments to hype their trucks. It is often misused by truck and RV sales people, who have never towed a travel trailer, to put their customers into unsuitable combinations. First, by definition, tow rating is all the weight added to a truck, period. That is people and camping gear, bikes, firewood etc. in the truck plus the weight of the fully loaded trailer with food, bedding, battery, full propane tanks and whatever water you choose to carry. Second, tow rating is determined by taking the engineer's legal GCWR number and subtracting the weight of an ultralight unsaleable completely empty, no factory options truck with no owner installed accessories, not even floor mats. Since it's most unlikely that you own such a "factory" truck, your truck does not have a tow rating of 6000 lb. Probably more like 5000 lb. or 5500 lb. at best.

The Achilles' heal of a V6 truck is enough, even more than adequate power, for the truck, but runs out of hp quickly when adding some real weight and towing the full size frontal area against air resistance. As a result the V6 is often working hard at higher rpm in lower gears and gets worse gas mileage than a full size 1500 V8. I routinely get 10-12 mpg with my 6000 lb truck towing a 6000 lb trailer. It's about evenly divided between 10-11 and 11-12. But mostly I tow long distances on open roads, a best case scenario. Towing 8 hr into a 20-30 mph western headwind, I've seen as low as 8.8 mpg. Towing with a cross wind, 9.7 mpg. Towing about 60 mi on an ideal road with no wind, the most I ever saw was 15.8 mpg. I did hand calculations when the truck was new and they were close enough to the computer, so these are all computer numbers.

Henry
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Old 11-16-2017, 12:52 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by henryj View Post
These are tough questions because unless someone, other than the neighbor of your SIL's cousin, has actually used the identical Frontier to tow a full size travel trailer of the 1950's front profile and weight, we don't know the answer. As well we don't know your weights, performance expectations or the terrain in which you routinely tow... but, since your asking I'll assume you have some concerns and I'll take the bait.

Take your fully loaded camping ready rig across a scale and compare your axle FGAW and RGAW, GVW and GCW numbers to the factory F&RGAWR, GVWR and GCWR numbers. These numbers are easily found on the truck's yellow and silver door stickers or owner's manual. These are the only numbers that matter. Payload can be important too, but odds are you will be below payload if the rear axle weight and GVWR are within spec. If you are comfortable with your weights, then the performance of the Frontier is what it is, but the closer you are to GCWR, the worse the performance. I used to drive a really nice Ford Ranger--a great daily driver, but limited performance from the V6 for towing a very light Aliner popup.

Tow rating is a mythical number created by marketing/advertising departments to hype their trucks. It is often misused by truck and RV sales people, who have never towed a travel trailer, to put their customers into unsuitable combinations. First, by definition, tow rating is all the weight added to a truck, period. That is people and camping gear, bikes, firewood etc. in the truck plus the weight of the fully loaded trailer with food, bedding, battery, full propane tanks and whatever water you choose to carry. Second, tow rating is determined by taking the engineer's legal GCWR number and subtracting the weight of an ultralight unsaleable completely empty, no factory options truck with no owner installed accessories, not even floor mats. Since it's most unlikely that you own such a "factory" truck, your truck does not have a tow rating of 6000 lb. Probably more like 5000 lb. or 5500 lb. at best.

The Achilles' heal of a V6 truck is enough, even more than adequate power, for the truck, but runs out of hp quickly when adding some real weight and towing the full size frontal area against air resistance. As a result the V6 is often working hard at higher rpm in lower gears and gets worse gas mileage than a full size 1500 V8. I routinely get 10-12 mpg with my 6000 lb truck towing a 6000 lb trailer. It's about evenly divided between 10-11 and 11-12. But mostly I tow long distances on open roads, a best case scenario. Towing 8 hr into a 20-30 mph western headwind, I've seen as low as 8.8 mpg. Towing with a cross wind, 9.7 mpg. Towing about 60 mi on an ideal road with no wind, the most I ever saw was 15.8 mpg. I did hand calculations when the truck was new and they were close enough to the computer, so these are all computer numbers.

Henry
You brought up a lot of great points about the conditions under which you are towing affecting your trucks towing capacity. Even though we have a truck rated for 7500lbs, never would we even think of getting close to that heavy.
The wind...your speed...and also to mention.. the altitude reduces your GVWR as well.

I was traveling over the Rockies several years ago, helping my daughter drive back from LA., and the air was filled with a smell like hot transmissions...not mine btw, even though we were driving a new Toyota Camry, it was not performing as well.

Still, even when not as high in altitude, I have read that your towing efficiency (GVWR-GCWR) is reduced by 2-4% per 1000 ft. above sea level depending on your tow vehicle.

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Old 11-16-2017, 07:49 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by CapsFan View Post

Still, even when not as high in altitude, I have read that your towing efficiency (GVWR-GCWR) is reduced by 2-4% per 1000 ft. above sea level depending on your tow vehicle.

Karen
Hi Karen,

I know all these acronyms can get mixed up some times. Your point is valid, on engines which do not have a super charger or turbo charger they can loose 3% for every 1,000 feet above sea level on pulling performance. The air is thinner and the engine needs a lot of it to run at the truck ratings. The engines with the super charger or turbo charger jam all that air into the engine mechanically to help minimize the loss of the thinner air.

It use to be a where gas engines always had the hard time at elevation but that is now changing as they too can have super chargers added to them to get more power out of the engine where ever it goes.

Here on the east coast it is not so bad, but the west coast is very different.

For engines that it applies:

3,000 feet elev = 9% loss
5,000 feet elev = 15% loss
7,000 feet elev = 21% loss
10,00 feet elev = 30% loss

These reductions apply to reducing the effect of your GCWR. (Gross combined weight rating.) Meaning the amount the engine and drive train combination will give you in pulling performance. They do not really reduce the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) which is the max limit the vehicle can weigh.

There is another factor that affects all of us towing wider/taller Sunlines. It is the frontal cross sectional area exposed to the wind. Many trucks are rated for performance towing at 60 sq feet of a trailer frontal area. The larger Sunlines, the 8 foot wide ones, end up exceeding this 60 number. Some smaller trucks are rated at 50 sq ft for frontal area. It all depends on the brand of the truck. This wind resistance is what we feel a lot of. Say your camper weighs 4,500#. An open flat bed trailer with a skid loader or a tractor on it the trailer weighing 4,500# will pull easier then the 8 ft wide 9 foot tall travel trailer weighing 4,500# just due to the wind resistance. This is what we nickname towing a travel trailer, is like towing a brick...

Good discussion.

Thanks

John
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Old 11-17-2017, 04:38 PM   #8
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Aiy...sooo much to remember! lol I am retaining in bits and pieces.... Thanks, to all, for pointing us in the right direction

I am too sleepy ask a good question right now



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Old 11-19-2017, 08:35 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Boondocker View Post
Great question because I was wondering if I can tow my T-1950 with my 06 Frontier. Lets hope we get some feedback soon.
Do you have an operator manual for your 17 Frontier, and does it tell the towing capacity?
My senses tell me the truck is too small, so I'm very interested in a reply.
One guy here brought his 2006 Frontier for new tires and xd wheels installation/alignment. He mentioned its towing capacity is 6300lbs.
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Old 11-20-2017, 07:45 PM   #10
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Hi folks. I have posted and commented on this topic before. I had a comparable setup to yours when I purchased my 2007 T1950, a 2011 Toyota Tacoma with the 4L 6 cyl engine, about 6000lb rating. I pulled the trailer one time only with the Tacoma then bought a Tundra. In my opinion it was way underpowered. Spent most of the trip in 3rd gear, 2700rpm. Keep in mind I usually pull from Edmonton (2200 feet) to the rockies (anywhere up to 4000 feet). I know there are others in this group who are happy with the smaller trucks. Depends on your expectations and requirements. You probably need to load up and give it a go. I'll be interested in your opinion.
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Old 11-24-2017, 08:15 AM   #11
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I have a T1700 and tow it with a Tacoma it has a manual 6 spd. There is a lot of shifting going on it's loaded weight is 3 to 3,200# (that's a guess but it's close) Most of the engines power band is above 2,000 RPM. It's got to be pretty flat to maintain that RPM in 6th gear at normal highway speed. The Truck is rated at 6,500# there is no way I would attempt that with anything other than my farm wagon at about 10 mph that's a good bit my than the truck weights. My point has all ways been the ideal of going for a ride if anything go wrong with something as light as a small truck the traction is just not there. If your truck is an automatic and it does not have an extra trans cooler that is inviting a slow death of the transmission. I will say the T1700 pulls like a dream with the dual axles I have no anti sway or equalizing bars but I don't think I would want anything much heavier. I have seen some pretty big stuff behind small truck be I'm not sure I would want to be driving it. The T1700 connected to my dually diesel Dodge is a bit different the last load I hauled with that was 16,000# of construction material.
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