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Old 01-09-2012, 04:52 PM   #1
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O-line hitch purchase

Greetings all,
new to the forum and just purchased a used Advancer ultralite 25. Among other things I am in need of a hitch and various items to fit out my 2005 Nissan Titan properly. After speaking with some of the local welding artisans in the area and doing some due diligence, I think I can save a few bucks and do a serviceable job myself.
That having been said, anyone have any experience with Etrailer.com?
They seem competent resource with competitive pricing.
For what it's worth, I am thinking Curt hitch of the proper size(even though I do not know them) and a Tenkonsha prodigy for the brake control unit.
I would appreciate any advice that is offered!
Thanks, Mike
BTW, I will be buying a class 3 receiver as the weight distribution setup came with the trailer. 3900 dry weight with a GVW of 5500
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Old 01-09-2012, 08:18 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyraider50 View Post
... anyone have any experience with Etrailer.com? ....
Welcome to the forum Mike.

I have purchased from Etrailer a couple of times and found them to be reliable. I also had a question to them and received a courteous, knowledgeable email answer from them. I believe they are an honest, well respected company.

I have a P3 brake controller and am well satisfied with it. (same as the Tenkonsha prodigy P2 with a different face)

BTW: I think you should consider a class 4 receiver.
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Old 01-09-2012, 08:26 PM   #3
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Welcome to the forum Mike.

I have purchased from Etrailer a couple of times and found them to be reliable. I also had a question to them and received a courteous, knowledgeable email answer from them. I believe they are an honest, well respected company.

I have a P3 brake controller and am well satisfied with it. (same as the Tenkonsha prodigy P2 with a different face)

BTW: I think you should consider a class 4 receiver.
Actually...I would LOVE to buy a Class 4...but so far it does not show to be available for my vehicle. Not crazy about that round tube.
I will call them tomorrow and see..
Thanx for the reply Gene!
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Old 01-09-2012, 11:01 PM   #4
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Hi Skyraider50

I too have bought from Etrailer many times and had a positive experaince. Good place and stuff shows up quick.

On the reciever, heads up, the Class 3 is some times a combo Class 3/4 and some times not.

Make sure what ever your buy to be used with a WD hitch has 2 ratings.

1. Weight carrying. This means the max dead load the trailer tongue can be and still tow. This is like for utiltiy trailers or small trailers not needing a WD hitch.

2. Weight Distrubuting. This is the higher rating when you use a WD hitch. However the Class 3 some times is not rated to be a WD hitch and only a weight carrying hitch.

If the Reciever is listed as Weight Carrying only, it is not made to be used with a WD hitch.


See this one has 2 ratings. I know this is way bigger then yours but you can see the 2 ratings.


Also do not get fooled by the Vec 5 or V5. That is a manufacturing standard not a weight class rating. Many have taken the V5 to mean Class 5 and they are not the same thing. Your reciever should also be made to Vec 5 or V5 standards.

Hope this helps

John
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Old 01-10-2012, 06:33 AM   #5
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We bought a longer adjustable shank for our old Husky WD hitch from E-trailer. The shank we were looking at was from Curt and Etrailer was very helpfull when I called to get the hole spacing. The CS rep didn't have that info available but they gave me the number to Curt.

Curt was great. After telling the Rep who answered the phone what I was inquiring about, he transfered me to a tech right away and the tech gave me the hole spacing seemingly from the top of his head.

It's unfortunate but these days, any time I call a company to obtain specific information or help of a technical manner, I just prepare myself for an ordeal of having to repeat myself over and over to multiple reps and suffer through the canned questions that they are required to ask.

In this case, it was refreshing to talk to people who could and were allowed to think for themselves.

Yes, prodigy is pretty much the way to go for the brake controller.
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Old 01-10-2012, 07:25 AM   #6
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A lot of the manufactures under rate their trucks if it does not have a factory hitch. I have a Tacoma with the factory hitch and it is rated 6,500# the same truck with an aftermarket hitch is rated 3,500# granted the factory one has a bigger alternator, battery ,oil cooler, 3,500# bumper (the hitch is also bolted to it) and wiring but I think it’s also to keep them out of trouble if some one does a botch job on a hitch install. Is the aftermarket hitch just as good? Hard to say but you could get into trouble if some thing would happen towing more then the truck is legally rated for with out the factory hitch. So it is some thing to look at there should be pages of towing info in your truck manual.
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Old 01-10-2012, 08:54 AM   #7
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FIRST, I want to thank all for their input.....good stuff. Through all this and some quality WWW time and some phone calls I have been able to discern the following. A class 4 hitch does not readily exist for the Titan (I have a max towing for the truck of 7200#). I tried the dealer and the parts guys said they had a class 3 only. I checked another Nissan OEM site
NissanPartsPeople.com - Genuine Nissan Parts and Nissan Accessories
Not to crazy about the description and the help line is....non-functional....Not Good
I have surmised the following:
My trailer is 3900 dry w/ 5500 gvw
Class 3 hitch 600/6000 and 1000/10000 w/ WD setup (which came with trailer)
I should be fine with class 3 WD setup
Anybody think differently please call my bluff....
AND anybody have any thoughts on tranny cooler or other such mods that are needed?
THANKS again for the valuable input
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Old 01-10-2012, 09:09 AM   #8
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Sounds good from what you are saying. Receiver can handle a WD hitch and trailer is light enough.

Tranny cooler? Absolutely! You can get them rather inexpensively at the parts stores and instalation is usually pretty simple. It goes inline after your radiator and before the transmission fluid pan. The simplest mounting is to just attach it to the front of the radiator by using the supplied plastic ties through the radiator fins and rubber washers. The better way is to get brackets to mount it using the radiator frame or engine cavity metal.

You don't have a huge trailer BUT the low expense of adding a tranny cooler should put it into the absolutely must do catagory.
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Old 01-10-2012, 05:11 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyraider50 View Post
I have surmised the following:
My trailer is 3900 dry w/ 5500 gvw
Class 3 hitch 600/6000 and 1000/10000 w/ WD setup (which came with trailer)
I should be fine with class 3 WD setup
Anybody think differently please call my bluff....
AND anybody have any thoughts on tranny cooler or other such mods that are needed?
Hi Skyraider

If the sticker on the receiver you found is dual rated as 600/6000 and 1000/10000 w/ WD setup

Then as far as the WD part of the receiver, that is what you are looking for. I do not know about the tow ratings on your truck.

The Class III and Class III/IV
can get mixed up and has often. It "use" to be a Class III was only good for 500# tongue weight, 5,000# pull and only in weight carrying. This is what Gene was talking about in his reply. But then they started introducing the Class III/IV and some times labeled it that way or not and the sticker ratings change too. This even get's worse on a Class V hitch. Which for all practical purposes is something larger then a Class IV...

With all this confusion on Class's just use the sticker ratings. If it lists 1,000# Tongue weight in Weight Distributing mode, then that is a WD rated receiver for up to those loads.


And yes, for sure a transmission cooler is needed towing a TT of this size. The Priodgy brake controller is good one and is a proportional type.

Hope this helps.

John
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Old 01-10-2012, 06:06 PM   #10
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Just thought I would add the Etrailer links I found. It does look like the Class III would handle it just fine. (No doubt you have seen these pages but it may help others)

Everything for a 2005 Titan
2005 Nissan Titan Accessories | etrailer.com

Hitches
Trailer Hitch for 2005 Nissan Titan | etrailer.com

The Curt hitch ($155 - free shipping)
Trailer Hitch for 2005 Nissan Titan - Curt 13199
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Old 01-10-2012, 06:10 PM   #11
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The hitch ratings are confusing Toyota says mine is a class 4 but I don't think you can buy an aftermarket hitch with a class 4 rating even though I can see no difference in what it can pull maybe some one has an answer. For years I managed a huge transmission shop and we would not warranty a transmission job in a MH or a truck with a trailer hitch unless it had an additional trans cooler installed with the trans rebuild.
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Old 01-14-2012, 03:56 PM   #12
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OK, here's the deal. I rolled all the good advice into...order form and let fly with Etrailer.com. Very nice people to deal with. Very professional. Really seemed to be vigilante to check that all parts were what was desired and would be compatible. I ordered last thursday and delivery will be Monday. Ordered hitch, Brake controller, model specific pigtail for controller and socket setup for rear bumper connection. I'll advise if any of this stuff actually works.......or if I can make it....
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Old 01-29-2012, 05:56 PM   #13
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OK, here's the deal. I rolled all the good advice into...order form and let fly with Etrailer.com. Very nice people to deal with. Very professional. Really seemed to be vigilante to check that all parts were what was desired and would be compatible. I ordered last thursday and delivery will be Monday. Ordered hitch, Brake controller, model specific pigtail for controller and socket setup for rear bumper connection. I'll advise if any of this stuff actually works.......or if I can make it....
For what it's worth, REALLY like dealing with Etrailer.com. Everything fit...NO problems on their end. Quick delivery...3 days and they could answer my several Q's accurately. All my stuff went on ridiculously easy and all worked. Imagine that....A good weekend was had on our first...Sea Trial yesterday and today on a short local jaunt to a local state park in Estero, Fl. Still have many questions and things to work out, but that can wait.
Thanx to all for weighing in with valuable advice and counsel!!
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Old 01-29-2012, 06:41 PM   #14
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Glad everything worked well for you.....and remember....there is never a dumb question here....so ask away!
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Old 01-29-2012, 07:54 PM   #15
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Mike,

Glad everything work out. And thanks for reporting back.

Good you made it out having fun. That is what this camping thing is all about.

John
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