What is your Towing experience 6,000 to 8,000 lbs?

[HoustonPerson]

I am considering the purchase of a Titan, and will be pulling a 6,500 lb trailer (boat) about 800 miles per month. For those of you towing I would like your experience and feed back; how many miles towing, how many miles on the truck, service problems if any, etc. Also, any particular things you don't like about the truck for long trips?

[JS02]

I have over 12000 miles on my Titan. I have towed various loads with it but most of them are short hauls of 30 miles or less. I may do that many times a day though. My Titan handles a 6500# load very well. I am impressed with the torque and the way the transmission works. It has never run a very warm engine or transmission temperature even with outside temps around 100. I have had no problems with the truck. Some of the loads I pull are substantially heavier than 6500#. We don't have a lot of big hills here so I can't say for the mountains but here it just tows great.

I have been pulling the same loads with 1/2 ton GM products for 25 years. They have performed very well. The Titan does much better. I have been very impressed with how it has worked. I think you will be impressed with how it tows unless you are used to a 1 ton diesel.

[FRD ETR]

I've pulled loads on both sides of that range (heaviest has been a 10,940 lb. fertilizer trailer). I was pleased with the overall handling, when we have pulled similar loads with ford's and GM's the weight always seemed to overwhelm the vehicle. With the Titan I always felt in control and felt like I had better braking---I wasn't being pushed thru intersections.

[JS02]

I agree with FRD ETR. The Titan seems to handle even very large loads much better than the 1/2 tons I have worked with in the past. I think it does as well as some of the 3/4 GM and Fords we have used in the past. It easily is more powerful towing than any of them.

[SM68]

I tow 5000lbs once or twice a month. There is no better 1/2 truck for towing. Period.

I get 17mpg, the truck has power to spare, there's no tail wagging the dog and it stops great. My trailer brakes malfunctioned on one trip and the truck would still stop the whole rig no problem.

My truck has 8000 miles, 2000 of those towing. No problems at all.

Cheers,
...Colin

[titansurveyor]

Towed my Toyhauler 6000# at the time, blew rear diff. I have a hard time trusting the truck now. The brakes worry me a little bit. Before the rear end went out it towed it good. When you get into the 8000# range I might think twice about it. I will let you know. Next weekend I will be towing the trailer again fully loaded. It will be around 7700#. I have had it weighed before going to the desert or camping. The brakes still feel soft to me even after having them bled. I have towed the same trailer with my old 01' f150 supercrew and I feel that the supercrew did just as good of a job. Main issue I NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE FORD! Oh yeah the truck had 1400 miles on it when the diff went out. Now it has 3300

[PHOEBISIS]

Houstonperson,is that you;from tundrasolutions-did you do the 10+ page review of the trucks??Great review.It had a fair amount to do with my selling the LTD 2WD AccesscabTundra and getting a base XE KC Titan.I drove the Titan and was hooked.Initially the looks of the Titan put me off,it was "funny" looking,really close to strange ugly otherworldly.After "visiting it" at the dealership 3-4 times,it got better and better looking-grew on me.Now it looks normal.
This is a good time to buy-$1000 rebate(I missed that) and the dealers are hurting,they are way behind their 100,000/yr 1st year quota.You should be able to get $1000 under invoice with the rebate and conditions.
I have 1100 miles,no problems(I am in New Orleans,but bought at Grubb in DFW) Gunn Nissan in San Antonio has even better prices-I hear the Houston dealers are low also.
The general consensus here is
They like the truck,but it has some QC issues,and maybe-maybe-a rear end problem
1)2 rear differentials went out low(1000 miles,and a few thousand miles).No answers-from Nissan-on why.One front diff.went out at 500 miles while trying to pull a stuck truck out of mud-"blew up" pieces all over the place!!The members are betting(hoping) it is because of way underfilling the diffs with oil.Many folks have found it underfilled from 10-30 or more ounces(out of 68 ounces total).It is a Dana 44 unit,which fellow members assure us,is a well proven unit.Fingers crossed on this one.On the bright side,Nissan is trying to make it right for the unfortunate dead diff owners.
2)MPG my 2wd Tundra got 13.5 mpg city-Titan gets 12-13.5-generally just a little less.Hy,Tundra 17.5 at 70+ Titan 19.3 at 73mph.It only turns 1500 at 60 with the 2.94 rear end.We did a survey of "best tanks" all hy. 2wd 2.94 19+; 2wd 3.36 18 ; 4wd 2.94 17+; 4wd 3.36 16+;In general very close Tundra city-Titan hy
3)Bench seat-I raised the front ot the seat-washers-to get more support under the thigh(think you mentioned the shortcomings of the Titan in that respect)-pretty easy fix.Pretty good now.
4)A-Pillar blind spot-you get accustomed to it-quick front and back head movement when you need to be sure what is there.
5)Big plastic "bug trap" bumper.I got 8mil 3M "clear bra stuff"(bought 10ftX2ft roll-$120 Ebay) and covered bumper,hood etc and the bugs wash right off.NLouisiana is almost as "bugged" as TX.
6)The fancy Fosgate "radio" has some sort of fading problem in most areas.Nissan working on it,but it has really pissed a lot of members off.No solution yet,but I expect they will solve it,and will correct the problem.I have the regular audio system.
7)It does seem to "resonate"- a sorta rocking motion-annoying- going over expansion joints.The Tundra was better in this respect.The Titan rides better that the Tundra in every other respect.
8)Brakes-good,stops at least as well as Tundra-there are some "warping " problems-like the Tundra,but not as bad-so far.
9)The step in is much lower than the Tundra despite having about the same ground clearance.I am short,but don't need tube steps.-
10)The Titan is very,very quiet at 75-80mph-luxury car quiet,much better than Tundra.This is holding a steady speed,if you hit the Throttle,you hear it,but only when you are increasing the load.Once you reach steady speed-quiet again
11)Towing-I just tow light-1500 lbs.In general members have raved about how well it tows(and carries) heavy loads.Titansurveyors rear end died very young while towing~6000,and he had another serious electrical problem with his 1st Titan(they bought it back,I think),so he has a different take-understandable.His 2nd Titan blew the rear end.Since your needs are under 7400 lbs, and you are getting 4wd,I think,you could even pass on the Big Tow option(and the 3.36 rear end),but it is a real bargain- $900 with the VDC etc -so not much point in not getting it.Toyota charges ~1000 for just the VCS,and it is hard to find Tundras equiped with VSC.
12)You can get the Side Curtain and side airbag pk in all three XE,SE,LE grades,and it is widely available(only the Ram offers it),if that is of interest
13)The fit and finish isn't as good as the Tundra,but it is better than the preproduction ones folks described(door handles falling off).Still,there are loose seats etc....The Tundra is better in all QC aspects-no surprise.
Any questions,just email Phoebeisis@aol.com I think I was "charlie" on Tundra solutions Luck,Charlie ps I love the truck-a real rocket with tight handling.When you take corners -at any speed-,you don't get any of the big time sway-wallowing the Tundra gave you.It will do what you want,but there is the 1st model year risk.

[staackman]

never had any probs towing..well havent had any probs at all actually just turned 18xxx today on a 350 mile trip delivering celica and tons of parts to its new owner..approx a 5500lb load..averaged 14 mpg at 75mph..tows easily holds speeds going up grades and brakes straight..as someone else mentioned no tail waggin its a joy to tow with..i broke mine in the hard way drove to daytona for bike week with an 18' enclosed full of bikes the week i bought the truck ithink that was about 1400 miles each way..pulled great was a real easy drive straight thru..gotta love this truck!

[titanjbc]

I'm picking up my trailer (see sign) on Friday, so I'll update then... The trailer is about 5300# dry, so I'll be around 6500# wet.

[althepa]

I regularly tow 5000-6500 lbs with no problems. You barely notice something is back there. I bought a Prodigy brake controller and have yet to install it, and I wonder if I really need it. The Titan seems to have no problem stopping, accelerating, passing etc. and mileage doesn't suffer too badly. It really is almost like it doesn't notice the load.

[titanjbc]

I bought a Prodigy brake controller and have yet to install it, and I wonder if I really need it.

You should definitely use a brake controller for towing that much (6000#). I think the owner's manual states that you should use brakes for anything over 2000#. Sure the truck can brake, but in emergency stopping, your braking distance won't be worth a good sh*t, not to mention wearing your pads out much faster.

[Orlando Titan]

SM68
You get 17mpg towing 5000#?
Please share your secret

[HoustonPerson]

PHOEBISIS (Charles) Thanks for the detail follow up.

And thank everyone else for the detail follow up. If the car companies read this stuff then maybe someone can actually make a GREAT truck.

I got the Ford F150 Lariat 4x4 SuperCrew. I knew going in, that the seats were bad and the very expensive Audiophile was POS. What I did not know going in,was that Ford way overates their horsepower and torgue figures. It does not have enough power for my 6000 lb boat. Another surprise is lack of real solar glass in the windshield and front side doors along with a very underpowered AC/Heat system, and combined with poor weather stripping around all four doors...lots of hot air leaks in this Texas heat.

The Ford does have great brakes, frame, body structure, steering, handling, and ride. It is amazing how close to a four door sports car it is for a 4x4. If it had high quality auto solar glass, front seats, a real AC/Heat system, it would be a keeper. It does not have those items so I will not be keeping it.

My Toyota man tells me, the Real Toyota V8 will be here Sept, 2005 as a 2006 model, about 15 months away - built in San Antonio. He does not yet know if it will have frame and body structure on par with Titan and Ford.

It is very strange, the Ford F250 and F350 Lariat FX4 leather has front seats that are almost on par with my Toyota Avalon, excellent seats. Why Ford is so STUPID putting in those crappy chairs in the F150 is beyond me, especially for $41,000.

The underpower issue also caught me off guard. It stays in third gear about 85% of the time when towing just around south east Texas. Not enough power to go up hills, pass, or go into the wind. The gas milage stays about 7mpg when towing and about 15.5 when not towing. Other then that, from a towing stand point the ride and handling while towing the 6,000 lb boat is excellent. Or course the engine is very loud because it is in third gear.

Guys, please continue to post your towing experience with the Titan. I do not yet know what truck I will buy to replace the Ford, but it will be replaced within the next two years.

[SM68]

Originally Posted by Orlando Titan

SM68
You get 17mpg towing 5000#?
Please share your secret

Well, when I first got the truck the towing mileage was only around 11mpg. I now have 8000 miles on the truck and it has gotten a LOT better recently. I tow at a steady 70mph in tow mode with the cruise control enabled. I use 35psi in the tires.

That's about it! I think the mileage and speed are the biggest factors. I only get around 14mpg driving to and from work in traffic.

Cheers,
...Colin

[HoustonPerson]

SM68, thats good news. The Ford F150 has so little power the cruise control can not hold speed when towing. That is on flat ground with little or no wind.