New to forum, have questions about towing

[Heem]

I am new to this forum although I have been reading a variety of the threads for some time. Last summer my wife and I were in the market for a full size truck in anticipation of purchasing a boat for this summer. Drove the Chevy, liked the truck, hated the dealer. Drove the Ford F150, it felt sluggish,top heavy and like I was swerving all over the road. Within one hour of driving the Ford we drove the Titan. Within 2 hours of our test drive we were driving the Titan home.

I love the truck but after reading some of the threads I have some questions regarding some obvious issues. First of all according to the tag inside of the door our truck was built 05/05. Does anyone know if this date coincides with when the brake fix was done from a factory stand point? Also, I'm concerned about the rear end issues. I have the new cover and would assume the synthetic fluid. The rear end looks vastly undersized for longevity. Has anyone had issues with the 05 rear ends. If so, what were they. Please understand when you say "It went out", I have know idea what that means.

Lastly, our boat should be here in April and am looking forward to many happy, trouble free trips. The boat, trailer, and toys will add up to about 5000lbs. We will be towing up and around the mountains of Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe. Some of the passes can be a grade of 6-8% for 10-15 miles with an equal descent on the other side(specifically Mt. Rose Hwy). Any concerns or suggestions about towing in these areas.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[akamax_power]

I live in the same area and use my truck for the same thing you're planning. I have an 05 that I use to tow my boat from Reno to Folsom throughout the whole summer. I've got about 10k miles and haven't had a problem with the rear end yet. The boat also weighs around 5k lbs. I did have the brakes replaced a few months ago but I don't know what the build date of the truck is.

Hope this helps.

[HudsonValleyTitan]

Originally Posted by Heem

I am new to this forum although I have been reading a variety of the threads for some time. Last summer my wife and I were in the market for a full size truck in anticipation of purchasing a boat for this summer. Drove the Chevy, liked the truck, hated the dealer. Drove the Ford F150, it felt sluggish,top heavy and like I was swerving all over the road. Within one hour of driving the Ford we drove the Titan. Within 2 hours of our test drive we were driving the Titan home.

I love the truck but after reading some of the threads I have some questions regarding some obvious issues. First of all according to the tag inside of the door our truck was built 05/05. Does anyone know if this date coincides with when the brake fix was done from a factory stand point? Also, I'm concerned about the rear end issues. I have the new cover and would assume the synthetic fluid. The rear end looks vastly undersized for longevity. Has anyone had issues with the 05 rear ends. If so, what were they. Please understand when you say "It went out", I have know idea what that means.

Lastly, our boat should be here in April and am looking forward to many happy, trouble free trips. The boat, trailer, and toys will add up to about 5000lbs. We will be towing up and around the mountains of Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe. Some of the passes can be a grade of 6-8% for 10-15 miles with an equal descent on the other side(specifically Mt. Rose Hwy). Any concerns or suggestions about towing in these areas.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

You can ask the dealer but you should have the new brakes with an 05/05 build date.
Don't confuse the Titans pumpkin size with one with an LSD rear end. Open differentials are smaller, and is whats in the Titan. It uses electronic ABLS to act like the limited slip rear ends. I would make sure the rear end is fully topped off, tow ONLY in 4th gear using TOW MODE, and be sure to have good trailer brakes. You'll be amazed at how the Titan tows. Towing an 8500+ LB travel trailer proved that to me and my family.

[Frequen.C]

relax and enjoy, you'll be allright The new rotors are thicker, but if you brake to hard they can still warp. FREE replacement for 3 years if you do get the judder.

[Old Speed]

dont worry i live in Carson Nevada, and i have a 7500 toy hauler that i have towed to oregan and to sand mountian and to pritty much all the lakes arround and i havent had a problem. My truck was built in 5/05 also and i had the old brakes. took it to nissan of reno they hooked me up with the new ones.

[loufish]

You should give some break-in time before towing...and don't tow in 5th gear.

[MuskyHunter]

05/05. Does anyone know if this date coincides with when the brake fix was done from a factory stand point?

Mine was built in 06/05 and did not have the brake fix. My service manager mentioned that very late builds started to incorporate the fix.

[MuskyHunter]

Also, I'm concerned about the rear end issues.

Mine has been trouble free to date with 12000 miles and towing about 3000 lbs from time to time. I had similar concerns and was over cautious in my break in period as I am with all my vehicles. I was very gentle in breaking in the truck in that I really feathered the gas pedal for the first 500 miles or so and never went over 50. After about 1000 miles I spent two weekends towing my boat on the back roads to nowhere at speeds up to 45 mph, still feathering the gas pedal and slowly varying the truck speed when no cars were behind me. On hills, I wasn't the fastest one up, but kept the load on the drive train to a minimum.

I put on about 500 usless towing miles with stops for long cool down periods for the truck and enjoyed a few local pubs during that time. I gradually started to take longer trips after the 500 towing miles and progressively pushed the truck a bit more each time. Yes, I was over cautious, but in my opinion it will pay off in the long run. I felt that I should allow for some natural "heat treating" to occur during break in just to be on the safe side.

[mikehn]

I have an early 05 model and have 28k miles, at least half those miles are towing a 3000lb boat. Did have brake judder at 7k miles, but dealer replaced with upgraded hardware, have not had a problem since. No rear end problems at all, knock on wood. Use some judgement and common sense and dont get too carried away with all the posts on here or you will go nuts.

[Quad T]

Originally Posted by MuskyHunter

Mine was built in 06/05 and did not have the brake fix. My service manager mentioned that very late builds started to incorporate the fix.

That's strange, my build date is 5/18/05 and I have the revised brakes, or at least I thought I did, the rotors are very, very thick.

[QWIKWHIP]

This is the difference between the old and new rotors.

[Quad T]

Originally Posted by QWIKWHIP

This is the difference between the old and new rotors.

Exactly the pic I used when I looked my truck over...
Although I did not get out a set of micrometers, the size of the center vent fins looked exactly like the rotor on the right in that pic.
And the Born on Date I quoted (5/18/05) was from the tiny row of numbers at the bottom of the window sticker.

Sorry Heem if I'm hijacking your thread...

[gr8titan]

Congratulations with your purchase.
Remember: Do not tow until you've broken in the engine. When you tow for the first time (button on "tow mode"), do not go over 50mph for the first 500 miles towing. Then have your rear diff oil changed. It's a price you want to pay for rear end security.
I tow a boat similar in weight (combined boat/trailer) to your future purchase and I never had any problems. Have fun. Enjoy the experience!!

[Shawn]

Hi, also new to this forum. Yeah, I just pulled my 24ft boat from KY to VA. I would say that Titan pull great up the blue ridge mountains. Better than expected for pulling about 6000lbs.

[ElMatador]

Hello to my fellow Northern Nevada Titan owners...

I have frequently towed my loaded car trailer over Donner, and have had no issues. I tend to use 4th gear the whole way and the truck doesn't flinch. If you're on a slower road like Mt Rose, I'd suggest using the tranny to help slow the truck as you go downhill. But with 5,000#, you'll be fine.