[Jubal Early]

Howdy,
I am looking to purchase a TT that weighs 7760 dry and is 36 ft overall length. I will rarely haul it with anything in the tanks, just normal stuff like food, clothes and a couple of camping chairs, but I may from time to time have a 7500 watt generator in the bed.
My TV is a 2013 Pro-4X with the big tow package. I will be getting a WD hitch and brake controller.
my question is; am I writing a check that my Titan can't cash?
Please advise.

Thanks,

 

[Indy]

Can it tow it, yes, are you pushing it, yes. Really watch how much you are packing. Personally, I try to stay closer to a 2k margin from max.

Of course, I also just bought a new TT with a 7617 dry. My old one was 5801 dry and had no issues towing that in mostly flat land, so going bigger after three years.

Going from a single slide bunk house to a double slide rear living. Bunk houses are nice for sleeping, but everything in campers turn into sleeping spaces for kids, so decided the extra living area when camping with two dogs, guinea pigs (large cage) and two kids was more important.

 

[dkmura]

Besides pushing the limits, I think you'll need some additional trailer specific mods. Start with upgrading the suspension with rear airbags to keep the Titan from squatting too much. Consider getting a deeper tranny pan to gain more capacity and keep temps down. There's probably a few more mods I'm neglecting, but those two are musts in my book.

 

[Indy]

Besides pushing the limits, I think you'll need some additional trailer specific mods. Start with upgrading the suspension with rear airbags to keep the Titan from squatting too much. Consider getting a deeper tranny pan to gain more capacity and keep temps down. There's probably a few more mods I'm neglecting, but those two are musts in my book.

Airbags would be nice, but really not necessary as that is more related to tongue weight. With the increase in my trailer weight, the tongue weight increase is negligible. The tranny pan might not be a bad idea, I'll have to keep that in mind as I keep an eye on my tranny temps to see if the added load causes any issues.

For me, the biggest mod I need to do is to the driver. I need to calm down behind the wheel and learn to take my time. My old one I often found myself hitting 75mph while towing it, which is fun for the looks I got from the Ram 2500 Cummins guys as I passed them with a 31' TT in tow. :devil:

 

[Nick Name]

Uh....st trailer tires are rated at 65mph max at 65psi. You're lucky the heat cycling you put them thru didn't put you into the median with a 75mph blow out. Ever wonder how those flipped trailers you see on the interstates happen?

 

[Indy]

Uh....st trailer tires are rated at 65mph max at 65psi. You're lucky the heat cycling you put them thru didn't put you into the median with a 75mph blow out. Ever wonder how those flipped trailers you see on the interstates happen?

Mine are rated higher. Depends on the brand but different ones have different ratings for their trailer tires. Goodyears are rated for 75mph.

 

[Nick Name]

G614's? $300.00 each. you hauling gold?

 

[AZPRO4X]

If you plan on towing it far distances or alot I'd plan on a 3/4 or the XD. Just A 36' trailer let alone the weight is pushing a 1/2 ton into it's uncomfortable limits.

 

[oldf150]

What is the basis for suggesting that there needs to be a 2000# margin from max tow capacity? I'm not saying it isn't true but is there data to base that on?

His truck, and mine, are rated at about 9000#. Why isn't it safe to assume that that max tow capacity doesn't already have some wiggle room built in from the manufacturer that rates the truck? Again, this is an honest question because I honestly do not know.

But, when I bought my 2015 Titan....about a week ago...I assumed that it would be capable of pulling 9000# if I needed it to. Fortunately that is not something I will have to do very often if ever...

But, my 2003 F150 is rated at about 7200#. I've pulled that much with it a number of times. With the load balanced it did not squat too much and the trailer did not wag. It was harder to get up long steep hills but braking and control felt no different from 5000#. I suppose if it was having to downshift often to get up hill that transmission heat might have been an issue on a long trip....but it never happened. I'm hoping my Titan will handle a max load as well as the Ford did.

I guess it really comes down to wether or not Nissan over rates the towing capacity for marketing purposes, rates it properly, or under rates it for safety and liability issues.

 

[Indy]

What is the basis for suggesting that there needs to be a 2000# margin from max tow capacity? I'm not saying it isn't true but is there data to base that on?

His truck, and mine, are rated at about 9000#. Why isn't it safe to assume that that max tow capacity doesn't already have some wiggle room built in from the manufacturer that rates the truck? Again, this is an honest question because I honestly do not know.

But, when I bought my 2015 Titan....about a week ago...I assumed that it would be capable of pulling 9000# if I needed it to. Fortunately that is not something I will have to do very often if ever...

But, my 2003 F150 is rated at about 7200#. I've pulled that much with it a number of times. With the load balanced it did not squat too much and the trailer did not wag. It was harder to get up long steep hills but braking and control felt no different from 5000#. I suppose if it was having to downshift often to get up hill that transmission heat might have been an issue on a long trip....but it never happened. I'm hoping my Titan will handle a max load as well as the Ford did.

I guess it really comes down to wether or not Nissan over rates the towing capacity for marketing purposes, rates it properly, or under rates it for safety and liability issues.

With TT's, they say 2000# margin on dry so you have room for gear and passengers. I'm not to worried as cleaning out my old one, there isn't even a 1000# of gear.

The general conscience seems to be Nissan under rates their towing numbers, the people who have ran into trouble have seen damage that indicates they had to much tongue weight as they've broken mounts. I know about that one well, I've snapped a set of 3/4 ton springs in half once pulling a liquid manure spreader with old Chevy, hit a bump lifted the back end up and when it came down their they went. That's my old farm truck though, 78 Chevy, 454, now with 1 ton springs and air ride system.

With the Titan, I haven't had any issue towing though, anything around the max we've hooked to the old farm truck, but in the 7k range, it's behind my Titan as it gets better gas mileage and my Dad refuses to put more than 3k behind his F150. Guess he's rather tear up my toys.

 

[HRTKD]

When searching for a toy hauler and truck my goal was to keep the wet weight of the trailer to no more than 80% of the trucks capability. 80% is a fairly common rule of thumb I've found on the Internet (so it must be true!). I tow into the mountains so climbing mountain passes is inevitable. I don't want to be THAT GUY driving 30 MPH on the highway with smoke pouring out of the truck. I couldn't find anything that fit my Titan. I ended up buying a 2017 F-350 with the 6.7L diesel. My tow capacity with the F-350 is 18K lbs which is more than enough for my 11K lbs (gross) tow hauler.

I pulled the toy hauler with my Titan a couple times between the storage lot and my house. The weight of the trailer at that point was about 8,000 lbs. The Titan was not happy about it, but it did it. Unfortunately, the tongue weight was just too high and I broke a leaf spring bracket. You don't have a toy hauler so I doubt that your tongue weight will ever come close to mine.

A trailer that is well within the truck's capabilities makes for a much more pleasant towing experience. If you're white knuckling it all the time you'll grow to hate the trailer and truck.

 

[AZPRO4X]

What is the basis for suggesting that there needs to be a 2000# margin from max tow capacity? I'm not saying it isn't true but is there data to base that on?

His truck, and mine, are rated at about 9000#. Why isn't it safe to assume that that max tow capacity doesn't already have some wiggle room built in from the manufacturer that rates the truck? Again, this is an honest question because I honestly do not know.

But, when I bought my 2015 Titan....about a week ago...I assumed that it would be capable of pulling 9000# if I needed it to. Fortunately that is not something I will have to do very often if ever...

But, my 2003 F150 is rated at about 7200#. I've pulled that much with it a number of times. With the load balanced it did not squat too much and the trailer did not wag. It was harder to get up long steep hills but braking and control felt no different from 5000#. I suppose if it was having to downshift often to get up hill that transmission heat might have been an issue on a long trip....but it never happened. I'm hoping my Titan will handle a max load as well as the Ford did.

I guess it really comes down to wether or not Nissan over rates the towing capacity for marketing purposes, rates it properly, or under rates it for safety and liability issues.

Because it's always good to leave some wiggle room for saftey & legal standpoints. Maxing things out always ups the potential higher breakage rates & oh crap moments.
Overloading a vehicle on a farm road is one thing.
Leaving a decent saftey margin is never a bad thing.
When pulling a TT the weight isn't necessarily the biggest possible issue, it's the sail effect do to the size. That's where the weight & stability of a heavier TV is best.

 

[oldf150]

Because it's always good to leave some wiggle room for saftey & legal standpoints. .

I get that. But if the actual spec has already accounted for wiggle room and then you limit use to account for even more wiggle room then you're not using your expensive truck to its published potential. Certainly common sense has to prevail but you can take the wiggle room theory so far that handicaps the intended purpose of the vehicle.

Overloading a vehicle on a farm road is one thing.

Again, I'm not talking about 'overloading'. I'm talking about using the vehicle at its published spec.

Leaving a decent saftey margin is never a bad thing.

True enough.

When pulling a TT the weight isn't necessarily the biggest possible issue, it's the sail effect do to the size.

I get that too. I've never pulled one but I've found an enclosed trailer, like our large-ish two horse trailer, is harder to pull at speed than a heavier loaded flat bed/car trailer due to wind resistance.

 

[Indy]

A trailer that is well within the truck's capabilities makes for a much more pleasant towing experience. If you're white knuckling it all the time you'll grow to hate the trailer and truck.

That is the part that makes me laugh about the new F150s. They've bumped the towing capacity up by making the truck lighter. The times I've been white knuckled were because I was towing with a light vehicle, I don't care what the rating may say, but when the load gets to a certain percentage higher than the weight of your vehicle, you are going to have your hands full.

That was with an around a 2k lbs boat behind a Jeep Cherokee. Never had any trouble behind anything else, but the Cherokee was so light, when you started backing down the ramp, you were not stopping until the boat hit the water. Didn't matter if the ramp was dry or wet, so you better get it right the first time.