Thanks for the info. Any specific one from Thule you'd recommend?

In general I recommend the Thule Atlantis series. They use very high tech manufaturing processes to ensure high strength to weight ratio. They also go through some pretty absurd safety testing. They are the best value in cargo boxes right now. I'm also a big fan of the Thule spirit. Same construction as the Atlantis series, but in a low profile design. The base of the Spirit is reinforced for extra rigidity.


http://www.rackattack.com/rack-search.a ... g=atlantis

http://www.rackattack.com/rack-search.a ... ing=spirit

Bringing this thread back from the dead

I've recently picked up a 2002 Pace American Cargo Sport 7x16 enclosed trailer with an empty weight of 2320lbs. My R51 has a V6 in it and it pulled the empty trailer with no sweet, which I expected since it hauled my previous race car ('03 Evo) on a heavy (2k+) open trailer without any trouble.

My only concern is long term wear and tear. The new trailer I bought to haul a new race car I'm buying in January - its a 1979 LeGrand Mk25D, which weighs about 850 lbs wet. Total weight of the trailer and the car should be just north of 3k but, with my son's kart and out tools/fuel I'd probably be closer to 3500 lbs.

I did just buy a weight distributing hitch from Nissan to ease the stress on the truck and may even pick up an anti-sway attachment as well. I'm also running the airbags mentioned earlier with a Prodigy brake controller.

For those of you hauling this weight on a normal basis, have you run into any issues with the trans/rear that I should take more preventative maintenence to avoid issues?

The other nagging on my mind is the weight of the WD hitch. Nissan lists it at right around 100 lbs. I am a little concerned with adding that much tongue weight on top of the trailer tongue weight. I'm curious to see how the truck responds to that.

Overall though I 'm beyond impressed so far with the Pathfinder's towing abilities. I had wanted a V8 but, we couldn't find one in black so we settled for a V6. So far it has towed beyond my expectations

I tow about the same weight as you will. I have a tent trailer that is about 3,000lbs.(guesstimate), a 380lb. tongue weight(measured), AirLift air bags, electric brakes with a P3 controller, and no WD hitch.

I have about 500 towing miles on this trailer, which was bought this year, and maybe 2,500 towing miles on the tent trailer before it which was about 2,000lbs.

You can definitely feel the weight(it's no Super Duty), but the PF does not feel overburdened or stressed. I haven't heard of anyone having trouble with the transmission(other that the radiator leakage issues) or the R200 rear. Just make sure you use the severe duty maintenance schedule.

The WD hitch may be 100lbs., but it will take the total tongue weight and distribute it between the two axles, not just the rear.

We are planning a +-4,000 mile trip with the trailer next year and have no mods currently planned.

Thats good to hear. I guess the WD hitch, despite its weight, is a good idea than. What type of fluids are you running (ie. engine/trans/rear oil)?

Wow 4k+ trip - thats a lot of driving!!

The WD hitch can really help, depending on the trailer and how it is loaded. Yours will be highly dependent on how you load it. Mine is fairly static and can only be changed to a certain degree if I need to play with tongue weight.

I'm running Mobil 1 in the engine. Engine oil is often highly debated but I have had excellent results with our now very old Maxima which has the original VQ engine.

I had forgotten until now about the rear end. The R200 has a fairly small 7.8 inch ring gear. My former Wagoneer had a 8.5" ring gear(Dana 44) and my old truck has a 9" ring gear(Ford 9"). Both have very similar tow ratings but larger gears. I've cut the change interval to 15k for the PF rear end. It's probably not needed, but it's a snap on the PF(simple drain and fill plugs) so why not. The factory spec is 75w-90 synthetic only. I've been using Redline gear oil in the rear end. I don't know if our R200 is the same as Nissan/Datsun used in the older Z cars, but it was the diff of choice for racing and V8 conversions back in the day.

I'm just under 30K so the other fluids are stock and are likely going to be changed out with factory spec stuff, especially the trans.

The big trip will be a Yellowstone/Glacier NP trip. The wife's been pushing it since we have both a newer trailer and tow vehicle, so it looks like were going.

I tow a boat at 4,000+ (more like 5,000 if we are camping) with surge brakes on the trailer - out of the 70,000 miles on my '06 V6 4x4 I'd guess 5000-6000 have been towing this load.

Also figure in another 1500 miles with my 1600lbs open trailer (no trailer brakes, have had up it full of landscaping gravel a few times for a 30 mile drive each time, adding 3000-4000lbs to it. I would suggest NOT doing that, being right at total limit w/o breaks was/is stupid and you CAN feel it pushing you around big time when you stop - hence why I've only done it three times.

No problems, nothing special done. I changed the fluid in the diffs (front and rear), t-case, and tranny (just drain/fill, not flush) at about 30,000 so I really need to do it again pretty soon. I run Mobil 1 and have been since the first fill -- 3,000 change intervals when towing (all summer) and 5,000 in the winter.

With ring gear size does not always matter. Toyota had for years use a 8" ring gear on the T100. I've know guys to use them in blown 350chevys because of the way its manufactured its incredibly strong. The case is were the power is held up. From looking at our PF gear case I have no worries.

evo8dad wrote:Bringing this thread back from the dead

I've recently picked up a 2002 Pace American Cargo Sport 7x16 enclosed trailer with an empty weight of 2320lbs. My R51 has a V6 in it and it pulled the empty trailer with no sweet, which I expected since it hauled my previous race car ('03 Evo) on a heavy (2k+) open trailer without any trouble.

My only concern is long term wear and tear. The new trailer I bought to haul a new race car I'm buying in January - its a 1979 LeGrand Mk25D, which weighs about 850 lbs wet. Total weight of the trailer and the car should be just north of 3k but, with my son's kart and out tools/fuel I'd probably be closer to 3500 lbs.

I did just buy a weight distributing hitch from Nissan to ease the stress on the truck and may even pick up an anti-sway attachment as well. I'm also running the airbags mentioned earlier with a Prodigy brake controller.

For those of you hauling this weight on a normal basis, have you run into any issues with the trans/rear that I should take more preventative maintenence to avoid issues?

The other nagging on my mind is the weight of the WD hitch. Nissan lists it at right around 100 lbs. I am a little concerned with adding that much tongue weight on top of the trailer tongue weight. I'm curious to see how the truck responds to that.

Overall though I 'm beyond impressed so far with the Pathfinder's towing abilities. I had wanted a V8 but, we couldn't find one in black so we settled for a V6. So far it has towed beyond my expectations

This does not sound like a heavy load to me. My 28' travel trailer is 4508lbs dry, and about 1000lbs heavier loaded with propane, food, beer, etc. The pathfinder definitely feels it, and I don't drive with OD on. But it pulls like a champ. I would not hesitate to take it on longer trips. However, i would like to install a transmission fluid temperature gauge just as insurance that I'm not overheating the trans. Now that the Water/Oil cooler is bypassed and all of the cooling happens in the Air/Oil cooler, want to make sure I don't cook it.

t

08Datsun wrote:I'm running Mobil 1 in the engine. Engine oil is often highly debated but I have had excellent results with our now very old Maxima which has the original VQ engine. .

I ran Mobil 1 in my 98 civic for years. The compression at 250000kms was still well within factory spec across all 4 cylinders. I also ran a K&N filtercharger on that car. Many people warn against this as they claim that the K&N allows larger particles in than the OE filter. Obviously wasn't an issue for me.

08Datsun wrote:The factory spec is 75w-90 synthetic only. .

Weird, the stealer gave me pennzoil conventional 80w90 as the replacement oil for the diffs... Gonna have to check that! Haven't replaced it yet, as when I checked, all fluids were still crystal clear. Waiting til next summer for all of the diffs, transfer case and trans.

Thanks for the info guys. I'm much less worried now that I see a bunch of you guys are towing much heavier loads than I am. The WD hitch should be here soon from Courtesy and I plan on doing a drain/fill of the trans and diffs sometime in the near future (once the race season starts up again). I'm also going to switch over to Mobil 1. I've used since day one in the Evo but, never in the Pathfinder. Since I plan on towing much more next year I figured mind as well.

thanks for the tip:

1 update: you don't need to buy 24167-A6000
if you buy the Tekonsha Prodigy for Nissan, everything is PnP, no wiring needed.
http://www.amazon.com/Tekonsha-Prodigy- ... 343&sr=8-1

Finally dug up the pic... this is our rig:



Tows like a champ!

Note that this pic was taken before I installed the air lift 1000. However, I still have the trailer jacked up, so this picture is not a good indicator of the amount of sag I got.

However, with the WD bars, the drop was minimal.

t

so I bought the one for Sedona. Air Spring model # 60792. as I have 2WD model.

here it is.

at 0 psi, there is ~ 1/2" of space left on top.
at 35 psi, there is barely any space left on top.

it looks squishy. not sure if that's normal. You can see the grease I put on, so it doesn't bind. before I had grease on, it was ugly.

edit: just called tech support. sent them the pictures, they said that's normal. so I guess I am good to go, just need to test this weekend for the tow.

0 psi


35 psi


this is with 35 psi, rear dropped 2" vs. no trailer

I also have a 2wd PF. I purchased the Airlift1000 for the 4wd Pathfinder. I thought the 2wd and 4wd PFs used the same suspension and coils. I didn't put grease on mine. Here they are after 3.5 years and 70,000 miles. Never had any leaks. Airlift makes a great product!

5-7lbs of pressure in the bag