Hey everyone, long time lurker. Anyways we bought our 2011 pathfinder silver edition new for the wife and just hit 24k miles lol. We are now talking about being a Lance 2185 travel trailer with the triple bunks for the 3 boys. Trailer is listed as 4300 lbs dry. I know I know about manufactures claims. I use to tow a 32 ft fifth wheel with my diesel truck. I am not new to towing in general. We originally were going to use my 4x4 E350 to tow with, but even with the gear change it struggles to pull a 3000lb tent trailer in the mountains. So this leaves us with the pathfinder. Its paid for and in mint condition. So the plan is to make some modest upgrades for towing and see how it goes. Next option is to buy a 2500 suburban.

After going through multiple threads, this is what I am thinking?

Bullydog tuner/monitor
K&N Filter maybe the titan box mod?
Airbags
Bilstien HD rear shocks.
Better flowing muffler.

Not super excited that I would be probably pulling at its tow capacity.
suggestions???

Thanks!!

You should be fine with the Pathfinder I assume you will be adding a weight distribution hitch? And a friction sway control? You said the camper is 4,300 lbs dry so figure loaded 5,300 plus the weight of your 3 boys in the truck yes you will be at about max. It should not be an issue really just take it easy stay out of overdrive and drop down to 3rd gear on the hills and you should be able to hold 55 mph fine.

At around 35-40,000 you should have your transmission serviced esp since you are towing.

Thanks for the reply.

I will get a distribution hitch and friction sway controller. Have my family with me and will not skimp on safety equipment. I have no issues down shifting for the big hills and what. Just want to make sure we can pull, pass safely and stop when needed.

If you get out on the highway and you start to get lots of sway then pull over and really tighten that friction sway control just do NOT! back up with it on it will most likely destroy it.

Airlift 1000 air bags....definitely

Bilstein HD rear shocks...it will help it ride a little better.

K&N air filter....a waste of money, IMO. The paper filter will perform fine as will the stock air filter box. If you are going to improve the exhaust and use a tuner, then spend the money on a good CAI system. I have the aFe Momentum with the dry filter, but it is expensive. Volant makes a decent enough kit that's not priced out of this world. I found on my Pathy's that I had to bend down the mount bracket for the air box upper bolt to get the box to fit properly; this was the case for the Volant and the aFe.

Better flowing muffler...Magnaflow 12580 works well and will fix the restrictive "Y" problem of the factory design, but you will have to get a little pipe work at an exhaust shop to get it to fit, due to the muffler's 2-inlet design. Also, be aware that when you replace the factory muffler with a lower restriction part, it will be louder than stock and you will likely experience some "drone." If you want a quiet exhaust, then, leave it alone.

Bully Dog Tuner...It's a nice tuner, from what I've heard. I have the Superchips Flashpaq Tuner, which really makes a difference in the way the vehicle performs, but doesn't have the monitoring capabilities like the Bully Dog has.

I decided to throw my K&N air filter back in this summer it was just sitting on my shelf for quite a while after reading many posts that they let in to much dirt compared to other paper filters. I decided to run it for one oil change and when I have Blackstone labs test my oil I can see how high the silicon is and if it is elevated compared to running the stock paper filter.

I will add I notice no difference in running the K&N my millage and power seem to be the same the only difference I notice is the motor sounds a bit louder on start up. So if it shows to let in more dirt I see no up side.

Does anyone know if the V8 version has a larger transmission cooler or are they identical?

Answered my own question I think. They are the same cooler. Now debating on the transmission bypass.... Seems my year isn't affected but........