Towing a 27ft 4000lb travel trailer

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Elite130
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Towing a 27ft 4000lb travel trailer

Postby Elite130 » Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:01 pm

Hey all,

THis goes along with my other post "Towing at higher elevations". My wife and I have found a travel trailer that we love, however, I am concerned it may be a bit large for our Pathfinder (2007 V6) to pull safely. It is 27ft long and weighs 4000lbs with a tounge weight of 360lbs. I am thinking I will load it with an additional 1000lbs worth of stuff, so a total trailer weight of 5000lbs. Assuming I have the Airlift 1000 air bags, weight distributing hitch, and a Prodigy P3 brake controller, will I be ok pulling this? Keep in mind, I live in Denver at 5300ft and expect to pull the trailer over passes around 11,000ft.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE is welcome.


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Captain
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Postby Captain » Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:41 pm

Give it a try if its not ok time to upgrade. But I think you will be fine. I towed a trail about 5500lbs and it felt great. But thats at 500ft sea level and mostly level roads with ramps.

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BMXPath
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Postby BMXPath » Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:47 pm

Sorry, no real experience towing anything that big with the Pathy. For anything over 5,000 pounds you will probably need one of these...
The Class IV, weight distributing hitch.
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08Datsun
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Postby 08Datsun » Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:07 pm

Do you think they'd let you hook it up and take it for a spin?

Elite130
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Postby Elite130 » Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:06 pm

08Datsun wrote:Do you think they'd let you hook it up and take it for a spin?
I don't know...but there is only one way to find out. I'm thinking before we buy it, I'll try renting one and see how it does for the weekend.

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Storm4.0
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Postby Storm4.0 » Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:38 pm

I beleive, with the equipment you mentioned, you'll be good. a 360 lb. tounge load for 4000 lbs is awful light though. Id pack the gear and add weight in the front of the trailer, otherwise wind/sway will be a factor more than anything. Maybe a sway control shock in conjunction with the W/D hitch will help keep it tame. Make sure you keep the RPM's up at highway speeds with the overdive off atleast around 2800 rpm. The motor may sound like its laboring more but it's actually easier on it and the tranny by keeping them cooler and more efficient. These Pathys are just as good if not better than 1/2 ton trucks. Mine is bagged in the rear & with 25psi and no W/D hitch I often pull 5000lbs & 600lb tounge weight with no issues, but that is a loaded utility trailer.

Plngeek
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Postby Plngeek » Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:11 pm

Weight-wise, I'd say you are fine. That set up matches mine almost exactly and I've done about 3,500 miles over 15 months in mine with no issues. Only thing I couldn't comment on would be the altitude since I haven't had mine over about 1,800ft. The only thing that might be above my comfort zone in your set up would be that length. We started off looking at a 27 and ended up deciding to drop to a 21 for now. Partly due to the ratio of trailer length to car length and the chances of sway, and partly due to the fact that we were coming from a pop-up, and I was a little skittish of the jump from 12ft to 27.

I use a Reese Strait-line hitch (combined WD and anti-sway) with a P3 brake controller and ended up adding the Airlift 1000 to raise the butt a bit. I love the setup and feel very comfortable with it.

Now, I have to ask, what TT did you fall in love with? We're already starting to shop around for our next TT, but know it will have to wait until I get a truck since the weights will be a little higher. For now, Our favorite is the Resort 249BH. Looks nice and has the features that we absolutely want to make sure we add next time (walk-around Queen, bunks for the kids, and a slide-out).

Elite130
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Postby Elite130 » Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:21 pm

Wow Plngeek, that is a beautiful trailer! Looks similar to what we are looking at. We want the Gulfstream AmeriLite 24BH. We love the layout and especially the bunks for the boys, which the Resort 249BH has. The weight is around 3900lbs and 440lbs tounge weight. I am concerned about the length as well. I have never pulled anything that long before. We are hoping our Pathfinder can pull this without much issue. We love our Pathfinder and we love this trailer. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Plngeek
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Postby Plngeek » Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:31 pm

Now that I'm looking at your trailer, it isn't as bad as it first seemed. I didn't realize your 27' included the tongue making it less than 25' of body. My 21' (2009 Aljo 2111B) is just the body, so there is really less than 4ft between the 2, and I actually seem to have a little more weight than you since I come in at 4110 dry.

I've only really had a couple of gusts of wind that have woken me up while towing this set up, and I really attribute alot of that to the hitch. I had it recommended by a friend at work who tows an Outback with his 2000 Tundra and he swears by the hitch, and now, so do I.

Of course you won't really know until you get out on the road, but I think that as long as you set yourself up right, and respect the size of the vehicle you have now created, you should be fine.

Elite130
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Postby Elite130 » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:48 am

Plngeek wrote:I've only really had a couple of gusts of wind that have woken me up while towing this set up, and I really attribute alot of that to the hitch. I had it recommended by a friend at work who tows an Outback with his 2000 Tundra and he swears by the hitch, and now, so do I
What do you mean you attribute a lot to the hitch? What type of weight distributing hitch do you have?

Plngeek
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:42 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Postby Plngeek » Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:32 am

OK... now that I re-read that, I guess it sounded like a negative comment. I actually was impressed it has only happened a couple of times with some of the winds I have been through.

Anyway, the set up I use is this: http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribu ... 66073.html I've been really happy with it and it does seem to keep things pretty steady when we're on the road.

Elite130
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Postby Elite130 » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:15 am

Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to figure out what the differences are between all the WD hitches. Over at Courtesy Nissan, they are selling their Nissan WD Hitch for $200.00 and I see others (i.e. Reese) for $550.00 I haven't figured out which way to go.

Plngeek
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:42 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Postby Plngeek » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:25 am

If you're looking at the Nissan one, check this out... I've ordered from them before, and they were pretty cool. http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-h ... itches.htm

The one big difference between the Nissan hitch and mine is that the Nissan is purely WD, but my Reese is Sway control also. If you look closely, you'll see that the bars on mine are rounded at the end. That curve sits on a cam so that while you are going straight, they "lock" in to place and hold things in line. When you are going around a corner, the curve will slip off the cam allowing the turn, and then will lock back up when you straighten up.

I know what you are saying about the differences. I was overwhelmed by all the choices and info when I was looking for my hitch which is partly why I gave up and just went with the Reese. Also, I just noticed I must have been half-asleep when I posted that link earlier.. this is my hitch.. I have the round bars... http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribu ... 66087.html

Elite130
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Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:46 am

Postby Elite130 » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:40 am

Thanks for the help. You have given me more useful, and understandable, information in this post than I have received through my hours of research. I apreciate your help. I may just go with the same Reese hitch that you posted. I want the WD and sway control in one unit.

Thanks again

Plngeek
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:42 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Postby Plngeek » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:52 am

No problem... Enjoy the trailer. We bought the Aljo last May and have taken it out 16 times so far. Here's a couple of pictures of our setup from the 1st trip out. Airlift 1000 was not on at this point, so the rear is a little higher now.

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