Does anyone have experience or thoughts to share about Nissan Quest as a towing vehic

I am interested in getting owner input concerning using a Nissan Quest as a towing vehicle. I have spent a good bit of time today veiwing different threads concerning towing vehicles, but have not found any information on the vehicle I just paid off today. Needless to say I am not really interetsed at this point in buying another vehicle.

I have a 2007 Nissan Quest with a max towing load of 3,500 lbs., a max tongue load of 350 lbs., and a Gross Combined Weigth Rating of 8,500 lbs. From what I can see, it looks like (based on tongue load) that the 2720 might work. I was hoping for the 2720SL.

I hope to get input soon. Our plan (two people) is to travel the US from coast to coast, so there will be ever type of road imaginable.

Thanks.

IMHO you will be pushing it with a 2720 I have a 2720SL and camp ready ( with careful packing ) I am over 3500 lbs by several hundred lbs. You also did not mention if you had the factory installed tow package ( including aux trans cooler, HD brakes and HD alternator) I am sure we would all love tho have you as a TM owner but only as a happy and safe one.

[Wavery]

You'd be hard pressed to find a 2720 with under 450# tongue wt, fully loaded, ready to camp. Mine is over 500#.

You must subtract your Nissan's curb weight, passengers, cargo and fuel to determine the maximum trailer weight that you can tow..

I show the curb wt as 4,480#. If you add 400# for passengers and 320# for cargo, that leaves you with 3200# MAXIMUM for the fully loaded trailer and fuel.

My 2720 weighs close to 4000# fully loaded.

I think that you may do more harm than good to your Nissan Quest towing most any TM. It's not a good idea to tow @ maximum capacity and it's a bad idea to tow over max......

[Mr. Adventure]

I have a 3023 because it is only 50# heavier than the 2720's. You'll absolutely need a WDH, and you'll probably want to travel light: For example, you could get rid of about 100# of tongue weight by traveling with one propane cylinder instead of two and replacing the battery with a sealed gel cell type (much lower capacity, of course). I believe that manufacturers are conservative on tongue weight ratings because most cars and light trucks are very dangerous with a heavy hitch weight without a WDH (no matter what they rate for a tongue weight with a WDH, somebody will try it without one and discover too late that they can't stop or steer very well) (have you ever seen a boat trailer or a U-Haul on the road with a WDH?). Instead of filling the water up, travel with the FW tank almost empty. Dump your holding tanks before you hit the road, so you aren't hauling sewage around. Use aluminum cookware instead of cast iron, and don't bring stuff you don't need.

Always be careful to adjust your trailer brakes correctly. You have anti-lock brakes on your tow vehicle, but not on your TrailManor. You want the TM to do slightly less than its fair share in stopping so that you can't lock the TM wheels in a panic stop and so that you're not burning up the TM brakes stopping the TV. Never use a cheap brake controller that increases trailer braking based on how long you push the pedal.

Check your owner's manual. The calculation example they provide still has 3000#+ of towing capacity at your maximum gross vehicle weight. Using Harvey's numbers in the previous post, you have about 4000 pounds to work with between the curb weight of the Quest and it's maximum combined gross vehicle weight rating of 8500#. Do the math the way they tell you to do it, use truck scales to know where you really stand, adjust your load distribution to make the best of your vehicle, and keep your speed down if you're near your limits, in the rain, or on long grades.

If you visit the mountains, drive cautiously and expect your vehicle to lack horsepower compared to what you're used to. If you live in the mountains, want to camp in the boondocks, and "camping" means bringing your gasoline powered recreational toys or other heavy hobbies, you need to buy more tow vehicle in order to carry that stuff.

Start with short practice trips to work out the kinks. If your hitched up vehicle arrangement behaves itself, I'd go for it. If it handles poorly, I'd borrow or trade it for a bigger tow vehicle or a smaller TM!

And I forgot one very important thing: In the last several years, I've been towing less than 10% of the miles that I put on my Highlander. This is hugely different than spending months on the road every year, because 1) Whatever durability and wear and tear issues there might be in towing will take me many times longer to encounter than someone who is full timing, and 2) My benefit in owning a vehicle that gets me 20+mpg going to work every day is substantial, versus a vehicle that's oversized for it's primary application, which only occasionally tows anything, and which doesn't fit as well into the garage, traffic, or parking spaces. If I towed 10,000 miles every year, I'd want a bigger TV. If I was going on a 10000 mile two month trip with the intention of returning to my current lifestyle afterwards, I'd cheerfully look forward to the grand adventure without changing a thing.

[SCBillandJane]

It really always comes down to if you are lucky, drive locally, on level terrain, and are an alert conservative speed driver. You can still get into trouble. I can give you a recent example of something not forseen. We went to California where the entrance ramps for freeways are way too short to safely get up to speed which in many cases is 65MPH. You can see what I use for a tow vehicle. In 2007 it was the fastest 1/2 ton gas pickup you could buy, and I still wanted more power just to merge. Then the law there limits trailers to 55 MPH. This puts you in the right hand lane to keep the drivers of cars from giving you a certain gesture. Now you are forced to travel in the merging lane where you often have to really get on the brakes to let a car get on the freeway. Add to this that your GPS just lied to you about what lane to be in to make the correct exit. I had no idea that I would travel to California or what the situation would be like when I bought my Trailmanor in Florida in 2008.
I feel that I have a safety margin that is acceptable with a tow vehicle rated for 10,000 pounds towing a maybe 5,000 pound trailer. Some others feel good with a 5,000 or better tow rating. Just a personal preference but I have pulled a Trailmanor over 30,000 miles in the last 2 years, and I would not recommend any tow vehicle rated at less than 5,000. There are just too many surprises out there. On our most recent trip, the closest we came to a wreck was on Highway 50 in Nevada which is advertised as the loneliest highway in America. A car ran us off the road passing a car coming toward us. We were able to brake, and retain control on the shoulder of the road. There was no reason for that car to pass where they did, but it happened. I hope you decide on a Trailmanor because it has been good to us. Read other forums, and I think you will hear the same thing regardless of RV. They will say the better the safety margin the better you will feel using that RV.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by SCBillandJane

It really always comes down to if you are lucky, drive locally, on level terrain, and are an alert conservative speed driver. You can still get into trouble. I can give you a recent example of something not forseen. We went to California where the entrance ramps for freeways are way too short to safely get up to speed which in many cases is 65MPH. You can see what I use for a tow vehicle. In 2007 it was the fastest 1/2 ton gas pickup you could buy, and I still wanted more power just to merge. Then the law there limits trailers to 55 MPH. This puts you in the right hand lane to keep the drivers of cars from giving you a certain gesture. Now you are forced to travel in the merging lane where you often have to really get on the brakes to let a car get on the freeway. Add to this that your GPS just lied to you about what lane to be in to make the correct exit. I had no idea that I would travel to California or what the situation would be like when I bought my Trailmanor in Florida in 2008.
I feel that I have a safety margin that is acceptable with a tow vehicle rated for 10,000 pounds towing a maybe 5,000 pound trailer. Some others feel good with a 5,000 or better tow rating. Just a personal preference but I have pulled a Trailmanor over 30,000 miles in the last 2 years, and I would not recommend any tow vehicle rated at less than 5,000. There are just too many surprises out there. On our most recent trip, the closest we came to a wreck was on Highway 50 in Nevada which is advertised as the loneliest highway in America. A car ran us off the road passing a car coming toward us. We were able to brake, and retain control on the shoulder of the road. There was no reason for that car to pass where they did, but it happened. I hope you decide on a Trailmanor because it has been good to us. Read other forums, and I think you will hear the same thing regardless of RV. They will say the better the safety margin the better you will feel using that RV.

The above is all quite accurate but it doesn't even have to be something as radical as someone running you off the road. That could happen towing or not towing.

IMO, the single most difficult common situation is where you are traveling down the highway, keeping a safe distance and the traffic suddenly slows ahead. The bad part is, when this happens and you have a large space in front of you, 1 or 2 cars will quickly change lanes and fill that void. If your TV isn't suited for this type of situation and/or the roads are wet, you are in serious trouble.

This is the biggest benefit to a WDH. Although, if your vehicle is not rated to tow that weight trailer a WDH isn't going to stop your trailer from pushing you down the road.

Towing is 90% about stopping and maneuvering and 10% about pulling. A lot of people don't seem to understand that. Trailer brakes help (and are essential) but must not be counted on working 100% of the time. Electric trailer brakes are not 100% reliable.

Two days ago, coming thru Portland, we were going 60MPH on the Interstate, came around a corner and traffic was stopped! My heart went to my throat, but the Tundra remained in control and brought us to a stop in plenty of time. I use a WDH and added sway bars to the Tundra.

Some have said an '06 Tundra is overkill for a 2619. I don't see it that way. Do what you have to do, we'd love to have you in the happy TM group with the rest of us, but be careful if you tow with the Quest.