Towing 6500+ with my Titan last wknd....

[Anthony]

Bought my 13 Titan in Jan of this year with 5700 miles. Dealer had possession of it most of it's life so technically I'm the 1st owner. Since 01 my dad has driven a 01 Supercharged Frontier that he bought new. It has over 260k, and it still runs well. I decided it was time for him to have something new so after cross shopping several dealers I ended up driving about 200 miles to pick up a 2015 Frontier SV Crew Cab. This was also a CPO vehicle that the dealer used. It had 4500 miles.

I rented a Uhaul Car hauler to go get the Frontier. Total load was right at or maybe a bit over 6500 lbs. This is my first time towing this much weight so I wasn't sure what to expect. The Old Dinosaur Titan did a very admirable job. It currently has 11,000 miles. I kept the speed around 65 mph on the way home. I locked out 5th gear, and towed in 4th. Not one time did it need to drop gears on any hills. It was a very comfortable tow that I would be OK towing across the country if I needed to. It made very easy work of this. The Trans temp gauge never budged from the normal temp. I don't recommend towing something like this 80 mph, but I was behind an 18 Wheeler on a 2 lane hwy at one point who kept swerving somewhat aggressively in, and out of the Emergency lane. I wasn't comfortable staying behind him so I gave it some gas, and easily passed him with the load behind me. It was necessary for me to do about 80 to quickly get around him so I could jump back into the right lane, and reduce my speed again.

Overall it performed better than I thought possible. I have the standard 2.94 gear set. They have an optional 3.36 available.

Being an OCD BITOG person, the Titan got Amsoil Signature Series 5w30 at 7100 miles. Transmission got a drain, and fill with Nissan Matic S at 6100 miles, and the rear axle got Amsoil Severe Gear 75w140 at 6900 miles

That's my tow review.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c18/ab...p;1438049738768

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c18/ab...p;1438049738768

 

[panthermike]

Glad to hear that you're happy with the Titan's towing performance. A friend of mine is looking at purchasing a used Titan in the next several months, I'll pass this along to him.

How was your mpg towing that load?

 

[gman2304]

I owned a 95 Nissan hardbody 4cyl 5 speed 4x4 for 19 years and it was a great little truck. Never a problem to speak of. I also owned a 1986 Maxima, a 1988 300 ZX a 1992 Maxima and all were practically trouble free. The Titan sounds like it will be a great vehicle for you as well. Why not Amsoil in the Titans transmission?

 

[Anthony]

Originally Posted By: panthermike
Glad to hear that you're happy with the Titan's towing performance. A friend of mine is looking at purchasing a used Titan in the next several months, I'll pass this along to him.

How was your mpg towing that load?


I've only taken one rd trip in this truck. With the Cruise control at 72 MPH it averaged 19.5 MPG hand calculated, and I was OK with that. The trip computer showed around 20.4 MPG so I'm assuming it will read close to 1 MPG too high most of the time.

On this towing trip the computer showed 15 MPG most of the way. Speed was kept in the 65 range so I'm assuming the actual number was 14 MPG. I thought that was pretty good considering how thirsty people say they are. If your friend is looking to get an used one, tell him to stay with 08 or newer as they had several revisions. Two important revisions are much better, and bigger brakes, and a 4 spider gear rear axle vs 2 spiders for the 04-07.

 

[Anthony]

Originally Posted By: gman2304
I owned a 95 Nissan hardbody 4cyl 5 speed 4x4 for 19 years and it was a great little truck. Never a problem to speak of. I also owned a 1986 Maxima, a 1988 300 ZX a 1992 Maxima and all were practically trouble free. The Titan sounds like it will be a great vehicle for you as well. Why not Amsoil in the Titans transmission?


I'm sure the Amsoil would be fine, but it has a 7 year 100,000 mile warranty, and a sticker under the hood stating Nissan Matic S only. The drain, and fill is only 4 qts. I don't want to deal with disconnecting lines, and trying to do a total fluid exchange. I'll probably drain, and fill every 10-12k. Yes I know it's overkill. That's what I've done with my dads 01 with Dex 3 all it's life. Mainly Castrol. I still daily drive a 95 V6 Hardbody. Just turned 200k. I drive it 90 miles a day.

 

[901Memphis]

Nissan towing a Nissan, Love it. Would be funny to see the trucks in opposite positions !

 

[donnyj08]

Very nice, I love the Titan engine and trans, they are so responsive. If only it was prettier.

You could certainly tow that load at 80mph if you have trailer brakes and a balanced load. I pull a car trailer with my Silverado at 75-80 mph all the time with cars and trucks in tow. The high speeds keeps momentum up and prevents downshifts!

I like the way you serviced the truck! I did mine the same way very early in its life!

 

[Shrubitup]

got a 07 Nissan Titan XE 2WD crew cab. I've towed small boats and it hauls a dirt bike nearly every weekend. Not real heavy demands on it but it fits six people and there's five in my family. I camp inside it too. Yes, I sleep in the driver's chair leaned back more comfortable than in a tent. I'm big and 6'2" tall.

I run conventional 5W-30 typically Chevron Supreme or NAPA. 5K mile OCI and wix filter. Mine said in 07 to use the Nissan Matic J which is similar to MD-3 so I do simple drain and fill every 18K. Has 75K on it now. No problems. Have recently found that with A/C off and defrost off I can get 20MPG while going 80MPH freeway unloaded. Put the defrost back on and it's 17-18MPG.

 

[NHGUY]

Frontier 4/auto delivery vehicle gets only 20mpg as opposed to the old Rangers that got 30 or more.I'm not impressed with the seats or the hard plastic dash.And the manual window crank handles are recessed into the door panel and hard to reach while driving.The controls on the stalks are confusing and not being lit,impossible to figure out in the dark.Traction control doesn't seem to work very well in the winter,the exhaust has a constant "ting ting" when running and for an hour after shutdown.The bed floor has a seam not welded or seam sealed.Overall,I'm not impressed and would never buy one as a personal vehicle.And after seeing how Maximas,Altimas,and older Frontier/Hardbodys rust...I don't think I would buy a Nissan anything.

 

[Boomer]

Having owned a Frontier for years, you only want to use Matic S in the tranny. I found that it stayed clear and red for long periods of time and my auto tranny never had a hiccup.

 

[Jimzz]

I had a late 2005 Titan and towed my 73 Chevy with it on the similar Uhaul trailer. I used 5th gear and never had any issue. I left it in tow mode but OD still worked.

I used Valvoline Maxlife in my titans transmission and worked great. The diff I used the syn 75w140.

Just be careful with the 2008 and earlier Titans. They had some issues; but I loved my titan. Got better gas mileage than my V8 Dakota, rode nice, etc... just my wife wanted something smaller so have the Dakota now.

 

[Anthony]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Frontier 4/auto delivery vehicle gets only 20mpg as opposed to the old Rangers that got 30 or more.I'm not impressed with the seats or the hard plastic dash.And the manual window crank handles are recessed into the door panel and hard to reach while driving.The controls on the stalks are confusing and not being lit,impossible to figure out in the dark.Traction control doesn't seem to work very well in the winter,the exhaust has a constant "ting ting" when running and for an hour after shutdown.The bed floor has a seam not welded or seam sealed.Overall,I'm not impressed and would never buy one as a personal vehicle.And after seeing how Maximas,Altimas,and older Frontier/Hardbodys rust...I don't think I would buy a Nissan anything.



It's safe to say that you DON'T have a clue about what you're talking about. Complaining that a BASE model 4 cylinder pickup doesn't have lights on the stalks? REALLY?? They are also EXTREMELY simple to operate. The Rangers LESS powerful 4 cylinders probably did get better mileage, but not over 10 mpg better under the same conditions. Nissan has their share of issues, but so does every other manufacture.

I had a 12 Frontier 6 speed like the one on the trailer. It easily got over 22 mpg on rd trips. Ranger never had an engine that could touch the 4.0 VQ V6 in the Frontier on the trailer. 261HP, 281 ft lbs with 90% of that torque available at 2000 rpm. It feels like a V8.