Towing with a Frontier

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hanson - 26 Aug 2005 19:09 GMT

I am looking at a **2004 Nissan Frontier XE extended cab with Automatic
Tranny***. I have questions about the towing, and the used car
dealership was not knowledgeable.

Let me first mention that I know very little about trailer hitches,
etc.

Can you tow with this vehicle by just hooking a "ball" to the back
bumper? That is how my Chevy S-10 worked. It seems that this vehicle
has two separate towing capacities. Is one capacity for it you hook to
the bumper, and the other capacity for it you hook to a real trailer
hitch that bolts to the truck frame?

(I have seen a few trucks with the back bumper bent down, so it is
facing the ground instead of backwards! Is this commonly from someone
trying to attach a trainer with too much tongue weight to a back-bumper
mounted trainer hitch?) Thanks!

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Ulysses - 26 Aug 2005 20:11 GMT

> I am looking at a **2004 Nissan Frontier XE extended cab with Automatic
> Tranny***. I have questions about the towing, and the used car
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> the bumper, and the other capacity for it you hook to a real trailer
> hitch that bolts to the truck frame?

Didn't it come with the owner's manual being that new? It shoud tell you
the towing capacities.

I used to tow a boat (total weight about 3500 lbs) with an '82 Toyota 2WD
3/4 Ton pickup but I stuck to level ground (no mountain roads) and it did
fine. Never had any problems on the launch ramps etc. I suspect it may
have had a heavier duty bumper than the Frontier though. My '04 Frontier is
not here right now so I can't look it up but I will try to remember to
tonight if you can't find your manual.

In any case you are better off installing a Class III trailer hitch which
will cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of $150, more or less. Class
III probably exceeds the capacity of a Frontier but I think it's better than
putting on too lightweight of a hitch (like Class II). Hitches that are
bolted to the frame are supposedly much stronger than welded.

When you tow you should distribute the weight so that about 10-15% is on the
tongue. I found my boat trailer handled better with about 15% than with
10%.

> (I have seen a few trucks with the back bumper bent down, so it is
> facing the ground instead of backwards! Is this commonly from someone
> trying to attach a trainer with too much tongue weight to a back-bumper
> mounted trainer hitch?) Thanks!

That might do it. ;-)

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