which truck

[travlinman and wife]

I have a 2000 f150 I use to pull a6x13 cargo trailer that has a  weight of about 2500lb. this truck has the 4.6 v8 and has 220 hp at 4750rpm 265 lb-ft at 4000 rpm. it has 250,000 miles so I will need to replace it soon.    the 2015 toyota tacoma v6 has 236 hp at 5,200 rpm  266 lb-fa at 4,000 rpm.      the 2015 nissan frontier v6 has 261 hp and 281 lb-ft.                                                                  which truck would be the best to pull this trailer. no 4x4 and each with 4 doors and auto trans

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

More info needed.

What does the factory specify as the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight on each of these two trucks?  And whats the typical curb weight of each truck?

Are there factory tow packages available for either of these, and what do they consist of?

Does either company offer tow-haul on their auto trans?

Regards
John

 

[wagoneer]

If I ever tire of the 2001 E350 my next move will be a Dodge 4 x 4 pickup with a cummins inline 6. and my trailer.

 

[Canine]

From 2014 autotrader comparison:

Interior Spaces

Inside, the Toyota is again the 'fashionista', with a contrast drawn between its upper and lower dash panels, car-like cloth upholstery and more surfaces crafted from soft-touch plastic. In contrast, the Frontier is fully functional, but there's a cheapness to the surfaces more appropriate to the company's Versa than a $30K PRO 4-X pickup. We did, however, like the Frontier's steering wheel, covered in perforated leather and with an ergonomic shape. The upper/lower glove box works well, with areas for the clean stuff (upper) and dirty stuff (lower). When the road ends, you never know what you might need...

Available Power

Under their hoods you'll find the option of a four cylinder engine or torque-laden V6. The Frontier's 2.5 liter four is good for 152 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque, while the comparable Tacoma mill offers 159 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque from its 2.7 liters of displacement. Opt for the V6 variants and both deliver 4.0 liters. However, the Nissan trumps the Toyota by 25 horsepower (261 vs. 236) and 15 lb-ft of torque (281 vs. 266). But then, with a fully boxed frame and approximately 150 more pounds to propel, the Frontier can put the extra power and torque to good use. (End of quote)

Nissan has more power but I probably see 5:1 or higher ratio of Tacomas on the road. Watch the rear suspension (payload) as I've read that the Taco is sprung softly, not too good for your trailer tongue weight.

Like Optimistic P said, need more info... What's wrong with a new F150??

 

[minimotos95]

I don't think either toyota or nissan put a tow mode on their small trucks, just the fullsize tundra and titan.

taco tow package:
V6 Tow Package
Class-IV towing receiver hitch, transmission and supplemental oil coolers (transmission cooler not available on manual transmission models), 130-amp alternator, heavy-duty battery, 7-pin connector with converter, and Trailer-Sway Control (TSC)

Can't find any info on the frontier's tow package if there's one but the OEM hitch is also a class IV.

for both the 2wd v6 is rated to tow 6500lbs(neither said what cab)

If 2500lbs is the fully loaded wet weight of your trailer neither truck should have any problem. but I'm thinking for a 6x13', 2500lbs is the empty weight?

 

[Canine]

From a Frontier forum:

Begin quote:

"ultimate towing thread
This is a trhead I try to build to bring together as more info as possible concerning towing with our Nissan Frontier.

OEM technical:

V6 4L frontier can tow up to 6500lbs, depending of version. in order to respect oem specs, 3500lbs is max tow without trailer brake (some places it's 1000 and other 1500 in owner manual), 5000lbs with trailer brake/without weight distribution hitch. To reach max towing capacity, we should use weight distribution hitch.
According to OEM specs, we shouldn't put over 500lbs tongue weight without weight distribution hitch.

following numbers are based on 2013 frontier Ebrochure. Specs are the same for all 2nd gen. Frontier from what I know.

V6 KingCab 4x2 (4x4) towing: 6500(6300)
V6 CrewCab 4x2 4X4) towing: 6300(6100)
4L kingCab towing: 3500

Payload vary alot depending of engine (4L or V6), cab (kingcab or crewcab), wheelbase and transmission.

To get real numbers, you should refer to your driver door sticker. You'll find there GVWR (gross vehicule weight rating) GAWR (gross axle weight rating) for both front and rear axle.

In the owner manual, we can find GCWR (gross combinated weight rating). That report to max total weight from truck and trailer together. From my owner manual (2011 ):
KC 4x2 4cyl: 7940lbs
All 6cyl: 11135lbs

That mean:
- when loading our trucks, we should never exceed GAWR of both axle.
- Total of both axle weight should never exceed GVWR.
- When hooking up a trailer, we put weight on truck, so load and people on the truck AND tongue weight have to be consider together.
- All weight on the truck reduce max trailer weight we should hook up to our truck
- Only owner, fuel, all fluids and oem options take place on "dry vehicule weight" (read without load). All other person/load/equipment add weight, so reduce usable payload.

Some concept: Tongue weight should be between 10-15% of trailer weight. more than 15% could get you into a "high nose" situation on the road, ie less handling and braking, and more possibility to wobble. less than 10% can bring you on a "nose heavy" situation. Here, weight tend to be more on the read part of trailer, and could bring a dangerous situation, where there is almost no weight on front axle. That mean poor handling, and no possibility to controle the truck. Both situations must be avoid. If there is too much weight on tongue, we should replace load on trailer.

Use of Airbags, helper springs, AAL or any other mecanical way to raise rearend of the truck only mask trouble. Yeah, truck is leveled, but there is still too much weight on rear axle (mecanical stress) and not enough on front axle (poor andling and driving, and braking). We should use weight distribution hitch to level truck. That system help transfering weight form rear to front axle. All other mechanical device only reduce bottoming.

Our trucks are pre-wired for trailer harness. For the 4 wire system, plug is located under left frame rail. For 7pin harness, we have to install a relay harness on front passenger kick panel. Ask dealer for that. (will try to add info-pics later). Realy easy to install. There is also a brake wiring harness under dash. Realy easy to hook up brake controller.

All class 3-4 hitch are almost the same four our truck. Some are rated 5000/6000lbs, some other are rated 5000/8000lbs. They are realy easy to install. / bolts each side. Be sure to torque well, and check after few miles towing.

Use of a good brake controller is a must. I use a Tekonsha P3. Prodigy/prodigy2 are excellent brake controlers. I recommend Inertia basez auto-leveling system. Time based always give you same braking power on a preset patern. In case of emergency braking, they won't give you all power unless you override. Same for smooth braking, or changing surface and backing. Inertia non self-leveling are also hard to fine tune and should be retune for every load and road surface.

Frontier have a great frame, nice powerfull engine, a solid transmission. Taking care of them will help any time. If towing significantly, change all diff3transfer case fluid every year. Can be done easily on driveway at home. Some good "hwo-to" over site. How To: Front + Rear Differential && Transfercase Fluid Change on 05+ Gen 2 Frontier
Tranny fluid should be change every 2 years (flush/fill). Checking tire pressure, all fluids and hitch integrity before each start when towint is one of the best safety/care trick.

When towing, if you encounter any repeating gear change, remove over drive (OD). We do not have a "Tow/haul" mode on our truck. Also, if towing heavy load and tranny is reving very low, you can manualy change gear to a lower one if you have an Auto trans. Our bigger ennemy is by far wind drag. So speed effect towing alot. All vertical surface increase drag... going upwind is realy harder than downwind. Also, crosswind/crossing heavy trucks can be a little tricky if not knowing what will happen, or not familliar in towing a trailer.

See local laws regarding towing. Vary from state to state, and from a province to another. Lighting, lenght, weight, license plate, mechanical inspection...

Remember that heavier weight takes longer to stop, so keep place in front of you, and slow down a bit...

For those who want to know if they can tow something, don't thrust trailer dealer (rv especially!!) and truck dealer too. They want to sell, and they are not in your truck down hill, without electrical brake, overloaded... but they have your $$$. I would suggest to refer to RV forums. You can find alot or tricks, info, and sometime the exact setup you wanna try or ask questions about. But remember: the longuer anr/or heavier the truck, the larger the trailer it can handle. The longuer the trailer is, there is a greater lateral swing force that can be transfer to the truck." End of quote

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[Canine]

From a Nissan Frontier site:

The Frontier rides on Nissan's rugged F-Alpha platform, which includes a fully-boxed ladder frame constructed from high tensile-strength steel. Its suspension layout and many of its component designs are identical to those of the full-size Titan pickup, including an all-steel double-wishbone front suspension and solid axle rear suspension with overslung leaf springs and a long suspension stroke for off-road performance.
These underpinnings help the Frontier to tow a full-size-pickup-like 6,500 pounds (in RWD V6 form), although the truck's relatively modest dimensions and curb weight give it more responsive handling than the average full-sizer.


Read more: http://www.leftlanenews.com/new-car-buying/nissan/frontier/#ixzz3bvhnMd2u