I have a Hidden Hitch (class I) installed on my Max.

The HItch max load says 2000lb, and 200 lbs. tongue weight.

Looking in the Manual, Nissan says that you should not exceed 1000lbs. TOTAL LOAD....which means the empty weight of the trailer + the cargo weight.

I have only hooked-up a trailer to this thing once, and it was a uhaul 4x8 enclosed box trailer. I transported a motorcycle (450lbs) + the trailer (850 lbs) and the car did okay, minus the fact that I got TERRIBLE gas mileage lugging an enlcosed box trailer for 3 hours at highway speeds!

Question is this: anybody out there have any experience hauling trailers with their Max, and just how far over the load limit have you gone without issue??

I'm more worried about twisting the frame with a heavy load than anything....the engine was MORE than powerful enough to handle the load.
I have progress springs on the car as well -- and I'm thinking that any extra weight on the tail will bottom the car-out!

INput welcome.
gr

 

FYI...the max load is determined most by the capability of the transmission (not the engine)

 

Interesting.
I have a 6spd....so I'd be willing to believe it'd take a bit more than an auto - but I have no interest in overloading it.

I need to find a lighter trailer.

 

a manual will help...the tow weight is always less for an auto because it has to work harder and can overheat. trucks with a towing packages usually have a tranny cooler and a towing setting.

i still wouldnt go over the 1000lbs

 

I'm probably going to be moving again soon. I need to get my meager belongings and my motorcycle to said destination.

I'd rather not have to buy a trailer....but the rental option doens't seem to be economical given the hefty weight. of an all-aluminum boxed trailer.
Even if I found a trailer that weighed only 500 lbs, that wouldn't leave me much capacity for anything else.
The bike weighs about 420 lbs. wet.

Well, I didn't buy an F150, did I??!
gr

 

I'm trying to find the tow capacity too. I'm seeing 1000lbs everywhere except from Nissan themselves. That is rather low for a car this size, with a powerful engine. In England, where I come from, cars half this size and down 100hp will pull 3x times this weight. I believe the car is easily capable of pulling 3500lbs. I think this is true because the Maxima in England pulls more and also, my 2004 Quest will pull 3500lbs with the same engine and tranny.
If I could find a hitch to fit that isnt class 1 I'd use my Maxima to pull my 2600lb boat.

 

Anyone in here likes fat chicks? They can prob help you out a lot.

As sooner said, the # from Nissan in there for a reason... I would not go over it to much. I would think a blown tranny is more expensive than renting a truck...

 

honestly though...you should never use a family sedan to tow anything...especially anything over 1,000lbs

 

Quoted for posterity. This is one of the most stupidist things ever written.

 

The over seas maximas say 2000lbs IIRC. I believe it has more to do with the brakes than the tranny.

 

Maybe more to do with law suits and the percieved need to drive a truck to be able to tow anything heavier than a helium balon.

 

we do things differently in this country
if you want to tow something...you use a vehicle that is meant to tow.

 

How about this for a novel idea. Why not rent a moving van, put your "meager" (you said it) belongings inside, ride the bike up the ramp and secure it inside the van, and then tow your car with a tow dolly? That makes the most sense instead of trying to tow a trailer, that will weigh more than the recommended tow weight, with your family sedan.

 

Yep, cultural or marketing driven. America has the biggest vehicles on the planet yet somehow they manage to tow less weight than their smaller foreign counterparts. The same vehicle even have significant differences.

When we were kids, my dad had a '77 Datsun 180B. A 1.8l 4 cyl carb that probably was pushing a massive 60 or so hp. We used to tow a 15 foot caravan (trailer) wet, with 4 people in the car for 400 miles each way. There was no problem ever with that car. It pulled it like a champ. Took us on vacation like this for years untill he sold it with 170,000 miles on it.

 

One member used to tow a U-Haul with his maxima. Honestly I would tow up to 1500-2000 with my maxima, especially since I have bigger brakes now. Like I said earlier, braking would be my main concern.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=towing
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=towing+hitch
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=towing+hitch
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=towing+hitch

 

my 93' v-6 t-bird towed my max through penn state on a tow dolly for 400 miles, then it blew a head gasket. over the course of it's life i changed the head gasket 4 times.

 

Isn't gas like 3x more there?

 

I just called my Dad, he's paying about $1.93 a liter x 3.78 = $7.295 a gallon.

 

and why are people here b1tching?

 

When I left England 6 years ago, petrol was 62p a litre. The price in the conversion above was 1.009 a litre which is what my dad paid on friday night. So in 6 years its risen about 60%. When I arrived in the states, I was paying $1.01 a gallon. The same gas station last night charged me $3.48 a gallon. So in the same time, gas in the states as risen about 350%. Thats why people are b1tching here, even though gas is significantly cheaper than other world markets.

I'm lucky to be paying less than my dad but pissed its rate of increase is not the same as for him.

 

Just as an example, I towed one of my race cars (91 Sentra SE-R) with a towbar, fully loaded with parts and wheels, from SLC to the bay area on I80 with no problems. This was with my dad's 02 6sp, as I would never put a hitch on my baby. I would be willing to bet that the 1000lb limit was put in place due to the weight/size of the car, Nissan knows american drivers suck and with a low tow vehicle to load size ratio, makes for a more unstable driving experiance. The car itself is capable of towing much more than 1000lb.

 

A class 1 hitch is rated to 1500lbs, so where are you guys finding class 2 hitches? I can only find class 1 for this car.

 

I also would like to tow a trailer, looking at about 1500 lbs total, but I would be driving from Cali to Toronto. My car is a 2001 manual transmission, I realize that the manual says a maximum of 1000 lbs, but even a Corolla has a towing capacity of 1500 lbs. I just put new brakes on the car, and the car runs in perfect condition. Am I risking too much by attempting this?

 

If 1500 lbs is the TARE (empty unloaded) weight of the trailer, then you are likely pushing the limits of your load capacity with a Max.


I don't remember seeing many trailers for rent (uhaul, etc) that exceded 1000lbs unloaded.....but again, make sure you know EXACTLY how much the trailer weighs, and how much you intend to LOAD on that trailer.

Going much higher than 1000-1500 lbs is really pushing the limits of the suspension, tires, and chassis on this vehicle.

If you can, buy or rent an all-ALUMINUM trailer. These wEIGH SIGNIFICANTLY less than steel-frame construction trailers of similar sizes.

gr

 

I mean total gross weight of trailer would be about 1500 lbs (it's 875 empty). U-Haul has a smaller one, but apparently it's only the size of a trunk, so pretty useless.

 

I used my 96 Maxima, to tow one or two bikes to roadtrips and track days all the time, 300 - 500 miles each way, the trailer weights about 500lbs and each bike about 400-450 so its about 1400lbs with two bikes on it, the car handled that weight just fine. Granted i felt the extra load, especially going uphill at highway speeds some times i would have to downshift to 4th gear or even 3rd. but on a flat road its fine. and thats with a car that had 220K miles on it! i was even getting pretty decent gas mileage, if i stay at about 70mph then 20-21mpg but if i go 80-90 then it would drop to 17mpg.