Ownership Verified: CraigB's 2014 Nissan Frontier (Navara) Pro-4X

I've logged over 2,000 miles in the truck over the last two weeks. Last week I had a service call in Xenia, Ohio at a dragstrip that was having trouble with their scoreboards. I drove 20 hours and 1,300 miles on that job. Get this though, all for about 20 minutes worth of work. If the guy had just listened to me over the phone he could have saved himself $1,500.

Then this week I went mountain biking in Arkansas with some friends and we fit most of the group in my truck.

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Then today I took a 500 mile round trip to a MoDOT yard in Ellington, Missouri to pickup guardrail posts for the racetrack. There was supposed to be 135 in the lot dad bought, but I think there was more than that. We will know when we unload them. Dad hauled about twice what I did in the flatbed.

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As you can see, the truck really does need a load leveling hitch for this much weight (guesstimate of 6,000 lbs of trailer and guardrail posts). It also struggled with some of the steeper hills in eastern Missouri, toping some at just 45 MPH. However, I was trying to be nice to the truck and not rev the crap out of the poor engine.

So far it's proving that it can do all the truck like things without issue. That's a good thing, as otherwise, it wouldn't be a truck...

Oh what the heck, one more photo...

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CraigB said:
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As you can see, the truck really does need a load leveling hitch for this much weight (guesstimate of 6,000 lbs of trailer and guardrail posts). It also struggled with some of the steeper hills in eastern Missouri, toping some at just 45 MPH. However, I was trying to be nice to the truck and not rev the crap out of the poor engine.
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Hm, doesn't that just mean you have too much weight on the front of the trailer? The load isn't balanced properly... Most of the weight should be supported by the trailer's tires. The maximum weight (down) the towbar should have to endure is 75 kg IIRC, and that will not push the towing vehicle down at all.
 
luokyio said:
Hm, doesn't that just mean you have too much weight on the front of the trailer? The load isn't balanced properly... Most of the weight should be supported by the trailer's tires. The maximum weight (down) the towbar should have to endure is 75 kg IIRC, and that will not push the towing vehicle down at all.
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Nope.

The answer is simple, but first, lets summarize the physics:

- The worse the ratio between trailer and tow vehicle mass the easier it is to have oscillations and the more likely they will be uncontrollable.
- 10-15% tongue weight with the mass in front of the axle is ideal for dynamic and static towing
- The greater the tongue weight the more compromised a tow vehicle's suspension attitude, GVWR and GAWR become.
- Speed amplifies any of these problems (low tongue weight, high trailer to tow vehicle mass ratio, etc)
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Check the link for more.

That said, given the attitude of the truck's bed, I think his load was actually higher than the tow rating of the truck. The Pro-4X is only rated to tow 6100-6300lbs and I suspect his load was more like 7000+ given the attitude of the truck and the reported low speed available.
 
Live and learn. It's weird how different it is there. But well explained in the article.

I did some local research, and it is actually mandated by law how much tongue weight (yay, I learned a new word today) is. The limit is 4 % of gross weight of the trailer, which in this case (assuming 7000 lbs/3175 kg) would be 280 lbs/127 kg. And that would not be nearly enough to push the rear suspension down that much. Of couse we have the 80 km/h (50 mph) limit whenever anything is towed.
 
The truck squats pretty good with just the trailer on, then the clowns at MoDOT dumped the posts in randomly. I really wanted the posts more at the back of the trailer. It towed just fine though, no funny business, wiggling around, etc. I ran 60 until I figured out that 65 got the truck into a meatier part of the torque curve and it towed better there.
 
Going on nearly 9,000 miles on the truck now. Not a single issue. Changed the oil for the second time before the trip to OKC for Mrs. CraigB and my 11th anniversary. I sure do like a good truck for a road trip. The taller seating position, the not crawling in and out of a car, etc.

Still plan to try and take it to the desert around Christmas. Weather permitting, of course.

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CraigB said:
It towed just fine though, no funny business, wiggling around, etc.
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All this talk about tongue weight and towing capacity; how it drove was mostly what I was concerned with. Goddamn shitkicker upbringing I had. :lol:

Glad to see that trucks been such a good buy for you.

CraigB said:
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Man, I miss that.
 
tigger said:
All this talk about tongue weight and towing capacity; how it drove was mostly what I was concerned with. Goddamn shitkicker upbringing I had.
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Since I've been pulling trailers I've been aware of the right way to do things. I haven't had any problems with any of my own equipment. On a vacation in Moab a number of years back a bunch of us rented 4-wheelers and one side by side. They loaded them up on their trailer and sent us it to the desert. Anything over 55 and it sent the truck and trailer into a death wobble.


tigger said:
Glad to see that trucks been such a good buy for you.
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It's a great truck, just lacks the towing power of the modern half-tons. Though that's not such a bad thing.


tigger said:
Man, I miss that.
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It's unique in Kansas. We were on some narrow two track roads. Similar to what we encountered in Arkansas really this year. Just sans trees.
 
Been stupid busy over the last week driving, working and just trying to get through this trip. Today was day eight and I'm at Wilkesboro Raceway Park in North Carolina. I'm installing a used system here that they bought from another track. They are also getting two new LED scoreboards. I'm nearly at the 2,000 mile mark on this trip, leaving about 1,000 miles before I will make it home.

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Day 12 on the road. I have now driven nearly 2,500 miles, installed a timing system, roughed in another, fixed some stuff at another dragstrip, dropped scoreboards at yet another and walked one for wire length.

I have spent only one night in a hotel, the rest of the time has been spent in either a garage apartment in Houston (2 nights) or in dad's travel trailer.

I'm tired, I hurt from the 14-16 hour days driving, I've messed up my right ankle and foot to the point it hurts to drive.

I'm going to make it home tomorrow. Come hell or high water...

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CraigB said:
Day 12 on the road. I have now driven nearly 2,500 miles, installed a timing system, roughed in another, fixed some stuff at another dragstrip, dropped scoreboards at yet another and walked one for wire length.

I have spent only one night in a hotel, the rest of the time has been spent in either a garage apartment in Houston (2 nights) or in dad's travel trailer.

I'm tired, I hurt from the 14-16 hour days driving, I've messed up my right ankle and foot to the point it hurts to drive.

I'm going to make it home tomorrow. Come hell or high water...

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I guess even cruise control couldn't make up for being in the car for so long.... :(

Hopefully you'll have a chance to sleep once you get home.
 
"I must spread some Reputation around before giving it to CraigB again" for being such a fucking beast and doing his work to spread glorious drag racing across the land. If someone could send some internet points his way for me I'd appreciate it.
 
Just wondering about that travel trailer. Is it made from 1/2 inch steel?

I'm just wondering, because a regular caravan in Europe is roughly two thirds the size of that thing and a typical towing vehicle is something like a 150hp turbodiesel CR-V.
 
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