Load equalizer - Sway control

I think you summed it up very well, Greg. Please feel free to stay and hang around here with us.

Hi Greg,
 I pulled my pod with a f-150 5.4...it did well in the Tennessee Mountains to the SC coast. anything heavier I would have put a transmission oil temp gage on it...lets say if the total towing went 3000lbs with the rpod loaded...its the heat which burns up the bands in the automatic transmission.
Info: It was a factory tow package rated for 8300 lbs, but the moment I hooked up 4300 lbs it did a lot of dropping down a gear when climbing a hill...I knew it was a matter of time before that transmission would have cooked and needed a rebuild.... that was with about half the rated towing capacity....I have gone to a f-350 diesel and dont worry anymore

Originally posted by Greg Thanks, that about wraps it up... a new truck or no trailer... Darn.

Look at it this way:  Better to make the decision now that the Murano isn't the tow vehicle you want rather than finding that out by the side of the road with a blown transmission. 

We towed our R-pod last summer from Colorado to California and Oregon with an '04 Dodge Durango with a 4.7 liter V-8 and realized that it really wasn't up to snuff (with a 5,000+ lb. tow capacity).  Struggled mightily on uphill grades and threatened to overheat frequently.  Upgraded to a diesel Grand Cherokee recently, and can't wait to try it out with the Pod for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Moral to the story:  You'll never regret having too much tow capacity.  The opposite, however, is frequently true.

Towed my 177 with a Frontier v6 rated at 6100# towing capacity or two years.  Really slow on inclines and mileage at 60mph was about 9mpg.  Used supersprings to keep it level with a 350# tongue weight.  After the last trip of around 1800 miles the tranny started hunting for gears and just generally had a hard time maintaining speed.

Originally posted by CharlieM Originally posted by Greg I was planning on placing a Class III hitch on the Murano, but the performance issue has really got me questioning the wisdom of this. I can't afford a $6-8K transmission. Maybe we should wait a year and try again with a different vehicle. That sounds like the best plan, Greg. The general wisdom is 3500# rating is marginal but 5000# is adequate with a class III receiver or better and WDH+sway. Also look for AWD , 4WD, or rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive is not preferred for towing.