Towing vehicle question

I tow my 178 with a Nissan Xterra. it's pretty close to the frontier,I think it has the same engine but only rated at 5klbs.(due to shorter wheelbase) the 178 is alot bigger and heavier than the 171. I thought at first it was underpowered but stability wise it was great. After towing it a few more times, the xterra does just fine.

Welcome, and good advice.

I have a 2015 178 Hood River Edition and I would guess that with a battery installed and full propane tank along with any of your gear inside you are pushing a real world weight of your trailer at around 3,000 lbs.  Although your TV is rated to pull 3,500 lbs you are getting close to maxing out in real world towing.  You for sure need a WD set up which will help out a lot.  Towing a 20 ft trailer with a short wheel base TV without a WD is a sure fire method of producing pain in the rear towing and really rough on your TV.

I strongly suggest you get a good WD setup including the sway control.  Be prepared for slow going up hills but the suggested WD set up will make your towing a more pleasant experience; just remember that you are getting close to the max towing of your TV when you load all your personal gear in the trailer and I would not tow with any water in your tank which can rapidly add up more weight.  Even a full water heater tank will add close to 50 lbs to your overall weight.

Sway can turn into bad news in a heartbeat.  Real bad news.  After spending tens of thousands on TV + Pod, spending a comparative pittance on anti-sway - if it gives me *any* chance of avoiding sway problems -  seems like a no-brainer.  I suspect my Tundra would have little if any problem with our little 171.  With the E2 WDH, it's a non-issue.  JMO, of course, and YMMV.

Tow rating doesn't mean much for sway.  Wheel base does (see info on controlling sway in the link in my signature), and while a higher tow rating partially depends on wheel base, what matters is having more room between the TVs axles.