Nissan Frontier as TV
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14766
Printed Date: 20 Jun 2025 at 10:12am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Nissan Frontier as TV
Posted By: illzoni
Subject: Nissan Frontier as TV
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2021 at 11:57am
|
Some (at the recent TC rally) had asked about towing our 190 with our Nissan Frontier. That truck is my daily driver for work, and I typically put about 2k miles on it each month driving to/from insurance claim inspections. That usually includes at least one ladder on the rack, and usually two. Add that to the body and suspension lifts, as well as slightly oversized tires, and it's not an aerodynamically efficient vehicle.  And I spend some time doing paperwork in the cab with the truck idling and AC running. Over the last couple of months, I've averaged 15.4mpg. We tow using a Fastway e2 WDH with sway bars rated for 6k# and 600# tongue weight, with a 4" drop shank due to the lift on the truck. We 'feel' passing trucks but it's not scary. We do occasionally get a bit of a pucker moment with gusting crosswinds, but pretty rarely and it recovers right away. I tend to run 63-65mph with cruise engaged and overdrive enabled as conditions allow. We usually outpull the big rigs on long grades. During our trip to TC and back we logged just over 1640 miles. Other than trips to Sleeping Bear and Charlevoix/Petoskey, it was all with the R-Pod in tow. Excluding fill-ups for those excursions, we got about 12.7mpg. |
Replies:
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2021 at 1:10pm
|
Your Frontier does a great job towing your 190 and get decent mileage to boot, which is a plus. It was great meeting you and Ying in Traverse City last week. My, we were blessed with fantastic and perfect weather during the rally! Within 6-7 hours after leaving on Sunday the rains began, and haven't quit for a week now. What a difference one week makes! ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2021 at 4:01pm
|
The 12.7 mpg at 65 mph sounds about right. One "advantage" of having a not very aero tow vehicle is the fuel economy doesn't drop that much towing. The trailer is bigger so dominates your drag coefficient one way or the other but it has less impact if the tow vehicle already has a lot of drag. In comparison, I get about 14 mpg towing at 60 and 27-28 mpg at 60 not towing. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: poston
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2021 at 4:24pm
We tow with the Xterra, which has a similar drivetrain, but is two to three feet shorter. We use sway control but no weight distribution. To us, it tows fine also. ------------- -- Jim Virginia City, Nevada 2016 R-pod 180 2015 Nissan Xterra Pro-4X |
Posted By: marshel
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2021 at 3:26am
|
I get about 11mpg towing a 189 with a 2014 Frontier, but I keep O/D shut off. I have a Blue Ox Sway Pro and since I've tightened it up a couple of links, I've gotten more positive sway control and feels more stable than ever. I have 39 and 1/2 feet of single width driveway, so I'm not upgrading either the TV or the trailer anytime soon. |
Posted By: illzoni
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2021 at 11:39am
Yeah, the weather was very nice. Worst we saw was a strong, quartering tailwind (15-30mph) driving south down 31 on Sunday.
|
Posted By: illzoni
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2021 at 11:40am
Ah, that makes sense.
|
Posted By: YukonDavid
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2021 at 6:15pm
|
Hello and thank you for your post. Thinking about getting a Blue ox sway control hitch to tow my new r-pod 195. Any suggestions? ------------- Safe Travels. Namaste. |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 24 Aug 2021 at 12:04am
|
I personally don't know anything about Blue Ox other than they seem to be on the pricey side. For weight distribution I think they all pretty much do the same thing.
There are differences in the way sway control is done. I like my Reese Pro because I can adjust sway control separate from weight distribution, but it does add complexity compared to some other options. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |