Re: Towing questions from a newbie
Here's my two sense
I'm a certified auto mechanic and a commercially licensed driver, so I hope I know a little. I agree with all the info provided to you so far. But here's my take...<br />You’ve obviously been very intelligent in your approach to this, you researched your truck and it's capabilities. Please, for safety sake, follow the 85% rule, trucks are light in the rear, and tongue weight should be no more than 10% of trailer loaded weight, so that’s not much down force on those rear wheels, relatively. Not in an extreme maneuver that is, when the trailer is trying to pass you. <br />Truck manufacturers are generous with their tow ratings since that’s a badge of honor, and a selling point of the “Macho” units. I’m not familiar with the Titan, but I’ve always liked Nissans.<br />As for brakes, there’s surge, but they only work when you’re braking (I know DUH!). But I mean the tow vehicle must be slowing to activate the surge brakes, and there’s not much if any control. Trailer starting to sway, forget it. There’s electric, but assisting you to back down the ramp? Don’t have them energized when they submerge. You can control them manually, a big plus in my book, but NOT a great sway control. Manually activating trailer brakes can actually cause more problems than help, sometimes. But electric brakes require an in cab controller, and special wiring. I would recommend electric brakes however, on all of your trailer axles too. As for the controller, go for an inertia-activated controller. These combine the “Surge” and the standard electric controller features. You set the baseline braking force, (standard controller) and then the harder the tow vehicle is stopping, the more force the trailer brakes apply (surge). I use a Tekonsha Voyager XP, but any inertia type controller is fine. Buy MORE capability than you need, my XP is rated or up to triple axle, instead of the Voyager at up to twin axle. If you don’t install it yourself, insist on 10-gauge wire from the controller to the trailer connector and from the battery to the controller. Also insist the ground wire from the controller be run directly to the battery NEG. These are requirements in the installation instructions but most installers try to make it fast and cheap, so they cut corners. And manufacturers generally use 14 gauge wires, TOO LIGHT. And these brakes are for safety, so in my opinion there’s no corners to cut. Also another good reason for electric brakes is a breakaway brake. If your trailer has electric brakes, make sure it has a breakaway brake. And insist that the charge wire on your tow vehicle for the break-away battery be at least 12 gauge, with a circuit breaker, NOT a fuse as close to the tow vehicle battery as possible.<br />As for weight distribution and sway control, I agree I’ve never seen either on a boat trailer, but leave that to your dealer and your experience to decide.<br />It was mentioned that your truck has a trans fluid temp gauge. Contact your Nissan dealer or a reputable tranny shop to find out the maximum SAFE (for the trans) temp. And if you see your gauge getting even close to that temp, install an auxiliary trans oil cooler. I would install one anyway, regardless. This may get some disagreement, but I plumbed mine trans to aux cooler to radiator back to the trans. Popular Mechanics recommended this and I agreed, because the aux cooler will cool the fluid as much as possible. If the trans is computer controlled, the trans fluid temp is sometimes used for shift points and overdrive engagement. If the aux cooler cools the fluid too much, shifting could be affected. So that’s why the radiator is my last stop before returning to the trans. The radiator will either provide more cooling if the fluid is still above coolant temp, or it will raise the fluid temp back up to operating temp if it’s been cooled too much. (i.e. winter driving with no load). Either way, the fluid is being cooled better than the radiator alone could. <br />I know this has been long, and I’m sorry, but knowledge is power, and I’m trying to share my knowledge with you, so you can have the power to make a good choice, for you, your family, and others on the road. Good luck and have fun.
