Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-13-2016, 10:16 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 2
Nissan Armada towing a 282 Liberty Edition?

Hi All, new here and looking for some input.
We have a 2012 Nissan Armada and are upgrading from a 23' to something in the 28-30' range trying to stay under 6k UVW.
The 282 is 32' and is just over 6k#...
The Armada is advertised to tow 9000# and we can hardly tell our 23' is behind us but I'm thinking more in terms of driveability/sway...
Will likely go with the 257BHS but would love to go a little larger.
Does anyone pull a 30' with a large SUV?
Thanks
fullmetalbucket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2016, 10:57 PM   #2
Moderator Emeritus
 
asquared's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11,069
I used to tow a 30' tt that weighed 5700 uvw, 7300 lbs loaded with a 2004 armada LE that was rated to 9100 lbs but turns out I only had 810 lbs available payload. It was not a good towing experience. I had a reese dual cam wdh with integrated sway control and a prodigy p3 brake controller. I was pushed all over the road by anything (including cars) that passed us. Not only were highways a nightmare, but I tried tackling mountains with it. Bad idea. I struggled up the 7% grade. I was pushed by the trailer down the mountain. Not enough TV for the tt. I used to use the armada to tow a 5000 lb 2 horse trailer and it never knew it was back there. Based on my experience, I would keep to a tt under 5500 lb gvwr and under 26' as the armada is limited by its payload and short wheel base.
__________________
<a href=https://i62.tinypic.com/28rp645.jpg target=_blank>https://i62.tinypic.com/28rp645.jpg</a>
2014 Crew Cab Chevy Silverado 3500 4wd Duramax/Allison
2014 Sabre 34REQS-6
asquared is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2016, 04:00 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
jlgail4309's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Tulsa
Posts: 438
If you buy a great hitch you can tow the trailer . Power up the hills well not sure on that one. Hensley Mfg., Inc. - Trailer Sway Eliminated...Guaranteed
__________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel
2013 Salem Cruise light 19bh
Hensley Cub hitch ,
jlgail4309 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2016, 01:26 PM   #4
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 2
Thanks for the replies.
The dealer said I could hook up with a 282 and take it for a drive, which I may do, but we will likely go with the 257BHS to keep things more manageable...
fullmetalbucket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2016, 01:57 PM   #5
Moderator Emeritus
 
asquared's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11,069
Like I said above, the Armada's limitation is in its payload. Go look at your tire loading sticker inside your drivers side door for this sticker. From that number you will need to subtract all occupants, cargo and pets that will be in the armada when towing. The loaded (not dry) tongue weight will need to be less than this number. Ideal loaded tongue weight is 13-15% of loaded tt weight. Now, there are two ways you can guess where this will land for you. First, on average people tend to load approx 1000-1500 lbs of stuff (food, clothes, dishes, chairs, tools etc) into a trailer so you could add that to the dry weight and figure 13-15% of that number. Second method, you have a tt already, go weigh your current set up to figure out how much stuff you add to a tt and then calculate potential tongue weight from there.

When weighing, easiest is to go to a local cat scale at a truck stop or you could find a feed store or dump station willing to do this. You will want to have the armada loaded with a full tank of fuel, all occupants, pets and gear you usually take camping and have your stuff in the tt as well. You will do 3 passes (can be done in any order). First pass, armada only. Have front axle on scale pad 1 and rear axle on scale pad 2. Second pass armada plus tt no wdh. Armada as in pass 1, all tt axles on scale pad 3. Third pass, armada plus tt with wdh. Set up same as in pass 2. Third pass is more informative of how well your hitch is set up. Since you are trading, you could skip this step for now but recommend doing for your next tt.

From the first weigh, you now know your individual axle weights and your true weight of the armada. Take the armada's gcwr and subtract your total armada scaled weight to get your adjusted towing capacity. Your loaded tt weight needs to be less than this number. Take your total armada scaled weight and subtract it from the gvwr to get your available payload. Your loaded tongue weight needs to be less than this number. Subtract the rear axle weight from the gross rawr to see how much room you have on your rear axle. The wdh will transfer some weight off your rear axle so this number is ok to be slightly less than gross rawr but not too much.

Second pass shows you loaded weights of your current tt. Subtract the weight of the armada in the first pass from the total weight of the second pass to get your loaded tt weight. Subtract the weight of the armada in the first pass from the combined drive and steer axle ratings to get your loaded tongue weight. Now look at your current tt's unloaded weight (yellow sticker in tt either door jamb or cabinet) to get how much stuff you add to a tt.

You can now add this weight to the unloaded weights of tt's you are looking at to calculate an approximate loaded weight. Calculate 13-15% of that weight for loaded tongue weight and you will have a more accurate idea of whether or not you will be within all towing specs of a vehicle.

Good luck and happy shopping!
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	Ford door jam stickers_kindlephoto-192644983.jpg
Views:	149
Size:	81.1 KB
ID:	99583  
__________________
<a href=https://i62.tinypic.com/28rp645.jpg target=_blank>https://i62.tinypic.com/28rp645.jpg</a>
2014 Crew Cab Chevy Silverado 3500 4wd Duramax/Allison
2014 Sabre 34REQS-6
asquared is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2016, 01:24 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Western AZ
Posts: 2,404
See todays thread "Large SUV options for towing"
mike.t is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2016, 09:15 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
KDHfan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 981
Quote:
Originally Posted by fullmetalbucket View Post
Hi All, new here and looking for some input.
We have a 2012 Nissan Armada and are upgrading from a 23' to something in the 28-30' range trying to stay under 6k UVW.
The 282 is 32' and is just over 6k#...
The Armada is advertised to tow 9000# and we can hardly tell our 23' is behind us but I'm thinking more in terms of driveability/sway...
Will likely go with the 257BHS but would love to go a little larger.
Does anyone pull a 30' with a large SUV?
Thanks

I hope you have the LE or Platinum package (the SV has cloth seats, the LE and Platinum have leather) in your Armada, or you do not have 9000# tow capacity. The SV trim is 7200# tow. Even if you have the LE or Platinum, the extremely short wheelbase will be one of the shortcomings (payload being the first).
I previously had the Armada SV with a 23' camper... and it did just ok. Plenty of engine.


2015 Coachmen Apex 288BHS
2014 Toyota Tundra 5.7L CrewMax

Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums
__________________
2015 Coachmen Apex 288BHS
2014 Toyota Tundra CrewMax 5.7L
KDHfan is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
towing

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:06 AM.