Towing with NV 2500 van

[napadan]

Hi, all. Has anyone towed a trailer with a Nissan NV 2500 van? Mine's a v-6 high roof, and I tow an 18 ft. 3500# GVW trailer. It tows fine, but with a bit of trouble going up steep hills (in 3rd gear, high revving). Well, I'm thinking of getting a heavier trailer, an ORV 18DB. This has a GVWR of 6000#. (Bigger tanks and stronger frame/ suspension.)

I'm a cautious tower, but I like this trailer. It's also much cheaper than the Escape 19, $20,000 vs. $30,000. I don't want to buy a V-8 pickup truck. What to do?
Thanks..................Dan

[stevemorris]

we have a similar situation, very capable truck but with a small engine. in our case its a dodge Dakota but with a v6. we tow around 4000 lb.

long hills are a challenge, days with a strong headwind are painful

we just drop down one gear and let it rev away!! long upgrades will push the revs upto 4000 rpm but we slow down so that the noise is less and we watch the temperature guage, never had an issue with overheating though

regular flat towing with no head wind is easy, we can easily maintain 110 kph, engine revs are around 2700 rpm, quiet and comfortable,

I just wish for a small diesel!!

[gmw_photos]

deleted

[mkirsch]

The OP is not happy with the performance of his current rig. He wants to tow a trailer that's 2X as heavy, and has asked for advice...

I see you have a lot of criticism, but offer no solution.

What would you like us to tell the OP?

What is the magical solution that allows the OP to keep his existing van, not buy a new vehicle, get the larger trailer, AND be satisfied with the performance?

Jam that round peg into the square hole. Physics be damned.

[gmw_photos]

To the OP: let rev. You won't hurt it. True you may not be the first to the top of the hill, but is this a race ?

Folks on these forums love to recco somebody else spend money on a new vehicle.

[carringb]

Note that the Transit and NV published tow ratings are figured vastly differently. The transit tow ratings are all based on a full van, while the NV is based on an empty van.

[napadan]

Thanks for all your replies. I was hoping I could tow higher weights, but my NV isn't capable. I'm trying to avoid buying another vehicle, but it looks like I'ld have to get a V8 pickup to do it. My Nissan is great as a mobile knife sharpening van, but inadequate for towing 5 or 6000 lbs. ...............Dan

[falconbrother]

I'd say you either need to move to the ecoboost Ford or get the V8 Nissan. I met a couple in Tennessee that pulled a camper from Canada with the Nissan van with the V8. That Nissan V8 is strong.

[atwowheelguy]

napadan wrote:
Hi, all. Has anyone towed a trailer with a Nissan NV 2500 van? Mine's a v-6 high roof, and I tow an 18 ft. 3500# GVW trailer. It tows fine, but with a bit of trouble going up steep hills (in 3rd gear, high revving). Well, I'm thinking of getting a heavier trailer, an ORV 18DB. This has a GVWR of 6000#. (Bigger tanks and stronger frame/ suspension.)

I'm a cautious tower, but I like this trailer. It's also much cheaper than the Escape 19, $20,000 vs. $30,000. I don't want to buy a V-8 pickup truck. What to do?
Thanks..................Dan

ORV 18DB, 4100 BROCHURE DRY WEIGHT, figure 4400 lbs. out the door at the factory, add 554 lbs. of water (66 gal !), 60 lbs of propane, 50 lbs. battery, 400 lbs. of stuff, and it's at 5500 lbs. Figure 715 lbs. tongue weight (13%).

There's some reason other than towing a camper that you have a 2500 van, so that's a given. Others also have been searching for THE high payload van to tow a camper. They haven't found it. Too bad NISSAN hasn't put their 5.0 Cummins in the NV.

The NV V6 is rated to tow 6,900, which includes passengers other than driver and all cargo in the van. So 6,900 - 5,500 trailer would allow 1,400 for passengers and stuff in the van. Of course, a vehicle loaded to its GCWR will not be nimble at all.

What to do?

1. Go up the hills more slowly in 2nd gear with the engine revving high. How often is this going to happen?
2. Buy a Ford Transit 250 with the 2.5 turbo diesel rated to tow 7,300. Not much better.
3. Buy the V-8 NV rated to tow 9,400
4. Buy a Ford F150 SuperCrew with an Ecoboost V6 rated to tow 7,600 to 11,900, but less payload than the NV.

No magic bullet here.

[Grit_dog]

That's quite abit of trailer for the little motor, but people have towed more with lesss hp and less gears for a long time. At least you have a capable chassis. It will just be a turd off the line and up hills.

[carringb]

Just beware that going larger frontal area will need more power than just adding weight..... So if you have a 7' wide tailer now, and you go wider or taller, you'll definitely feel that.

That said.... Sounds like you don't have any power to spare now, and you'll be nearly doubling your trailer weight.

If you don't want a V8, what about a EcoBoost Transit? You'll get better fuel economy than you do now, with way more power, and even more torque than the V8 NV van.

[kzspree320]

Just went to the Nissan website. Looks like you have about 260 hp and 280 torque. Max towing is 6,200 lbs. I would assume that max towing of 6,200 lbs is lightly loaded (usually is). I assume if you need this van you probably either have a lot of people or cargo that would take up some of the 6,200 lb max tow rating. Add 1,000 lbs people or cargo in addition to driver and you are probably at 5,200 left on tow rating (which is probably GCWR based but I don't see the actual GCWR). You will probably be disappointed in performance since you would be towing more than recommended and it might take a toll on the vehicle over time.. The V8 has a tow capacity of about 8,700 lbs. That's really what you need to pull the 6,000 lb new one unless you have nothing heavy in the van. Good luck.

[dodge_guy]

Gas engines need to rev, that's where they make there power. find out where it peak HP/TQ is and when its required to wind it up that will be the best rpm to run.

However, there is only so much a naturally aspirated V-6 can do. and with a 6k lb GVWR TT you are going to be in V-8 territory. better performance and mileage when towing!

[1995brave]

You could always do like they did on Spike TV Xtreme Off Road, they took an NV 2500 and put in a Cummins engine and made it 4 wheel drive.

[blt2ski]

what HP is the motor producing at these revs? Probably what the motor needs to turn to produce the HP the motor has. Even if you had a diesel with similar HP specs, while not turning as fast per say, it would still be at whatever % you max hp is need vs redline. The motor is fine, as long as you are not having overheat issues.

Marty