# towing with a pathfinder



## formulad97 (Jan 10, 2005)

Any one out there pull a boat with their pathfinder? I have a 01 with a 3.5 and was planning to get a 20 to 21 foot wakeboard boat. Just wanted to know if the 3.5 had enough power in it to do some towing to the lake.


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## AKSnowman (Feb 23, 2007)

Well you should do a search on the towing capacity........I just did a search on google and I found the consumer guide that an 01 should be able to tow up to 5000 lbs. 
So lets say that your boat weighs 2800lbs then you should have no problem as long as you have the right hitch rated for that kind of towing.


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## AKSnowman (Feb 23, 2007)

here is a good link to towing with your nissan.............this only is for 04s but i would think that it would give you an idea since I am not sure if they changed much between 01-04

04 Towing Guide


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## blitZ (Oct 7, 2004)

I tow a 3500 lb boat with my 01, the truck has plenty of power. You might want to add a transmission cooler, as is is inexpensve insurance. Remember to tow with OD off.


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## gbest03 (Feb 15, 2006)

blitZ said:


> I tow a 3500 lb boat with my 01, the truck has plenty of power. You might want to add a transmission cooler, as is is inexpensve insurance. Remember to tow with OD off.


Is towing with the overdrive off recommended for the 06 Pathy as well?


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## Xeno (Oct 5, 2005)

gbest03 said:


> Is towing with the overdrive off recommended for the 06 Pathy as well?



All your trying to do is to prevent it from shifting gear excessively.

X


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## blitZ (Oct 7, 2004)

Xeno said:


> All your trying to do is to prevent it from shifting gear excessively.
> 
> X


Nope.

OD uses planetary gears, which create heat in your transmission under stress. Using the OD lockout keeps the transmission in drive, which is like a direct drive, so no heat buildup. Heat will kill an automatice transmission.



gbest03 said:


> Is towing with the overdrive off recommended for the 06 Pathy as well?


Most likely, practically every vehicle with an automatic transmission will have towing with OD off in the manual.


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## Xeno (Oct 5, 2005)

blitZ said:


> OD uses planetary gears, which create heat in your transmission under stress. Using the OD lockout keeps the transmission in drive, which is like a direct drive, so no heat buildup. Heat will kill an automatice transmission.



Nope.

Everything in your transmission (under load) will cause heat. 
Less heat is produced, due to the torque converter locking during OD. 
OD has less rotating mass, how does that cause more heat? (rhetorical question).

So why is OD not so good for towing: 
Because OD does not like RPM changes and tends to want to drop down to drive. This causes the torque to go from 0 RPM to 3000+ RPM to include more mass spin up. A constant "hunt" for the needed gear does cause a heat build up, among other things.

And yes, the more heat you have, the more your transmission will wear (and possible fail).

Howstuffworks "Automatic Transmission Gears"
Overdrive (mechanics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Torque converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Well at least you can read & know about it now!

X


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## blitZ (Oct 7, 2004)

I disagree.

Even if you tow in overdrive and the transmission is not hunting gears, you create more because of the involvement of the planetary gears. 



Xeno said:


> Less heat is produced, due to the torque converter locking during OD.


The torque converter also locks when not in overdrive, I can see feel it and see my rpms drop when towing at a steady speed on the highway.



Xeno said:


> OD has less rotating mass, how does that cause more heat? (rhetorical question).


Overdrive has more rotating mass, because the planetary gears are involved. More friction, more heat. 

Out of overdrive, the planetary gears are not involved. Less friction, less heat.

Numerous artictles available, just do a little research:

Trans-King Transmissions


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## lewisnc100 (Apr 25, 2003)

blitZ said:


> Out of overdrive, the planetary gears are not involved.


 Blitz, all forward and reverse gears involve planetary gears.


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## Smith1000 (Dec 29, 2005)

That large of a boat could weigh over 3,000 lbs and could hold 40 gallons of fuel which adds quite a bit more weight. Plus, there's all the stuff you throw in it when you go boating. That's quite a bit of weight to pull for a Pathfinder and I bet it would be hard on it. I used to pull a horse trailer some with 2 horses. I used an IH Scout or a Ford Truck. They both had V8 engines and it was still quite a bit of weight back there. The Scout had a 345 V8 and the truck, a 351. They would move pretty slow going up hills. I once could not get up a hill with the trailer because I was using an old Dodge truck with a 6 cylinder engine. The truck just didn't have the oomph to pull that much weight. I had made it up the hill in it before, but it eventually an engine bearing went out. Made it home that day, but it was really knocking. It's not a good feeling to get on a slope with a trailer and not have enough power to go up. Have to start slowly backing down if you can and then it wants to slide.

It would probably need at least a Class III hitch, good trailer brakes and definitely a transmission cooler. Without trailer brakes, that weight will really push the vehicle down the road. It takes a long time to stop, especially on gravel roads. You just keep scooting and scooting along.

With that big of a boat though, I would want something with more power-especially at the boat ramp when pulling out of the water. It would pull a smaller boat without much trouble, but a 21 foot boat could be a challenge for it. One of my old roomates when I was in school sunk a vehicle at a boatramp. Actually, his father did it when he was a kid. He said it went "glub, glub and disappeared".


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