# Nissian Armada Towing true capacity



## Fishingnut (Jun 14, 2004)

I have a Nissian Armada, with towing Package. Rated for 9100 pounds. How do I calcuate what I can truly tow? My boat and Trailer weigh approx 8100 pounds with gas etc. 

I have search the internet but can't find a concrete answer I would think there would be a formula that I could just put the inputs in.


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## 2fastdre (Apr 3, 2003)

Fishingnut said:


> I have a Nissian Armada, with towing Package. Rated for 9100 pounds. How do I calcuate what I can truly tow? My boat and Trailer weigh approx 8100 pounds with gas etc.
> 
> I have search the internet but can't find a concrete answer I would think there would be a formula that I could just put the inputs in.


Well, your Owner Manual should describe this in detail. Generally, the maximum tow rating (9100 lbs) is just that - maximum towing. It means that there is 1 person (driver) in the car and no other weight except the thing you are towing. So if your trailer is at 8100 lbs, then you have a maximum of 1000lbs to add and you will be absolutely maxed out. You may be able to put 3 or 4 passangers and some gear. The thing that I would watch out for is the tongue weight of your trailer. I don't know what the maximum tongue weight allowed by the Armada? Is it 910lb? You should check this and make sure that you trailer does not exceed that.

What kind of boat you got? I tow a 20ft Ski boat with my Pathfinder, and I try to make it so the boat is almost empty on fuel when I tow it. There is a gas station about 3 miles away from the lake, so I fill up the boat up there. I think that it saves a little bit of tow weight.

2FastDre.


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## lewisnc100 (Apr 25, 2003)

In your owners manual look for the GCWR, the max tongue weight and the max trailer weight and don't exceed any of those 3. For example on my 97 Pathfinder with cooler the ratings are:

Max Trailer Weight - 5000lbs
Max Tongue Load - 500lbs
GCWR - 9500lbs[/QUOTE]

What's funny in the Armada owner's manual is this statement: 

The towing capacity values are calculated
assuming a base vehicle with driver and any
options required to achieve the rating. Additional
passengers, cargo and/or optional equipment
will add weight to the vehicle and reduce your
vehicle's maximum towing capacity.

Sounds like the Aramada's GCWR is the fully loaded trailer and the weight of the Armada and single driver, so any added load reduces your towing rating. Haven't seen that on the Pathfinder or other Nissans.


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## Fishingnut (Jun 14, 2004)

lewisnc100 said:


> In your owners manual look for the GCWR, the max tongue weight and the max trailer weight and don't exceed any of those 3. For example on my 97 Pathfinder with cooler the ratings are:
> 
> Max Trailer Weight - 5000lbs
> Max Tongue Load - 500lbs
> GCWR - 9500lbs


What's funny in the Armada owner's manual is this statement: 

The towing capacity values are calculated
assuming a base vehicle with driver and any
options required to achieve the rating. Additional
passengers, cargo and/or optional equipment
will add weight to the vehicle and reduce your
vehicle's maximum towing capacity.

Sounds like the Aramada's GCWR is the fully loaded trailer and the weight of the Armada and single driver, so any added load reduces your towing rating. Haven't seen that on the Pathfinder or other Nissans.[/QUOTE]

GCVWR = 14,999 w/tow package but has an astrick saying with a weight distrubution hitch. But does not give the rating with tow package without weight distribution hitch.


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## Fishingnut (Jun 14, 2004)

I have a 26' Glacier Bay. I do not planning on towing great distances, really just to pull the boat for winter storage, and do maintenance on the boat. I could tow it light on fuel, that would lighten it alot. Considering it holds 180 gallons of fuel.

Seems from the owners manual I would need a Weight Distributing Hitch.But someone told me you couldn't use that with a boat trailer.


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## 2fastdre (Apr 3, 2003)

Fishingnut said:


> GCVWR = 14,999 w/tow package but has an astrick saying with a weight distrubution hitch. But does not give the rating with tow package without weight distribution hitch.


Hmm. That's strange - they should have more info in the Manual. You may want to call Nissan America and ask them. 

The weight distribution hitch allows you to have more tongue weight. It just distributes that weight throughout the frame instead of all pushing down on the hitch itself. One of your local Uhaul dealers should be able to install a weight distribution setup to you trailer. I think that it runs a couple hundred bucks, but I may be wrong. You can call Uhaul about it.

Sounds like Nissan really stretched to quote the 9100 lb tow rating. 

And remember that a loaded LE 4x4 model weights about 300lbs more than a base SE 2x4.

2FastDre.


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## Fishingnut (Jun 14, 2004)

2fastdre said:


> Hmm. That's strange - they should have more info in the Manual. You may want to call Nissan America and ask them.
> 
> The weight distribution hitch allows you to have more tongue weight. It just distributes that weight throughout the frame instead of all pushing down on the hitch itself. One of your local Uhaul dealers should be able to install a weight distribution setup to you trailer. I think that it runs a couple hundred bucks, but I may be wrong. You can call Uhaul about it.
> 
> ...


I agree it is strange ok will look again tonight to make sure. I have the Weight of the 4x4 oddly enough it doesn't effect the max towing capacity according to Nissan.


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## jadcock (Nov 22, 2002)

Fishingnut said:


> GCVWR = 14,999 w/tow package but has an astrick saying with a weight distrubution hitch. But does not give the rating with tow package without weight distribution hitch.


This all makes sense to me. The Gross Combined Vehicle Weight is 15,000 pounds. Your maximum towing capacity is 9,100 pounds. That leaves 5,900 pounds left for the vehicle and gear. How much does an Armada weigh? It sounds like you're well within your boundaries.

The GCVW is the key number, because that's what Nissan says your frame and brakes can safely handle. If you have loaded your Armada down with people and gear, and your loaded truck weighs 6,200 pounds by itself (just as an example), that means that you can safely (and legally) tow only 8,800 pounds. But I'd imagine that your Armada doesn't weigh that much.


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## lewisnc100 (Apr 25, 2003)

jadcock said:


> This all makes sense to me. The Gross Combined Vehicle Weight is 15,000 pounds. Your maximum towing capacity is 9,100 pounds. That leaves 5,900 pounds left for the vehicle and gear. How much does an Armada weigh? It sounds like you're well within your boundaries.



Jadcock that is what would make sense and how Nissan has rated the tow and GCWR in the past. But they seem to have played a marketing game with the Armada. It has a tow rating of 9,100 and a GCWR of 14,799 so you would think you can load up the vehicle until you hit 14,799. But read the disclaimer again:

The towing capacity values are calculated
assuming a base vehicle with driver and any
options required to achieve the rating. Additional
passengers, cargo and/or optional equipment
will add weight to the vehicle and reduce your
vehicle™s maximum towing capacity.

Isn't that saying that any load you add to the vehicle beyond the standard options and a single driver directly reduces your 9,100 tow rating? My Pathfinder has the same chart but without this disclaimer, sounds like they were stretching to get the 9,100 tow rating.


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## jadcock (Nov 22, 2002)

So the GCVW rating is 14,799? That means that the total weight of your vehicle and your load (towed or otherwise) cannot exceed 14,799. Someone else said it was 14,999. NissanUSA did not list the GCVW rating, so I'll just take that at face value and use 14,799 for the rest of this post. The heaviest curb weight of one, according to NissanUSA, is a 4x4 LE at 5,328.

That means that the truck can "tow" 9,471 pounds, at the curb weight. I think generally, curb weight is measured with no passengers and a full tank of fuel, although I may be wrong. Add a driver and passenger, at you're right at 9,100 pounds, if you figure two people and luggage might be 371 pounds.


5,328 Truck
371 Cargo
9,100 Trailer
=============
14,799 Total


If the GCVW rating is really 14,999 pounds, then you can legally add another 200 pounds of cargo to the truck (maybe two kids and the dog). We're at the point here were the accuracy of each number is critical (is the GCVW 14,7 or 14,9?), but that makes sense because we're trying to decifer the "maximum" limits -- which is at the uppermost extreme of the range, so each number plays a large part.

For instance, if your boat only weighs 5,000 pounds, then you have a lot of "slush" weight for people and cargo. But yes, it is true to say that if your trailer really does weigh 9,100 pounds, then you have to watch how much you load the truck down with, to stay within the legal limit (and safe limit, defined by Nissan). You can't tow 9,100 pounds and still haul 900 pounds' worth of people and gear inside.


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## 2fastdre (Apr 3, 2003)

lewisnc100 said:


> Jadcock that is what would make sense and how Nissan has rated the tow and GCWR in the past. But they seem to have played a marketing game with the Armada. It has a tow rating of 9,100 and a GCWR of 14,799 so you would think you can load up the vehicle until you hit 14,799. But read the disclaimer again:
> 
> The towing capacity values are calculated
> assuming a base vehicle with driver and any
> ...


Yes - I think that Jadcock and Lewisnc100 agree about this. If the GCWR is 15000 lbs, and an optioned Armada LE 4x4 weighs 5330 lbs in Curb weight, and you put 4 people (about 700 lbs - including the driver), and you put about 200 lbs of food and gear, THEN you can tow a maximum of a 8770 lb boat. Of course, towing this close to the maximum capacities is not somethings that I would want to do, especially here in the Rocky Mountains.

And - if it's my family (my dad, myself, and a couple of my friends), then 4 people weigh closer to 950 lbs. 

2FastDre.


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## jadcock (Nov 22, 2002)

2fastdre said:


> And - if it's my family (my dad, myself, and a couple of my friends), then 4 people weigh closer to 950 lbs.


Ha!  

Yeah, that's exactly it. Nissan says you can tow UP TO a 9,100 MAXIMUM with the Armada. Add 1000 pounds of people and cargo and yes, your tow capacity will decrease. But again, the GCVW rating is the key number here. If we can get a clear answer on what that is, it will define how much cargo you can have in there, in addition to your 9,100-pound trailer.


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## Fishingnut (Jun 14, 2004)

jadcock said:


> Ha!
> 
> Yeah, that's exactly it. Nissan says you can tow UP TO a 9,100 MAXIMUM with the Armada. Add 1000 pounds of people and cargo and yes, your tow capacity will decrease. But again, the GCVW rating is the key number here. If we can get a clear answer on what that is, it will define how much cargo you can have in there, in addition to your 9,100-pound trailer.



I plan on trying to call Nissan to get further clarifications.

I think I am comfortable for my towing needs using the Armada. For the most part I am going to pull the boat tow it less than a mile and let it sit for winter. Occasionally I will tow it to my inlaws house to do maint. Maybe tow it three times a year. As far as weight in the truck passangers and gear it will most likely be minimal, probably me and one othe person just moving it for storage etc. In any case it will probalby never be full of gas when I tow it so that will save considerable wieght.


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