Hi, I am new to trailering and I have a 17' fiberglass boler - 2000 pounds

I am going to buy my tow vehicle and I like the Nissan Murano.

Does anyone use a Murano to tow? What other SUV crossovers would anyone suggest?

Thanks!

Hi Dawn,

Congrats on your new Boler

I don't have experience towing with that type of vehicle, but I do have a couple of general comments.

First is that no matter what anyone says - even about Muranos - you should check the tow rating of the specific Murano you own (or may be buying). It will be in the owners manual. Sometimes even the same model of vehicle, but a different year or slightly differently equipped even if the same year, has a vastly different tow rating. I only mention that because people will say things like "Oh yeah, I tow with a ________, and it's great!" When _________ has about five different possible tow ratings.

Second is to keep in mind that until you weigh your specific Boler (and maybe you already have; if so... never mind!), with all your typical stuff loaded into it, you won't know how much you need to be able to tow. From what I've read, I would be surprised if a Boler 17, loaded for the road, weighed 2000#. I would think it might weigh a bit more (but maybe not; point is you don't know until you have actually weighed it, and typically manufacturer or seller weight figures tend to be rather low).

Although you don't need to tow with something rated for double the weight, it's nice to have a little bit of leeway.

And lastly, does your Boler have working brakes? That would add favorably to your rig.

Happy Bolering

Raya

For tow ratings I prefer the manufacturers web site. Some sales people will tell you anything that will earn them a commission. Raya Ls comments are on target.

I will only buy a rear wheel drive vehicle if I will be doing serious towing with it. I believe Murano is front wheel drive.

According to the Nissan Murano website the 2009 has a 3500/350 towing capabilities. Of course that's only one part of towing.

The whole idea of fiberglass trailers is to avoid "serious towing"

I am feeling that I may have gotten myself into more than I want to. I think that I should maybe, trade my 17' in for a 13'. Then I can tow with almost anything.


We aren't serious camper, we just want a few fun trips a year, locally.

What do you think? Would I be opening up my options dramatically if I went down to a 13'?

Dawn

Hi Dawn,
I would like to welcome you to FiberglassRV!

Many of us seasoned trailerites wish to look out for your safety. We've had surprises in our towing history, and we pass on those things we learned the hard way to newbies in an effort to save you some of the grief we've seen. While there are many different brands of fiberglass trailers, the units of a similar size are more alike than different in many ways... take weight, for instance.

We've learned that the sales documentation of trailers built in the 1970's and 1980's were optimistic, to say it kindly. "Dry" weights were under-recorded as a matter of course, to increase sales. If you got your weight information from any source other that a recent Scale Weighmaster's report, we would consider it highly suspect.

I work in the Weights & Measures Service Industry. I have seen so many inaccurate Recreational Vehicle weight declarations that I have volunteered to provide more accurate data to as many people as I can. I bring portable wheel weighing scales to trailer rallies and weigh trailers for free. My employer allows me access to a set of our rentals in support of my efforts.

Link to 2009 Weigh-in Results
Link to 2008 Weigh-in Results

The average of the weights of all of the 17' fiberglass trailers (except Bigfoot) that I have personally weighed is 3140 pounds.

The good news is that it looks like the Nissan Murano is capable of handling that.

Hi Frederick,

Thank you very much for your generous reply to my quirey.

I am so happy to have my cool little boler, but now I feel that to tow it, I need to tailor my vehicle choice in a way that will not suit my day to day lifestyle.

I think that I will trade my 17' in for a 13' or 14'. I just don't like the idea of towing 3000+ pounds. I hear people say that they don't even feel the 13' behind them.



Thank you soooo much Fred!

Dawn

The average of the weights of all of the 13' fiberglass trailers that I have personally weighed is 1900 pounds.

Hi Dawn,

I can relate to what you're thinking. I have one vehicle, a station wagon, and it's my daily driver 95% of the time, and my tow vehicle the other 5%. That's the main reason I have a 13-footer; it's a cinch to tow with my regular vehicle, which gets close to 30 mpg in normal driving.

(Of course the mileage goes down when I tow, but I don't think it goes any lower than it would if I had a larger tow vehicle and towed a larger trailer, except that then I'd be getting that reduced mileage all the time, not just when towing.)

This is not to sound negative about larger trailers and larger tow vehicles, because they have their place - and the bigger trailers do have more space/amenities. But you either have to drive a more "serious" tow vehicle on a regular basis, or have a second (or third) vehicle (depending on how many drivers there are in your family).

I guess what I'm saying is that I identify with your thoughts regarding switching to a 13-er. I think it's possible to keep them to around 1500 or 1600# if you are careful, or a bit more if you are more lavish. They certainly do give one the feeling of "just hook up and go."

On the other hand, I sometimes look at photos of 16' and 17' trailers and think about how spacious they look

Raya

Hi Raya,

I think I need a smaller trailer, I can't believe it, after all the work I have done. But I want to just grab the little egg and go! I think the 17' is just too much trailer for my little life

Thanks so much for your candour

Dawn

On the other hand, think of the fun of personalizing another one
Good luck in whichever way you decide to go

Raya

I tow our Scamp 16 (2100lbs on the axle, 220lbs on the hitch) with a 2004 Chevy Colorado 4 cyl, 5 spd with the fuel economy rear axle. It tows the Scamp just fine. We did add electric brakes which help some although the truck seems to have plenty of brakes. We also are able to charge the camper battery from the TV. We get 26mpg on the hwy (vehicle alone) and we can get 20-21 mpg towing the Scamp if we keep the speed down to 60mph. Of course, we don't drive in the mountains often but those few times that we have are not a problem, we just get into the mode of downshifting as needed.

That said, I don't think our rig is ideal for most folks. I think there are horses for courses. If you live in the west and drive flat desert roads then you need a different vehicle than if you drive in the Rockies. Drive to Mexico and the requirements change. We drive in Florida mainly with occasional forays to the northeast but mostly the hills we drive are the interstate overpasses.

Our main goal in buying the Chevy back in 2004 was that it was cheap. No power anything ... towing wasn't even on the board.

If I were buying now I think I'd give the Murano a test drive, I like the idea of their transmission although I'm no fan of the forward roof pillars, they seem obstructive to me. Same, same for the Toyota FJ Cruiser. I always liked the Nissan Xterra although the fuel economy is poor.

I would also have to test drive the Subaru Outback/Forester or whatever they call their AWD wagons these days. The fuel economy is likely the best you can do either towing or not plus they ought to be good snow or bad road vehicles. Although the 4 cyl engine would likely be too anemic for mountainous terrain.

In 'murican' cars I would check out the Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute in the smaller SUV category. I'd also note that several of the small vans also have pretty fair tow ratings.

Like the other comments, I'd prefer the rear wheel drive unless you also tow a boat, drive in snow or bad roads then I prefer FWD or AWD.

Don't you just love car shopping?