Anyone ever used their 525 as a tow vehicle?
We traded in our V6 Nissan Xterra for a V8 Titan back in 2004. Were still under 2 years of ownership. Some of you may remember I have a Porsche 914 I converted to 300+ HP 928 V8 power. The car is lovingly know as the Alien. We like to travel out west to the 914club.com West Coast Classic Meets on the Gold Coast. The Xterra just didn't have the grunt for the mountain passes.
We've had the worse luck with the Titan. It has awesome power and if ever needed could pull a house. But the rear axle is a joke. First Diff broke at around 7000 miles. We had the warentee service done a week before we were to leave on vacation. We bought this truck to tow the Alien out to the WCC 05.
Five days before the event the diff broke. It took 6 weeks to get it fixed. Nissan wouldn't loan us a truck so we could keep our vacation plans intact. My options were to drive the car at great risk to the event or not go.
We never towed anything with it before the first failure.
Now just over 36000 and it broke again. We still haven't used it to tow more than my 12' trailer with the 914 (twice) and the MGA (once) I put a plow on it last year but it was such a bad plow truck I gave up trying to use it to plow after 4 tried. The ABS kept coming on and stopping the truck...
Were hoping the "60,000 mile Power Train" warentee covers the rear axle or were Fuched! We just have the last basic warentee done two weeks ago. Just went over the 36000 mile basic warentee!
Anyone ever had this happen? We luv the truck, but CRAP! that's it!
BTW: When we had it in last, the service manager told us when they changed the diff under warentee they failed to install the vent in the new diff. They were to order one and call us when it came in. Guess what... No call. Now they'll get to add that vent to the second diff!
So back on topic, Anyone ever towed their AX car with their 525I T?
Here's the trailer with a rare raspberry color 914 I have. It's small.
Who say's Aliens only abduct people?
5-10 Grand Master
on flat ground for short hop's maybe but i wouldn't even think about it with mountains, you have a 2.5 engine pulling a lard ass car allready and when you say "The Xterra just didn't have the grunt for the mountain passes. " the 525 ain't going to do much better and may munch a tranny trying, sounds like time to score a cheep v8 tow vehicle like a old pick up or suburban
all america wants is cold beer warm cat and a place to take a poop with a door on it
5-10 Grand Master
theres something to be said for a tow vehicle with some ass like my diesel
there ain't a hill between louisiana and maryland that i couldn't pull at 70 mph with the cruise on and the ac rocking and still averaged 14 mpg for the trip
all america wants is cold beer warm cat and a place to take a poop with a door on it
3 Grand Master
ummmmm....
i don't own a nissan titan.
but, iirc, the fix was to change the diff cover to one with fins to solve the overheating problem, not just add a "vent", unless i'm underestimating what nissan considers a "vent".
They replaced the entire unit. It came with the uprated Finned cover. That didn't cure the weak internal parts. I live in MN for god sake. It's only 70 deg. on a warm day. They failed to transfer the vent off the first diff. I dought that caused the new problem but It's a small tool for leverage.
Last edited by ricola; 09-27-2006 at 09:19 PM.
Who say's Aliens only abduct people?
3 Grand Master
I think i am with winfred on this one.I am sure the 525 would do it,but slowly,with considerable stress on the cooling sytem and the auto.Rent a truck and charge Nissan for it!.If i were you i would be aking nissan for my money back or a new "different" truck.Get a Patrol!
Gone but not forgotten
Grand Master
patrol bahOriginally Posted by Paul in NZ
F250 with that 7.3L Turbo diesel. doesn't Bo own one?
Germans: Why can't they make everything?
Super Moderator
It is quite common in Europe to pull a camper trailer or a boat with an even smaller car. The Dutch invade Southern Europe every year with the camping cars.
This little Porsche is so light, do not worry.
European cars are layed out in design for this.
Big, Big Time Poster
In the registration paper for my 525 it says the Max allowed tow weight is 1450kg IF the trailer got brakes.
I pulled a Horse trailer with an 600kg horse in it with my old 1975 Volvo 242, it had a 75BHP engine, a litle slow in the uphills
I later upgraded the enigne to a 2.3 turbo. Then the horse towing was not a problem. 200hp and about 320nm+
Eurospec-12/1988-535iL-M30B35-5speed
Major Contributor
I regularly (up to twice a week) tow my trailer. It's usually full of rubble or scrap of some sort. I can get 1/2 tonne in there and my car pulls it like it's not even there. It might be a struggle to get in up a steep hill, as I only have 129 bhp, but normal driving sees me going up inclines of maybe 1 in 20 max, and I have had no problems yet. As long as you don't intend to exceed the car's rated GTW you'll be OK, though a little bit underpowered. You'll get used to it!
Good luck,
Shaun
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