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2006 Nissan Murano Towing Travel Trailer??? Have you?

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rcfishy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have read many postings through searching, and I still feel mixed about my 06' Murano's towing ability for a travel trailer. The trailer is about 2,600 lbs unloaded and the tongue weight is 325. Even loaded it should be below the 3,500 max and 350 tongue weight.

Has anyone towed a travel trailer with the 1st Gen Murano? Not a pop up trailer, a 16 foot travel trailer. IS the wind and drag a beast to handle with the Murano?
 
#3 ·
Towed a sizable U-Haul trailed loaded with stuff and it couldn't have been over 3500 lbs. the MO did just fine! I don't think the tongue weight was very much because I could pick up the empty trailer by myself. Loaded I'm sure it was a bit more but the back end of my MO didn't hardly sag at all. I'm running the OEM setup with a slightly modified stock wiring harness. Today my MO is still handling just fine so I wouldn't worry about it. It should easily handle whatever you throw at it as long as it's within specs.

I was actually surprised how much power my MO had in handling the load. I was easily able to keep up with the flow of traffic. My MO didn't feel bogged down at all.
 
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#5 ·
How do the Muranos do stopping that type of weight? I highly doubt I would ever tow with mine, but I'm curious.

My main tow rig (signature) is pretty capable of towing whatever I put behind it. ;)
 
#6 ·
My MO handled the load beautifully. More than enough stopping power. Of course, you always give yourself some more room while towing. Nothing unusual in regards to breaking. I'll definitely tow using my MO again if I need to and the load is within specs.
 
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#7 ·
A good rule of thumb for towing is never to tow more than 80% of the max towing capacity, regardless of the type of vehicle. Remember, a Murano is NOT a truck, it's basically a upgraded station wagon. It has a car suspension, not a truck suspension. I've towed a 6x10 enclosed trailer, loaded w/motorcycles, tire machine and gear, and if you hit head winds, it really puts a strain on the vehicle. Your fuel mileage will be cut in half. No joke.

If you're going to be towing a lot, I'd use a different vehicle to tow the trailer, and leave the MO in the garage.
 
#8 ·
Towing using Murano 2006

Just came back from a wonderful vacation to Brekenridge, CO (distance of around 700 miles one way from Eastern Kansas). I read this forum several times to know about others experiences before I venture on a towing trip using the Murano. So its my time to share...

I tow a Bantam Trail Lite by R Vision, 19 feet hybrid travel trailer using a 2006 Murano SL AWD 58,000 miles- factory installed hitch. The Murano did great as a tow vehicle, even up the Rockies with some steep 5 - 6% grades (going in and out of Eisenhower Tunnel on I - 70 West/East). Took it slow, kept an eye on the engine heat. While climbing up into the mountains from Denver on I -70, could do only 45 miles per hour, but there was lot of traffic this past 4th of July weekend, so no big deal. Coming down 6% slopes, just didn't give gas, let it cruise in D-Sport (DS) gear and used my brake controller to control the trailer brakes instead of using the Murano's breaks it self. Did great!

I weighed the trailer and the Murano on a road side weighing scale - Murano was 4500 pounds loaded with 4 passengers and cargo, the camper was 3100 pounds loaded (dry 2800 pounds). The Muranos tow capacity is 3500 pounds. So well within the limits.

The Murano is a great tow vehicle. With its V6 you can easily do 65 - 70 miles an hour with a tow, provided the roads are flat. Slight climbs will bring it down to around 55 - 60. Steep climbs will be only around 35 - 40 in D-Sport (DS) or low gear.

Overall this is the first time I towed into the mountains and the Murano did great. Looking forward to future trips.

Thanks
Vikram
 
#9 ·
My boat is 3000lbs loaded and the Murano has done great so far. No trailer brakes and I can honestly say stopping from 65 feels better than it did with my old Ford Expedition. I doubt it would do more than one panic stop at a time without cooking the brakes, but you don't do many back to back panic stops.
 
#10 ·
Towing something tall like a travel trailer....even if you're coming in under the 3500 LB capacity, is just asking for a new CVT. Sure it'll do it but not happily. At hwy speeds the resistance will put too much stress on that tranny...it's not made for that. You'll get away with it for a little while but you'll most likely shorten the transmissions life. I wouldn't even put a hitch on something like the Murano...but I have my Titan for towing.
 
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#11 ·
I have a 1999 Seadoo Challenger that weighs 1865 lbs dry weight, about 2200 with a full gas tank, and have no problems towing it along with full trunk. It sounds like your trailer is going to be a bit heavier. When I am towing I use both the brakes and engine braking when going downhill to help keep the brake temperature down. I also go a little bit slower and keep back from the cars in front. One thing to remember is that a boat is aerodynamic, due to the shape of the bow, and presents very little wind drag.

The one thing that I did notice is that my 2003 Murano SE AWD actually feels smoother on the road when towing. The extra weight on the sports suspension actually makes it feel like the Murano is gliding over bumps, instead of the normal harsh feel when it isn't loaded.

I disagree with the notion that one shouldn't tow anything with the Murano. As long as you are within the manufacturer's specifications you should be fine as Nissan would have taken towing into account during their vehicle testing. That would have also included any effect on the CVT. After all, Nissan does offer an OEM towing kit. That being said, I would caution against towing anything much above 3000lbs.

David
 
#13 ·
It's not just the CVT that is affected by towing. In a lot of vehicles, the transmission can handle the towing just fine, it's the rest of the drivetrain that is not built for towing. In fact, pulling w/the CVT is not an issue. It's slowing down and stopping w/the weight pushing the vehicle that creates issues for the tranny. Rule of thumb is never tow more than 80% of the max towing capacity. Make sure you allow for the contents of any trailer you tow in calculating the weight.
 
#14 ·
It all depends on how you drive, too. Push the limits and you put more stress on.

I'll be moving my daughter from Colorado to Californy this summer and pulling a U-Haul with the 07 Murano. Don't expect a problem...and in the first 100 miles we'll be going straight up into the Rockies like murano2006ks did in his earlier post about going to Breckenridge. (We'll be going right past that turn.)

I'm guessing we'll be around 2000 pounds, maybe 2500. The trailer itself will probably be around 1000 pounds.
 
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#15 ·
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#16 ·
Since I originally posted in this thread we took a 2 hour road trip towing 3000lbs worth of boat and trailer through the hills of SW NY into PA. The Murano performed admirably and at no point felt like it wasn't in 100% control of the towed load. On the biggest downhill section I would have liked to have a gear between drive and 2nd though to get a little engine braking but the brakes never showed any signs of overheating.
 
#17 ·
JayS said:
On the biggest downhill section I would have liked to have a gear between drive and 2nd though to get a little engine braking but the brakes never showed any signs of overheating.
Click to expand...
The CVT has a Hill Descent feature that changes the "gear" ratio to more effectively use engine braking. It also shuts down the fuel injectors to increase mechanical drag.

If you find yourself accelerating down a hill I believe you activate that feature by tapping the accelerator (or is it just lifting your foot off the gas pedal? I forgot :eek: )

CORRECTION: I gave you the wrong info on how to engage the Hill Descent feature. Kudos to zebelkhan for setting me straight. The correct procedure is in zebelkhan's post, three posts down.

-njjoe
 
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#18 ·
JayS, you can use "Sport" mode button to increase the drag.
 
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#19 ·
njjoe said:
The CVT has a Hill Descent feature that changes the "gear" ratio to more effectively use engine braking. It also shuts down the fuel injectors to increase mechanical drag.

If you find yourself accelerating down a hill I believe you activate that feature by tapping the accelerator (or is it just lifting your foot off the gas pedal? I forgot :eek: )

-njjoe
Click to expand...
I'll try tapping the gas next time I have a trailer hooked up and I'm coasting down a hill. Since it looks like snowmobile season is over and boating season is still a ways off that might be a while. :(

I know simply letting off the gas didn't do it because that's what I was doing and all that happened was 3000lbs of boat pushed me faster down the hill until I got on the whoa peddle. There's no "sport button" that I know of on my S. There's an "S" in the gate but that puts it in a simulated 2nd gear, far too low for a 60mph coast.

I really do enjoy the CVT for towing, assuming it holds up. No worries about horrible flat land MPG when locking out OD, or trying to use OD and worrying about transmission overheating when a traditional automatic starts hunting gears on every little hill.
 
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