Thinking about a Murano, towing concerns

Gadgetech · Aug 20, 2016

Hey there from a long time Nissan owner! My wife and I are looking to do a little consolidating of vehicles due to a situation with a family member and we're acquiring a 2005 Honda Accord with 47k miles. I currently have a Nissan Frontier Pro-4X and my wife has a Honda Pilot and we're looking to sell both and just have one vehicle payment along side this Accord. My Frontier has been great for towing what we need so part of my consideration of consolidating vehicles is the towing capacity of what we replace these vehicles with. I was quite surprised to see the tow rating of the current Murano is only 1,500 lbs, is that right? I've tried searching on the forum but I just get blank search results...will have to do a Google site search I suppose.

In any case, we've owned 3 Muranos previously which I'm pretty sure had a 3,500 lb tow rating.

We have a 5X10 utility trailer that I sometimes tow with a motorcycle loaded up. Together I think they weigh around 1,200 lbs (roughly). Now while this is within the 1,500 lb tow rating of the Murano, it's right at 80% (my safe number) of the 1,500 lbs which could be easily exceeded if I needed to load two bikes up for any reason.

I see there's a nice mid-cycle refresh for the Pathfinder which could be an option but the wife and I really prefer the Murano...soooooo

Does anyone do any motorcycle hauling?

Gadgetech · Aug 21, 2016

Halwg · Aug 21, 2016

I'd never tow anything with the Murano. If you want to tow, get the '17 Pathfinder. It's rated for 6,000# and has the newly uprated 3.5L that is up about 25 HP.

Pilgrim · Aug 22, 2016

With no disrespect intended, don't listen to Halwg on this particular topic. His aversion to towing with the Murano is in disagreement with most forum members.

My honest opinion is that the 1500 pound tow limit is extremely conservative. You will have no problem towing a 1200-1500 pound trailer. Period. (EDIT 6-4-21: latter number corrected...)

Robotaz · Aug 22, 2016

Pilgrim said:
With no disrespect intended, don't listen to Halwg on this particular topic. His aversion to towing with the Murano is in disagreement with most forum members.

My honest opinion is that the 1500 pound tow limit is extremely conservative. You will have no problem towing a 1200-21500 pound trailer. Period.

I think the truck is big and heavy enough to definitely hold a load on the road, but can the tranny take it?

Pilgrim · Aug 22, 2016

Two things:

First, a Murano is not a truck. It's an Altima drivetrain with a crossover body on it.

Second, absolutely. I've towed more than 3000 pounds with an 07. Tranny is just fine.

Halwg · Aug 22, 2016

I stand firm on my recommendation against towing. That's one of the reasons the tow limit has been reduced to 1500 pounds. It's not a vehicle meant to tow with, just because it's an SUV. Lot's of people think that, then they tear up the drive train.

Buy a vehicle meant to tow. That would be a Pathfinder.

Pilgrim · Aug 22, 2016

I've towed trailers with an AMC Gremlin, a '66 GTO, a 1950 Studebaker, a 1969 Olds Cutlass, a variety of pickups, and other cars. Some of those vehicles had primitive bolt-together hitches that I'd be nervous about using today. I have a class 1 trailer hitch (1 1/4" rectangular insert) on my 2008 BMW 328xi E91 Sportwagon

Using my 2007 Murano S, I towed a 3000+ pound U-haul double-axle trainer from Fort Collins Colorado to Lawton, OK and back at speeds of 75 MPH. No problem, no issues, no trailer misbehavior.

There is nothing wrong or dangerous about towing a trailer provided that you use an appropriate class hitch, and respect the design limits of the towing vehicle and both the tongue weight and gross weight limits on the trailer. The fact that the Murano's weight limit for towing has been reduced does not mean you can't tow with it, it simply means that you should not tow loads in excess of 1500 pounds with it.

If your personal comfort level and willingness to be attentive to a towed load does not extend to towing, don't tow. But that's personal preference, and it should be noted as such. Don't tell others that a vehicle is not designed to tow when there is specific and documented information from the manufacturer indicating its towing capacity.

The 2016 Pathfinder is indeed rated to tow more: 5,000 pounds. That's a significant difference. The 2016 Murano is rated to tow 1,500 pounds, and even the Nissan Rogue has a towing rating, which is 1,000 pounds.

For comparison, my 2008 BMW 3-series has a factory-designated towed weight limit of 2600 pounds, but my class 1 hitch is limited to 2,000 pounds and about 150 pounds tongue weight. As long as I respect the factory and hitch design limits I can tow anything I jolly well want to with my BMW.

Thinking about a Murano, towing concerns

Gadgetech

Gadgetech

Halwg

Pilgrim

Robotaz

Pilgrim

Halwg

Pilgrim

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