Hey guys, I've been purely a sports car driver the last couple of years but my priorities have rapidly changed and I'm going to have to get a truck or SUV to tow my track/race car with. I drove a 1993 Nissan 300ZX both on the street and track until that got hit and totaled, and my new street/track (soon to be track only) car is a 1972 Datsun 240Z so I do feel a sense of loyalty to the brand.

Before I got into road racing, off roading was my main interested so in a way it's kind of nice to be forced back into getting a 4x4. I went off roading a few years back with my cousin in his 2002 Pathfinder and have loved them ever since that. I remember it being extremely comfortable on road and it performed great off. Plus the styling is far better than the competitors in my opinion.

The R50 is going to fall nicely into my price point (looking to spend about $10k or less) and I'm looking at the 2002 and up (or whenever the styling revision was).

What have your experiences been towing with the Pathfinder? I know that it's rated at 6000 lbs. but have found that real world towing experiences can be very different from the max capacity. My track car will probably weigh about 2200 lbs., plus spares, tools, and the weight of the trailer should put it still safely within the towing capacity. I definitely want the Pathfinder over other SUVs even though something like the Tahoe might be better for the towing aspect, because I like the looks and know I'll be happier with the Pathy since it will be my daily driver as well.

I'll be starting likely with an open trailer so the wind resistance shouldn't be a problem, but I know that enclosed trailers are harder on towing and will likely eventually be upgrading to one of those. What seems to be the limiting factor in the Pathy's towing capacity? I'm hoping that by doing some upgrades I can make it a little better at towing. I'll probably do higher performance brakes right away but what else would be helpful in towing with the Pathy like could it use some more power, a transmission and or oil cooler, suspension upgrade, etc?

Sorry guys that post ended up being longer than planned but any input you have is appreciated. Thanks!

Its a good towing V-6. I put in all my own landscaping when I bought my current house. I bought a 2 ton trailer and routinly hauled 4,000 or more plus 800 pound trailer up a 2,000 foot elevation gain to my house at 8,600 feet above sea level. I was able to maintain highway speed without blasting into high rpm. Turn off the overdrive of course. The engine and tranny handled this task very well, but I was going 20 miles. If you are hauling multi-hour hauls I would avoid going over 4,000 lbs total. There is no tranny cooler other than just the fluid return into the radiator so it could get hot.

I would highly recommend a load distributing hitch to get the tongue weight off the back end. Those shocks are pretty weak. Even my 70 lbs dog, shovel, snow shoes and two sets of tire chains tend to bring my back end down.

I think your 2002 will burn premium...gas mileage ain't all that great either so your overall fuel bill won't be that far from a Tahoe. Because I am in heavy snow country, I also have a Ford Expedition. I get about 16.5 mph going up and down the pass to work. This thing is can toe 6,500 extremely well.

Good Luck

Thanks for your input. Good advice about the tongue weight, the distributing hitch will probably be worth it to make the towing better and safer. I'd probably eventually go to better suspension for off roading anyway, probably not a lift but just stronger so that should help too. Sounds like adding an external transmission cooler might be a good idea too.

Every car I have owned except for my trusty Ford Escort has burned premium fuel so that's unfortunately a slow bleeding I'm used to! My 300ZX did, and 240Z now (stupid carburetors running rich...) get SUV like gas mileage and burn premium anyway so I'm prepared for it.

I think the Tahoe is hands down the better option for towing but the Pathfinder is more appealing to me on the styling and daily driveability. Plus the Tahoe is probably a bit big and heavy for the kind of off road trails I like going on and I know from experience the Pathfinder handles them perfectly.

I am sure you will do fine with either. My pathy has 110,000 on it and has been a reliable car. There is some sillyness with the oxygen sensor which seems to be common to the breed, but it has been a reliable ride for nearly 10 years. I don't know where you are from, but the engine mangement units do seem to have some problems figuring out high elevation. I have had a sevice engine light on for nearly two years now and my milage has suffered some. It throws a problem with bank too lean on the code reader. Others have told me that they have the same problem. I do like driving the pathy, its quick and smooth.

My Expedition is just cracking 30k. With the large wheels, big axle and v-8, it handles snow and pretty ruff dirt roads great. It isn't as manuverable as my pathy off-road though. The pathy is a little jumpy in the snow beause the peddle is sensative, you gotta be real slow with your foot. Those Deulers are junk. I gotta find a better tire. I pop one of those things a year on a rock on a dirt road or a nail. Finally I have got them to a cycle where its time to replace all four so I am looking for something a little more jagged and scary looking.

Here is another observation that I made that I wonder if anyone can comment on. I thought my pathy was a 6k rating also, but I checked my hitch and another one that I saw in a parking lot and the hitch says 5k. Hmmm where did the other 1k pounds go?

Do either of you know where to tap in for trailer lights? I have a '98. I'm gettin her ready for a long haul to Colorado from California. Any suggestions on where to look for a diagram?