The short version is that I believed in the hype and it was probably my own danged fault that I didn't read the "fine print" when it comes to towing capacity.
The wife and I started looking at travel trailers (5th wheels specifically) about a year and a half ago. Knowing the limits of my '04 Titan we looked at mostly the new so-called "lite" trailers that were 1/2 ton towable. I'd been following the XD project and once some specs were released (12,300 pounds of towing capacity), I started thinking this might be the perfect thing for towing the "lite" versions of RV's.
So.....our local dealer gets in a Platinum Reserve, we drive by and I say, "Oh look - there's a new XD. Let's go look". Two hours later and we're buying!! Now.....all along, I'm telling the sales guy about our (future) towing needs/wants and the sales guy says that when he went to truck training at Nissan, the folks there said the truck would do this and would do that and it had plenty of poop and more for our needs. I know, I know......I shoulda done my own research.
Ok - I'll get to my quandary. One doesn't really know what the capacity is until they either: a) actually buy one b) actually weigh their trailer c) download the on-line owners manual and d) actually weigh their truck. Now, after reading all the "calculations" Nissan wants to you to go through, I'm not sure how in the blue blazes one is suppose to weigh their truck when you haven't bought it yet? More importantly - how in the Sam Hills is one suppose to convey to a RV sales person what towing capacity their truck has because this elusive capacity is based on actual weights?? And the reality is that even if they show an XD crew cab all gussied up in the ads with the "12,300 pounds towing capacity" proudly boasted, that ain't the case. Because the fine print says essentially, YMMV. And I'm not even gonna go into hitch/king pin weights or the fact that RV sales folks and a guy who's business has been installing Reese products for 50 years looks at you like you have two heads when you tell them you have a Titan XD!!
Maybe I'm over-thinking this like I do with everything else (hey - I'm an engineer. It's an affliction / disease). I just want some peace of mind that what I wanna tow is within the limits of the truck's ability.
I guess what I want is something I can't have and that's someone that looks at the manufacturers shipping weight of an RV (which should be a true weight) and say, "Yep - you're good-to-go".
The wife and I started looking at travel trailers (5th wheels specifically) about a year and a half ago. Knowing the limits of my '04 Titan we looked at mostly the new so-called "lite" trailers that were 1/2 ton towable. I'd been following the XD project and once some specs were released (12,300 pounds of towing capacity), I started thinking this might be the perfect thing for towing the "lite" versions of RV's.
So.....our local dealer gets in a Platinum Reserve, we drive by and I say, "Oh look - there's a new XD. Let's go look". Two hours later and we're buying!! Now.....all along, I'm telling the sales guy about our (future) towing needs/wants and the sales guy says that when he went to truck training at Nissan, the folks there said the truck would do this and would do that and it had plenty of poop and more for our needs. I know, I know......I shoulda done my own research.
Ok - I'll get to my quandary. One doesn't really know what the capacity is until they either: a) actually buy one b) actually weigh their trailer c) download the on-line owners manual and d) actually weigh their truck. Now, after reading all the "calculations" Nissan wants to you to go through, I'm not sure how in the blue blazes one is suppose to weigh their truck when you haven't bought it yet? More importantly - how in the Sam Hills is one suppose to convey to a RV sales person what towing capacity their truck has because this elusive capacity is based on actual weights?? And the reality is that even if they show an XD crew cab all gussied up in the ads with the "12,300 pounds towing capacity" proudly boasted, that ain't the case. Because the fine print says essentially, YMMV. And I'm not even gonna go into hitch/king pin weights or the fact that RV sales folks and a guy who's business has been installing Reese products for 50 years looks at you like you have two heads when you tell them you have a Titan XD!!
Maybe I'm over-thinking this like I do with everything else (hey - I'm an engineer. It's an affliction / disease). I just want some peace of mind that what I wanna tow is within the limits of the truck's ability.
I guess what I want is something I can't have and that's someone that looks at the manufacturers shipping weight of an RV (which should be a true weight) and say, "Yep - you're good-to-go".