Nissan titan truck for gooseneck horse trailer?

[98ramtough]

I have owned a lot of cummins trucks and the transmissions on the new ones are great. I have a 2001 6spd manual in the driveway with 280k that drives like new. Only work is adding a clutch when I added power and a little front end work. I think a lot of people base the bad rap of transmissions on the 2000s-2007 automatic transmissions. The 68RFE is a different animal. Dodge builds a great reliable truck for a darn good price. Lets see how those titans are working out when they get to 250k miles or how the resale looks. I have put well over 800k miles on cummins dodge powered trucks and the resale when they hit 200k plus always amazes me.

I also have a 2016 3500 sitting next to the 2001 in the driveway and it has been trouble free but only has 30k miles on it. It is amazing to drive, rides nice, has as nice of interior as any truck on the market, gets great mileage and pulls like a train!

Obviously some here have not had the same luck, or listen too much to Ford and Chevy owners that will just bash Dodge to feel better about their purchase.

Chevy Duramax trucks hold value great. Ford powerstrokes lose value fast, for a reason IMO. Look how many times they have changed engines. 7.3- Great, 6.0- Sucked. 6.4- Sucked. 6.7, better.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=98ramtough;8948605]
I think a lot of people base the bad rap of transmissions on the 2000s-2007 automatic transmissions.[/QUOTE]
So, in other words, they made crap before but do not hold that against them, really, what they are making now is great, I promise.

[98ramtough]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8948620]
So, in other words, they made crap before but do not hold that against them, really, what they are making now is great, I promise.[/QUOTE]

They didn’t make crap then, the transmissions have just got a lot better like every other truck. Comparing a 2017 Titan to an experience you had with a 1999-2006 Dodge is an unfair comparison. Drive whatever you want. I could care less. That $60k Titan in 10 years with 200k miles will get you around $6k when you sell it later. The 2500-3500 Dodge will fetch you $20k.

[NoSuchPerson]

Making your first posts to the forum using the name “98ramtough” and extolling the virtues of Dodge/Ram trucks while bad mouthing other brands kinda makes you sound like you work for Chrysler/Dodge/Ram and may lead some people to question your credibility.

[happilyretired]

I had a 2008 Toyota Tundra and hauled a Featherlite 2h GN with it for over 6 years with no issues. The truck had more than enough power for the trailer, even up the hills of Western NY and Central PA. I was careful about weight in the truck to stay within payload weight limits. Also invested in heavy duty tires. Had the truck and trailer serviced regularly and never had any problems …drove back and forth between NY and Central Florida many times. Trailer was stable towing with no sway. Be sure you understand the weight limits and stay within them. Stick with an all aluminum trailer. I also generally hauled only one horse at a time. If I had regularly hauled two horses together I probably would have gotten a different truck. Understand your own situation and weight issues, check the specs on the truck and commit to regular maintenance.

[LesleyW]

Depends on whether you’re talking about the regular Titan, or new Titan XD. I was on the launch for this truck, it’s the size of a light duty truck, but it’s got a heavy duty frame. So you’ve got the convenience of the smaller vehicle, but the robust frame, suspension and brakes of the full-size. It comes standard with the gooseneck hookup in the bed.
Here’s my write-up if you want more info:

http://driving.ca/nissan/titan/reviews/road-test/first-drive-2016-nissan-titan-xd

[xeroxchick]

Dmy husband just got a new one and swears it is fine to pull 3500 pounds. It is equipped with a brake box and trailer ball in the bed. I like my Super Duty 2008 Ford. But in case I need it am glad it is there.

[98ramtough]

[QUOTE=NoSuchPerson;8948664]
Making your first posts to the forum using the name “98ramtough” and extolling the virtues of Dodge/Ram trucks while bad mouthing other brands kinda makes you sound like you work for Chrysler/Dodge/Ram and may lead some people to question your credibility.[/QUOTE]

I didn’t know that horse forum knowledge made you more of an expert with diesel pickup trucks I have owned 9 different diesel pickup trucks over the years. Figured I would provide an opinion but learned my lesson. Don’t share helpful experience from 100s of thousands of miles towing trailers with diesel trucks if you don’t have a a high post count?

[LesleyW]

I love the Rams (especially with air suspension and load-levelling) but I’d want the Allison tranny. It holds up better (it’s the one that’s paired with the 900 lb. ft. of torque Cummins). Course, that’s assuming money was no object

[98ramtough]

You mean the Aisin tranny?

[LesleyW]

Yes, oops, I did mean Aisin (I just drove a Silverado, had Allison on my mind)
The lesser of the two HD Cummins just has the in-house tranny.

[98ramtough]

Only thing I didn’t like about the Aisin is the maint schedule on it. I have a friend that has one and he doesn’t like the in town and empty driving behavior as much as his old one with the “lesser” 68RFE.

[Cheltenham]

I had a 1996 Ram 2500 Cummins. Original engine and original tranny never had a prob, never anything but routine maintenance. i sold it last year w 300K on the OD for $4500 because the body was rusted and beat to hell. Still ran fine and got 22mpg diesel. Guy that bought it was going to weld it up, trick it out with stacks and tune it for truck rallying.

New truck Ram 2014 2500 Cummins. Sweet. It’s like a Lexus for pulling horse trailers. I have a larger GN—the combination drives beautiful and sooooo smooth. It gets 25mpg empty highway cruise control on 60mph. Gn with horses drops to 17mpg. I have 3:42 gears, in mountains, hills I lock out 6th gear, sometimes 5th gear —some Rams have 3:73 gears which might not get as good mpg highway.

The 6.7 Cummins has 450 ft lbs of torque and I think 350hp----it’s fast. It drives like a giant sportscar—country roads, it’s really really nice. They have coil springs front and rear. I’ve seen them loaded with huge 5th wheels and equipment haulers…no drop, and the ride is so smooth. Cornering fast it doesn’t roll like a truck—it carves like a sports car.

People that have tranny trouble with trucks—especially diesel trucks—get tranny trouble because they do things that put the most force / torque output on the converter for the tranny—and also overheat stress the tranny. Excessive hunting with trailers in hills—this is bad for the tranny—lock out high gears and/or use the tow haul mode which changes shift ratio and what gears are in play. Don’t spin tires. If you get on greasy grass, mud, ice, snow do not sit there winding it out with wheels spinning trying get unstuck. This is like the #1 way to overheat burn up the stuff in your tranny. Call a tow truck. Stick some traction under your tires, etc. W 4x4 traction control—you can usually real light and easy crawl these trucks with high torque out of anything. Taking off like a sedate adult from stops with these trucks/trailers also helps preserve tranny. The torque the engine can put out from a stop to 60mph is huge—in urgent situation where you have to, fine, rest of the time you are just putting excessive wear and tear on your equipment (though it is very fun to smoke truckloads of boys on jacked up wheels off of stoplights like the Starship Enterprise turbo screaming in warp… one should keep these indulgences to a minimum ;0)

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=98ramtough;8949780]
I didn’t know that horse forum knowledge made you more of an expert with diesel pickup trucks I have owned 9 different diesel pickup trucks over the years. Figured I would provide an opinion but learned my lesson. Don’t share helpful experience from 100s of thousands of miles towing trailers with diesel trucks if you don’t have a a high post count?[/QUOTE]

I never claimed to be any kind of expert - on trucks or horses.

Offering an opinion and sharing your experiences is one thing, but you didn’t just do that, you also bad-mouthed other people’s opinions and experiences and aggressively promoted the Ram. Combine that with your screen name and this being your first entry into the forum and it creates a certain impression of your motivations.

[98ramtough]

I’m a bit confused what I bad mouthed? The resale of the titan down the road with high miles? Truth isn’t bad mouthing. I reread that I put the older fords with a worse resale, truth, not bad mouthing. Ask anyone that has a 6.0 power stroke how it looks to trade or resale. It’s truth. I don’t work for Ram or any other truck company. Drive whatever you want. But be safe towing. I stand by my opinion that I would not want or want anyone I care about to be pulling a heavy horse trailer with a 1/2 ton truck. You have to stop the trailer also. Sometimes things happen. It gets windy, people stop in front of you abruptly etc. Those little trucks work great pulling big loads, until they don’t. My tundra towed amazing for a 1/2 ton truck. But the short wheel base and light weight got a bit scary for my taste in certain situations. It was never a power issue. The gearing in those are amazing for pulling.

Drive whatever you want. Be safe! I also recommend you replace the tires right off the lot on these small trucks with 10 ply tires. The P rated tires most these trucks come with have a lot of sidewall flex and while you lose mpg with a heavier tire, they are much safer and might be the difference between an instant flat while towing a load and not.

So in short, if you buy a small truck to tow a heavy trailer, you might need to add heavy tires, air bags or helper springers, or you could just do it right and get the 2500/3500 for the same price and its ready to go off the lot!

[Cheltenham]

[QUOTE=98ramtough;8950726]
I’m a bit confused what I bad mouthed? The resale of the titan down the road with high miles? Truth isn’t bad mouthing. I reread that I put the older fords with a worse resale, truth, not bad mouthing. Ask anyone that has a 6.0 power stroke how it looks to trade or resale. It’s truth. I don’t work for Ram or any other truck company. Drive whatever you want. But be safe towing. I stand by my opinion that I would not want or want anyone I care about to be pulling a heavy horse trailer with a 1/2 ton truck. You have to stop the trailer also. Sometimes things happen. It gets windy, people stop in front of you abruptly etc. Those little trucks work great pulling big loads, until they don’t. My tundra towed amazing for a 1/2 ton truck. But the short wheel base and light weight got a bit scary for my taste in certain situations. It was never a power issue. The gearing in those are amazing for pulling.

Drive whatever you want. Be safe! I also recommend you replace the tires right off the lot on these small trucks with 10 ply tires. The P rated tires most these trucks come with have a lot of sidewall flex and while you lose mpg with a heavier tire, they are much safer and might be the difference between an instant flat while towing a load and not.

So in short, if you buy a small truck to tow a heavy trailer, you might need to add heavy tires, air bags or helper springers, or you could just do it right and get the 2500/3500 for the same price and its ready to go off the lot![/QUOTE]

Yeah I second the advice to check thee tires. 10 ply load E will have a truck well covered.

I’ve towed big trailers of hay and equipment with little trucks 1/2 tons. Also had a friend with a newer 1/2 ton Chevy V8 and a small 2 h GN. Yep, you can tow stuff with a little truck. I live in mountains/ twisty roads. Big difference flat land cruising 30 min on interstae and winding thru hill country. A new Tundra with just a little 2h BP is Ok.

Problem is pitching and rolling and sway. The 1/2 tons feel squishy compared to full size truck. Also, static loads like hay or a tractor on a low bed…feel totally different than horses. Horses are a terribly stacked load, weight up in the air on stilts swaying and moving. In emergency braking or swerve 1000+ lbs staggers around throwing the trailer around.

I also live far north—and it becomes a issue in snow and ice… it’s just way easier for the weight/horse load to help you swish around in smaller/lighter trucks with less robust suspension.

This is why people often have reservations about hauling horses with little trucks. Also, people frequently end up adding additional stuff to a smaller truck to make it haul better…weight distribution sway systems and airbags on the leaf springs. It starts adding up in ways that…make it not that economical.

People certainly do haul small horse trailers with small trucks. IMO it works best if you have small trailer and horses and live in flaatter country, primarily just skip around easy drives.

The number one thing i notice when I’ve driven other peoples stuff is—the smaller trucks are very squishy—I feel it immediately coming from a full size truck. I feel the trailers effect on the truck, softer suspension, more roll, softer feeling to the brakes even though your trailer brakes are sync’d. Hills, you feel the squishness/softness. Full size truck…you just don’t feel that unless you are way over loaded on your weights.

I’ve wagged my tail/ swished around with trailers—that’s the other time you really notice it—if your trailer gets wagging on a full size truck it’s still scary but unless you are overloaded doesn’t throw the truck around. Smaller truck…you feel the trailer and horses weight tossing around toss the truck around.

[beowulf]

I am amazed that anyone was able to sell a 20 year old 300k Dodge for $4500. Not saying you’re lying Cheltenham, as I believe you… but I think you got lucky.

I see a lot of Dodges for sale with ~120k and a “needs work” or “as is” caveat attached going for ~1-3k.

Conversely, I see their aged/miled out counterpart (Chevy, GMC) going for 3-5k even when the mileage is closer to ~200k.

[98ramtough]

Beowulf- Are you comparing GAS dodge trucks or cummins trucks? I was curious if they were really that cheap over there, and all I saw was 15 year old trucks for similar prices that they sell everywhere. For a LOT of money. I have heard all older trucks sell for less over the the rust belt and cold weather areas. I will definitely say that the rust on the older dodges were terrible! I was shocked when I was back in Minnesota how many trucks from all makes were falling apart. Living over in the Northwest we don’t see that problem.

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/search/cta?query=cummins

[Cheltenham]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8951364]
I am amazed that anyone was able to sell a 20 year old 300k Dodge for $4500. Not saying you’re lying Cheltenham, as I believe you… but I think you got lucky.

I see a lot of Dodges for sale with ~120k and a “needs work” or “as is” caveat attached going for ~1-3k.

Conversely, I see their aged/miled out counterpart (Chevy, GMC) going for 3-5k even when the mileage is closer to ~200k.[/QUOTE]

It was a Cummins diesel—that is why. The engine alone pulled sells for around $3500. The old 12valve cummins is very popular for lots of things. Easy to tune to have more power etc. The diesel heads like to jack them up, huge tires, put stacks on them, tune them to roll coa ( aka dump fuel and belch clouds of black smoke from the stacks…and remove silencer ring so it sounds like a Boeing 747 taking off)—pulling competitions and general hell raising. Southern states, no rust, a old 12valve dodge Cummins restored/ nice shape goes for $8-10k. They are easy to work on, mechanical cam driven lift pump…a lot people still like to haul campers and equipment with them because if you have a problem, easy to deal with get back running. Very little electronics or computers to strand you beside the road. I know of one with 750,000k on the original cummins engine…never rebuilt, just routine maintenance.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=Cheltenham;8951466]
It was a Cummins diesel—that is why. The engine alone pulled sells for around $3500. The old 12valve cummins is very popular for lots of things. Easy to tune to have more power etc. The diesel heads like to jack them up, huge tires, put stacks on them, tune them to roll coa ( aka dump fuel and belch clouds of black smoke from the stacks…and remove silencer ring so it sounds like a Boeing 747 taking off)—pulling competitions and general hell raising. Southern states, no rust, a old 12valve dodge Cummins restored/ nice shape goes for $8-10k. They are easy to work on, mechanical cam driven lift pump…a lot people still like to haul campers and equipment with them because if you have a problem, easy to deal with get back running. Very little electronics or computers to strand you beside the road. I know of one with 750,000k on the original cummins engine…never rebuilt, just routine maintenance.[/QUOTE]

See, I believe you but I think geography plays a huge role in the value the truck holds. Here, a Dodge that has been in NE for ~10 years is guaranteed rust and rotted inside and out. I think I read somewhere that your location is not that far from me (next state over?) and I am still really surprised that at 300k, even diesel, a truck went for that - especially if it was in the NE/near the ocean for its 20 years…

The other thing that affects the value is obviously the reputation. I’m right outside of Boston and I can’t name a single horse person that would recommend hauling with a Dodge. Too many of them experienced first hand how unreliable they can be and there is nothing worse than having to unload your 5 horses out of the side-ramp on 495 into a different trailer while cars are whizzing by 80MPH because your Dodge timing belt just blew when the truck was less than 3 years old and rigorously maintained… Just one example of many that I know, first hand.

Of course, my sister’s BF just spent $5k on a late 80s model Dodge with a pulled Cummins engine… truck doesn’t even run and needs $2k in parts before it is even workable… Common sense isn’t a common commodity, but each to his own. I think he got the wool pulled over his eyes but he’s known to make impulsive buys like that. Every mechanic in the family thought it was outrageous… Perhaps he was the one that bought yours… :winkgrin: