Hard finding something to tow?

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Karen77

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May 20, 2017
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Hello all,  I'll start with were new here and new to pop up tent trailer camping. We have looked and looked for a pop up that light enough for our Nissan Rouge 4 cylinder to pull.
The info we have is that we can tow 1000lbs.  Some people say we can pull 1300 or 1400 and some say we can't. We won't  be going very far from home maybe a 400 mile radius. Im hoping someone could give us some good advice. I think in asking in the right place.
Thanks in advance..... Karen77
 
To find out what your tow limit GVWR try entering your VIN here http://rv.campingworld.com/towguide


Sorry, where are my manners, lol, Welcome!

I'm fairly new also, and do not have a camper anymore.  My XH and I sold our pop up years ago, now I would love to get an A-frame, but have to wait on it.


 
A 1000 pound limit is going to be very difficult to find something. You are very much restricted in what you can tow. And if you do find something, it will be extremely basic, with pretty much just a bed and some storage. Even most teardrop campers will come in a little too heavy. You mostly would want to look for something that a motorcycle could tow.

Here is a site that lists a few: http://www.openroadoutfitters.com/motorcycle-campers

And here's a small, fiberglass camper that comes with a few amenities in it: http://golittleguy.com/trailer/model/mypod/36/
 
When I was at a Boise, ID Camping World I saw an amazing little trailer called a Rookwood Geopro by Forest River that was surprisingly well equipped for a very light trailer. The GR12RK is only 1072 pounds and 122lbs of hitch weight, and yet it has a little outside kitchen with a sink, refrigerator and microwave and easily sleep two 6 ft tall people. This is over the 1000 pound limit, but not by too much.

http://www.forestriverinc.com/travel-trailers/rockwood-geo-pro
 
A 1000 pound limit will get you sleeping space but not much else. Look at pop ups designed to be towed by motorcycles. We have one called a Bunkhouse model, and we love it. (Yes, we also have a big hard sided trailer, but we still use the little one sometimes with my Subaru.) It is easily towed by just about any car. We bring a table and a Coleman stove for cooking, and we have a portapotty for night use (we are old farts who have to get up at night). The trailer body holds all our gear (sleeping bags, kitchen gear, food). Another possibility would be a tear drop camper. They aren't pop ups, but some of them are pretty light. Remember that trailer dealers LIE about how much weight your vehicle can tow. You can only legally and safely tow what your car manufacturer specifies. Look on your driver door post for a sticker that indicates the information needed for the decision, then read up on tow capacities here on the forum. My guess is that you can only tow 800 pounds or so with a loaded car.
 
bsan[quote author=bsandey said:
A 1000 pound limit is going to be very difficult to find something. You are very much restricted in what you can tow. And if you do find something, it will be extremely basic, with pretty much just a bed and some storage. Even most teardrop campers will come in a little too heavy. You mostly would want to look for something that a motorcycle could tow.

Here is a site that lists a few: http://www.openroadoutfitters.com/motorcycle-campers

And here's a small, fiberglass camper that comes with a few amenities in it: http://golittleguy.com/trailer/model/mypod/36/
ink=topic=105251.msg948146#msg948146 date=1495366793]
A 1000 pound limit is going to be very difficult to find something. You are very much restricted in what you can tow. And if you do find something, it will be extremely basic, with pretty much just a bed and some storage. Even most teardrop campers will come in a little too heavy. You mostly would want to look for something that a motorcycle could tow.

Here is a site that lists a few: http://www.openroadoutfitters.com/motorcycle-campers

And here's a small, fiberglass camper that comes with a few amenities in it: http://golittleguy.com/trailer/model/mypod/36/
[/quote]

Thank you bsandey, we have in our garage a open road outfitter Time Out Dulex . It's just perfect for us. We will have many fun times in this
 
You appear to be asking if its OK to exceed the max tow rating on our Rouge. There can only be one answer: NO!  But at a practical level, what happens if you ignore that and go higher? Well, the wheels don't immediately fall off, but you will expereince much increased wear & tear of the Rouge drive train components, and you increase your risk of getting into a situation where the tail wags the dog. The Nissan engineers gave you their best assessment as to what trailer weight is safe and practical. Ignore at your own risk.
 
The Nissan Rogue has a CVT transmission.  I would not tow anything over 200 lbs behind it.  They are widely known for easily overheating and going into limp mode, which will put you in harms way of other traffic as you creep along doing 15 mph with semi trucks coming up fast behind you.....
 
JBinNV said:
The Nissan Rogue has a CVT transmission.  I would not tow anything over 200 lbs behind it.  They are widely known for easily overheating and going into limp mode, which will put you in harms way of other traffic as you creep along doing 15 mph with semi trucks coming up fast behind you.....

We had a 2008 Nissan Altima and drove it 136,000 miles with no problem. We wished we had kept it. My wife worked at a Nissan dealership, and part of her job was billing for the service dept. She hadn't heard of any CVT problems. Not to say there wern't any, but it's not rampant.
 
We had a rouge until our family outgrew it.  It was a great car, and we took several road trips with it.  However, I would not tow with it.  The CVT is a big reason why.  It was very smooth, and we never had a problem with it in 90,000 miles but the couple times I've driven one in the mountains I could tell it was not meant to strain.  If I'm towing even a small trailer, I want the ability to downshift to help with keeping things under control on hilly terrain. 
 
I don't know how many of you constitute "we" but I assume there are two of you. The following might be your only real option.

https://www.livinlite.com/products/quicksilver-tent-campers/6.0.html
 

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