QX4 Towing a Camper? Few questions...

[coledog188]

My girlfriend and I are looking into buying an older travel trailer to take on some vacations and road trips with our 3 dogs. (Dogs complicate visiting family and staying in hotels)

I have a few questions about towing with my 03 QX4.
First I'm going to be replacing my struts and shocks all around so that should improve any ride height issues, but what is the most weight for a camper/travel trailer I should consider towing? I know the car is rated for 5000 lbs but I don't really want to come close to that number.

Second is what have you guys pulled behind it weight wise?

Third are there any upgrades I can make to my transmission or cooling to help offset driving lots of miles with a camper behind me?

Also any other tips or suggestions would be great!

(PS, I'm looking for an older camper (18-22 ft) to purchase for around $2000...If you know of one around the state of NY let me know!)

[Chuck Tribolet]

"camper" usually means something that goes on the back of a pickup.

The AAA tour books are a great resource for finding motels that will take dogs (I used to travel with two Newfoundlands and my GF).

I've got probably 70K miles towing my 2000 pound boat trailer with my '01. It's a stick shift, so less transmission issues. But the
tow capacity is rated at 3500 pounds (transmission-limited, autos were 5K).

Much over 2000 pounds and you'll want brakes on the trailer. Calif requires brakes over (IIRC) 2650 pounds, but over only 1500 pounds
if a house trailer or camp trailer. Never could figure out that disparity.

Shocks don't affect ride height, unless they are gas pressure like Bilsteins, and then they increase it VERY sightly.

Check your rear trailing arm bushings and the rear bump stops (inside the spring).

I'm sure there are aftermarket trans oil coolers which would be a good idea with an automatic.

[coledog188]

Thanks for the reply! I'm going to check one out this morning that weighs about 2800 lbs. I still have to get a hitch installed but that's easy to get done at various places.