Tow rating for G35?

[Z06ified]

I'm thinking of purchasing a G35, but I have a boat I need to tow once in a while. Does anyone know what the tow capacity is for this car? Infiniti's web site doesn't say.

Thanks!

[Mayhem_J30]

I'm thinking of purchasing a G35, but I have a boat I need to tow once in a while. Does anyone know what the tow capacity is for this car? Infiniti's web site doesn't say.

Thanks!

I think we discussed this on the old board for either a J30 or Q45. I believe the census was that the tow capacity is "Don't Do It". You would most likely damage the vehicle. What kind of boat are we talking about...a jet ski, aluminum fishing boat, or cruiser? I just can't picture a trailer unless it's only got seperate wheels on it for auto-x'ing.

[Z06ified]

Thanks for the reply.

The boat is an 18 foot Glastron bowrider with a 150hp Johnson outboard. It weighs about 2,000 lbs. with trailer. Sounds like its too much for the G35

[Mayhem_J30]

Thanks for the reply.

The boat is an 18 foot Glastron bowrider with a 150hp Johnson outboard. It weighs about 2,000 lbs. with trailer. Sounds like its too much for the G35

i don't doubt the motor could pull it. but things like the transmission if auto and the rear suspension would give. it would tear the transmission right up.

[greg_atlanta]

The good thing about the recently bad publicity about SUVs is that the resale value plummets. Maybe you can pick up an older SUV and use it strictly for boat towing?

Or an old police car/Crown Vic would be good for that. For towing you want an unsophisticated design, solid rear axle.

Still get the G35, of course!!! (Just finance over 6 years).

[Aus94Q45]

Don't do it! It will fry the transmission and suspension. That transmission is built for perfomance/speed, not pulling. Also, just look at the housing -- no where near the size of a transmission on a half ton truck. I have a 1996 Landcruiser that I use to pull my 18 ft fiberglass runabout. The Landcruiser has huge brakes, four whell drive and a bus like straight 6 that generates excellent low rpm torque. Even with all of that, it strains up hills and is hard on the brakes when stopping. Also, your 2000 lbs boat with the trailer (800 lbs), ice chest (50 lbs), misc. gear (100 lbs) and gas at 5 to 6 lbs per gallon, easily jumps to 3000 lbs +. Beyond pulling, think of the momentum that the rig gains going down a hill, likely to far exceed the stopping capacity of the G, cooking the brakes. It is just not safe, nor good for that awesome looking car. While you may be able to pull a Sunfish sailor of a smaller PWC, I would not tempt fate with a boat of that size.

[ardvarkus]

I think it is important to separate "tow rating as determined by the mfg" from what is prudent.

Here are the criteria (IMHO) that the manufacturer uses:

1. Will the end user kill themselves towing a XYZ lb. trailer? (I.e. will the vehicle lose control, flip over, transmission explode or brakes fail?)

2. If 3% of the users tow, what are the ODDS the mechanicals will fail WITHIN THE WARRANTY PERIOD and cost us (the manufacturer) money?

This last one is important- what you are hearing from the above responses is that towing WILL cause you vehicle some measure of damage. It is just a matter of how much you want to tolerate.

If you tow a lot, you may get lucky and have a failure on Infiniti's dime....

Adam

PS. A friend called me on Saturday at 11:50PM. (literally 3 minutes after I went to sleep) His truck broke down, he had a trailer with horses- one of which was being transported to an emergency vet clinic- and needed my help. Loaded the truck (F250 turbodiesel), hooked up the horse trailer (5th wheel), drove 200 miles to him, 180 miles to the clinic, arrived at sunrise, 4 hours in surgery, home (and back to bed) by lunch. Now that's a serious trailer load! Guestimated the load at 9800 lbs. 13.1 mpg. Now this is a vehicle that can pull that kind of load 100% of the time, and still have a decent service life. (Nice to help a friend, but it reminded me of why I don't do all-nighters...)

[PalmerWMD]

All cars that handle welll ar not well suited for towing,This is due in paret by the need to reduce unsprung weight.

The G is a great car and the engine (and maybe even transmission if you add a transmission cooler) would be able to handle towing.transmission is same as installed in 340 bhp 2002 Q45.

But the Chassis would be damnaged with virtual certainty, only full frame cars should tow.Ther4e simply isn't a modern well handling car that can tow w/o problems

Fred...

[Stoneage_Turbo]

can probably get you a good deal on a 90 dodge bobtail , cummins inline 6 100 inch wheel base (probably shorter rear wheel well cuts into the doors ), tows 25,000 lbs no problem , has 7.11 (i think that works out to 7 to 1) gears in it , only runs 28 mph and has a 3300 rpm redline ..supposedly photos somewhere of it doing wheels stands , amazing what 400+ lb feet of torque and no wheelbase will do , then again 2 wheel drive on that boat-ramp , and all that torque ......

[Mayhem_J30]

Z06modified,If it ads comfort, autoweek listed the tow rating as 1000 lbs. I just noticed that today in an old article. Although I still would not recommend it.

[twoeightythreez]

I wouldnt rule out towing simply because a car is a unibody.
Your biggest limitation would be limited tongue weight as the springs are not stiff enough.
The FM chassis that nissan used for the G is also what they use for the Murano so i doubt it would suffer damage from towing.
That said,
I regularly tow a small tandem axle utility trailer with my 1994 Q45...its was cheaper than keeping a pickup around and so much easier to load.
It has no problem with it.
As I said before I am careful loading the trailer so my tongue weight doesnt go much over 100lb. The last load i towed was the trailer plus 4 infiniti wheels and tires,
A fully dressed VH45DE,
And an engine hoist.
I would guess the whole package came in around 1800#.
The brakes were more than adequate.
Also the OM recommends a weight limit of 1000# but my hitch is rated to 2500# so the car is probably a bit tougher than you all say.
I wouldnt recommend towing that 18 foot boat with your G though.

[BusyBadger]

[Jesda]

The Miata's owners manual gives a 900lb limit.
So for a G35, I'd unscientifically guesstimate 1500 max.

At 2000lbs you're risking damage.

[Bubba1]

Holy Zombie thread, Batman. OP posted this back in 2002, just as the G35/350Z were introduced. fwiw, twoeightythreez was correct that the OEM towing capacity for the 2003 G/Z was just 1000 lbs w/ a max tongue weight 110lbs. As far as the ability of a G to successfully tow well above those recommended limits as he said he has done with his 1994 Q45, that's where I disagree with him. Perhaps it might have been able to handle more. But the far bigger question is why would anyone risk damage/failure to (what was then) a brand NEw $35,000 car by doing something the manufacturer says was way beyond it's capacity. The financial risk of ruining a $2,500 22 yr old, fully depreciated Inifiniti Q45 by towing heavy is obviously a lot smaller. in other words, just because someone escaped damage doing it does not mean it's a good idea to try something similar in your car.