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Other than losing a wheel, towing was smooth sailing. The trailer sway went away with the car loaded properly. We were even getting 11-12 MPG, even over the mountains! The Isuzu really impressed us, being able to tow its own weight without overheating or showing any signs of trouble. A little more power would have been nice in the steep grades, but really that was the only complaint we had. Can you tow with a medium sized SUV? Yes. That said, if I wanted a tow-only Isuzu, a Trooper would be a far better choice with its longer wheelbase and extra weight. Troopers can tow up to 5,000 lbs, which would have allowed us to pull a full trailer. But hey, coolness counts too right?
Late in the evening, we finally made it home. In the dying light, we stopped in a parking lot next door to my garage and reinstalled the driveshaft. Then, we pulled the car off the trailer and drove it into its new home.
Do I care that we’re ending a VX piece with a Nissan? No. Getting this car 650 miles was a HUGE win for me and for the VX. It has been way too long since I flogged this thing and I am really excited to get dug in and get it back on its feet. As for the VX, the Curt hitch was exactly the tool we needed for this job. I was really worried that we would overheat, burn up the transmission, boil our brakes, and end up broken or crashed in the middle of nowhere. The VX never faltered, when the cargo it was towing did. And hey with the weight of the hitch on the back, that annoying driveshaft noise went away. Taking care of that noise permanently is next on our to-do list.
4 comments
Have you installed auxiliary transmission cooler? I’m going to install trailer hitch in my VX to tow my small boat (2000lbs with trailer). I’m not sure if the factory coller will be enough.
We used the factory trans cooler. If you’re towing over steep grades or in high heat then it would be a good idea to do so. It’s not difficult if you want to, there’s a nice spot opposite the A/C fan behind the grille. You can fit a 17″ wide cooler in there with some basic brackets and splicing into the soft lines that go from the trans to the OEM cooler is easy in that area. Should take a couple hours to install.
The transmission really isn’t the weak point. This exact same drivetrain is rated to 5,000 lbs in the Trooper. The Trooper’s longer wheelbase gives it a higher towing capacity. That being said there are a LOT of horror stories online about the 4L30E and its reliability, so it would be a wise investment to put together and install a trans cooler kit if you’re going to do a lot of towing.
Can you state what the model number is of the Curt hitch you used? Thanks!
It’s Curt 13556. It’s the only hitch Curt makes for the VehiCross.