Trailer hitch suggestions?

I'm keeping my eye out for a trailer for my HPDE Miata, we are going to redo the privacy fence on the side of the house, which should give me enough room to put a trailer big enough for a Miata.

I'm hoping this will let me take car to other tracks for HPDE's as well.

The tow rig would be a 2011 Frontier, Crew Cab, Pro-4X. It's rated to tow 6100lbs.

It does not have a trailer brake controller installed, I believe there is a harness to tie into the stock braking system, but I don't particularly want to hack into the wiring for an adjustable-type brake controller.

I'm also wanting to get a weight distributing hitch with sway control, thanks to the relatively short wheelbase and narrow track vs a modern full-size.

Suggestions?

Hack your harness and get trailer brakes.

I have a Trailex with surge brakes and it tows fine with my Tacoma. My only suggestion is that the Pro-4X shocks may not be the best for towing.

Woody wrote: "I have a Trailex..."

Goodness! A fancy boy!

motomoron wrote:

Woody wrote: "I have a Trailex..."

Goodness! A fancy boy!

It's 28 years old.

Woody wrote: I have a Trailex with surge brakes and it tows fine with my Tacoma. My only suggestion is that the Pro-4X shocks may not be the best for towing.

I'm guessing you've been towing similar sized loads to what I would be doing?

To be completely honest, I'm considering getting rid of the Frontier and going for a full-size, especially for long distance comfort and ease.

I remember driving my buddies '08 Crew Cab silverado with a Uhaul trailer, 'vert E30 and some various stuff in the bed..............you could barely tell there was 5500lbs hanging off the back of the truck.

z31maniac wrote:

Woody wrote: I have a Trailex with surge brakes and it tows fine with my Tacoma. My only suggestion is that the Pro-4X shocks may not be the best for towing.

I'm guessing you've been towing similar sized loads to what I would be doing?

Miatas, 911s and Jeeps.

I've heard good things about Dively trailers. Pretty light if you get the open deck too, which is doubly handy if you need to work under the car at the track.

^Interesting, I'll have to look into that. With the certain Miata suspension points that need to be tightened down with the car on the wheels, that could be extra helpful!

It seems as though since my truck didn't come with the factory tow package, I can buy a plug-n-play harness and trailer brake controller without too much problem.

Just not too sure I want to dump $750-850 in just getting a hitch trailer brake controller on this truck. This will take some more contemplation.

Unfortunately the wife is pushing toward a full-size truck as well.

Get the full-size truck. It's worth it.

I have to be careful not to forget I'm towing my Miata with my F-250 diesel. I'll look in the rearview mirror and have a moment of "Why is that guy tailgating me so bad?" before i facepalm myself.

I wouldn't go F250, I figure F150 + EcoBoost engine. But I'll wait til the end of this HPDE season before I'm ready to tow.

Hallett is only a 30 minute drive from the house, so on track days either the wife/dad will drive my truck out as a support vehicle with coolers/seats/tools.........but a full-size truck really seems like the ticket, especially if I want to start towing out of state for HPDE's and maybe eventually race.

I'd go full-size if that's an option (and it sounds like it is)...

It's definitely an option, the price on the new full-size modern trucks with 4 doors and 4x4 is a bit stout..........but still easily doable considering our other expenses.

I'm also trying to think long-term in that in a few season of HPDE if I can get fast/consistent, I might like to go racing.

Go for the full size truck.

Rog

Whoever sells you the brake controller should also have the wiring harness that plugs into your factory socket.

Get a Tekonsha Voyager or Prodigy. Very worth the money.

curtis73 wrote: Whoever sells you the brake controller should also have the wiring harness that plugs into your factory socket. Get a Tekonsha Voyager or Prodigy. Very worth the money.

Unfortunately (unless I've misread a bunch of stuff on the Frontier forums), since my truck didn't come with the factory tow pacakge, there is no factory socket for the trailer brake controller to plug into, hence the need for the factory harness.

Wiring up a brake controller is extremely easy, you don't have to have the factory harness to do it. It's only 4 wires, a power, ground, one to the brake light switch and last to the trailer connector. Of course you will need to have at least the 4-way type trailer connector as well. Just giving you some options, especially if the factory harness isn't cheap.

I don't think it's too expensive.

A buddy of mine is telling me my truck will work fine for short stuff and infrequent use, said I should hold off on a full-size until I'm sure I'm going to really be towing as much as I think I would be.

I towed my 3900 lb trailer with my Liberty for thousands of miles. It had the factory trailer package. Never a problem and it towed veyr nicely. Hills,interstates, didn;t seem to matter. After awhile I added airlifts, helped to level the Jeep.

Trailer brake controller wiring is very easy, don't let that sway you.

my 99 frontier came with a wire hanress adapter that plugged in under the dash to allow for using an aftermarket brake controller, but mine did have the tow package and came wiht a 7 pin plug and a factory class 3 reciever hitch installed

the frontier if it has the tow package installed is just about plug and play for a brake controller. there is a harness that plugs in to the wiring which you wire your brake controller to, no hacking of wiring required.

the engines make plenty of power for towing, just need a bit of winding up. i'd say you'll probably be "fine" for towing short hauls, but if you're thinking of multiple day trips towing, the extra power and stability available in a full size 1/2 ton or larger is nice to have.

as for towing, my xterra gets around 19.5 highway not towing anything, but with only the 800 lbs of seadoo and trailer behind, it drops to mid 16 just about no matter what.

In reply to Strizzo: The wiring should all be there for trailer brakes. My 09 pathfinder had the hitch (factory) and a four prong plug in the rear. There is a factory harness that replaces the 4 pin in the rear with a 7 pin round connector. Then there is the plug under the dash and I needed a relay to send power to the controller. $250 max including the controller plus the hitch.

trailer brakes are easy to wire in- especially on late model trucks that are already all wired up..

just spend $100 on a controller and $20 for the harness, plug it in, and you are done. but honestly, with a full size truck you won't even notice a small trailer and a Miata even if the trailer brakes don't work for some reason so i wouldn't really overthink this too much.

For possibly the third time in this thread, my truck DID NOT, I repeat DID NOT come with the factory tow package.