From my posting on Overlander
forum
Re Latest Model Nissan diesel Pathfinder, purchased 10/11/2005
On Tuesday, August 15, at approx 12 noon, after travelling 1200K from
Townsville to
St George over several days, averaging around 90-100kph on the highway, we pulled into the
Caltex garage in
St George to re-fuel.
After filling up, as we pulled out of the driveway, which is quite flat, the towbar broke away from the chassis and the entire assembly with the 21’ caravan, crashed off onto the highway. Fortunately, we were only creeping along at approx 5kph.
Thankfully, St. George is a flat town with no hills, as the safety breakaway brakes system is attached to the towbar, and since the entire towbar broke off, the safety brakes were not actuated. Since the safety chains are also attached to the towbar, they were also ineffectual. Had this happened anywhere on our entire 20,000K towing the van, it would have kept hurtling down the highway and only stopped when it hit something – or somebody.
On examination, it was found that 6 bolts had sheared off. Two had obviously broken off some time ago, as the exposed broken ends were covered in rust. The remaining 4 broken ends with nuts and washers were found on the road near the towbar assembly.
The towbar, with the Hayman Reese hitch still attached, was re-fitted to the vehicle by the local Ford / Nissan dealer in
St George.
It is important to note that the towbar sold by Nissan with the Pathfinder, according to their published specifications, is 3000K tow capacity and 300K download ball capacity. Our caravan has a TARE 2260K, Gross loaded 2750K (current actual load approx 2620-2640k) and tow ball weight of TARE 180K and loaded about 220K, which
well under the recommended weights from Nissan. These towbar weight specification figures were confirmed by the dealer when I purchased the vehicle. I also checked with the dealer if the Hayman Reese Load Levelling Hitch, which I already owned, would fit this towbar and was assured it would.
After being repaired, we towed our van with much trepidation to Narrabri, where we decided we felt very uncomfortable about towing much further. We phoned Nissan head office in
Melbourne on 17 and 18 August. We had problems with the CDMA phone dropping out.
Finally, we made contact with a Nissan person named Andrew, who later I was told was an engineer. He told me that the Nissan towbar should not have a Hayman Reese Hitch, and that I was not to tow my vehicle using this hitch. I told him this was not what the Nissan specifications stated. He argued that he was correct. I told him to look on the web site and to read what it says. He did so.
The web site says:
[i]Towing capacity is subject to towbar/tow ball capacity. The capacity may be reduced if a non genuine Nissan towbar is fitted. The permitted download is directly related to the laden mass of vehicle. The maximum tow ball download is 300kg.[/i]
AND:
[i]Nissan is not able to make any recommendation on the use or suitability of load-levelling or weight distribution devices to be fitted to the vehicle. Customers should contact the manufacturers of these devices for further information.[/i]
Andrew told me that ‘this means you cant use a load levelling hitch with this towbar’.
I asked him how on earth he could read that into the above statements.
He told me that I was not to tow the vehicle with the Hayman Reese hitch applied.
I told him that all trailers over even 2000K, everybody who was conscious of safety uses a load levelling hitch. He made the statement that the Nissan Pathfinder does not need a LL hitch as he has towed trailers with loads near 3000k and didn’t use a hitch. I told him anyone who towed that sort of weight was irresponsible if they did not use some type of LL hitch..
He reiterated I was not to tow caravan without fitting a Hayman Reese towbar or taking the HR hitch off.
I then got a message from the Nissan dealer in
Townsville who sold me the car, that they were willing to pay towards the cost of refitting the broken off towbar and to get a Hayman Reese towbar fitted to my vehicle. This was limited to $480. It cost me $926.
I phoned the NRMA legal department. They told me since Nissan had sold and later fitted the towbar with the Hayman Reese hitch still attached, and that their mechanic had told me it was safe to tow, The onus was on Nissan to prove otherwise.
I showed the broken bolts to one of the Reese fitters and asked him what would have caused the bolts to break. He said I will show you why. Apart from what he considered to be the poor design of the towbar, he showed me the towbar manufacturers compliance plate, which is mostly hidden from view under and behind the bumper bar. It quite clearly states tow capacity as 3000K and tow ball download 250K. Yet Nissan claim 300k ball weight. I asked Nissan about this discrepancy. I was told that they had tested the towbar themselves and had decided that it would hold 300K download so they overruled the manufacturer and increased the rating. I said would the fact
mine broke overrule your tests? No – their tests were based on not using a LL hitch.
Using the industry standard of 10% tow weight as being on the tow ball, what they sold me was probably illegal for my van.
My total costs to replace this towbar with one that will tow the weight I purchased the vehicle to tow, is $926. I have demanded a total refund of my full out of pocket costs, which has now been met by the dealer. I must add the dealer has done all possible to help. I think he has been given the run araound by Nissan HO.
A friend of
mine who purchased a Pathfinder on my recommendation, wanted to buy a Hayman Reese towbar when he purchased the vehicle, but he was told by the Nissan salesman that the Nissan tow bar was superior, so he bought it. He is now having that towbar replaced with a Hayman. He doubts the Nissan dealer will pay. I think they should.
I have now learned of two more cases of bolts breaking on Pathfinder towbars, however they did not lose everything – yet!
I demanded Nissan make a public notice of this. They stated that in their opinion it was quite plain from their published statement (as above, in italics) that you cannot use a hitch with their towbar. You have to phone the hitch manufacturer to
check if their hitch will suit the Nissan towbar.
So I phoned Hayman Reese and asked them if their hitch was suitable to tow my 2750K van with ball weight of 230K, using a genuine Nissan towbar on my Pathfinder. I was told: “As long as the square tongue on the Reese hitch fits the Nissan towbar, you will be OK. If the towbar is rated as 300K download and 3000K, you wont have any problems. With a van that size, you definitely should be using a load levelling hitch like ours. Would you like to buy one?”
I have now found via another
forum, several new Nissan Pathfinders with broken bolts holding the tow bar to the chassis. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed. Nissan stand by their published specifications as being quite plain that you cant use a hitch with their towbars. Damned if I can read that into their statement.
So be warned – if you know of anyone with a new model Pathfinder using a genuine Nissan towbar with a LL hitch such as Hayman Reese, get them to
check their mounting bolts (should be 6) holding it to the chassis. And let them be aware that Nissan claim they should NOT be using their towbar with any hitch.
This shows the towbar how it is bolted to the underside of the rear chassis. There is what appears to be just a seperate metal plate (not shown in photo) that goes on top of the chassis whose sole purpose seems to be to stop the bolt heads from pulling through the chassis.
[URL= Site Link
These are the 6 broken bolts. Notice the middle two are rusty and obviously broke off some time before the bar ell off.
[URL= Site Link
This is the compliance plate that clearly shows the ball weight as 250K, not 300K as Nissan claims.
[URL= Site Link
I will aslo point out even the Overlander Magazine experts were fooled by the Nissan spec sheets - they completed a towing
test last month with a Nissan Pathfinder fitted with the genuine towbar and a Hayman Reese Hitch. Yet Nissan, when I last spoke to them, insist the wording on their spec sheets clearly state a LL Hitches cannot be used with a Nissan towbar.