[Hydrilla]

My ’02 XE 2.4 has recently been assigned tow vehicle duties for my small bass boat. I have typically installed a transmission cooler on the automatic trucks I towed with in the past, what do you guys recommend I do with this 5 speed?

Towing capacity is not an issue, and neither is braking, although I do plan to upgrade the rotors and pads. I live in a pretty flat region, and I can take slower state highways and backroads to almost every lake I fish. Suggestions on how to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on my truck would be appreciated.

 

[jerryp58]

I pulled a 16' fiberglass bow rider for a few years. Downshifting helped with stopping distance. Acceleration from a stop wasn't too bad except with the AC on. My only problem with it was the clutch. I had an inclined driveway that I pulled up in reverse and had to turn past a corner of the house onto a small concrete pad. It could be the gearing or just that I'm not a particularly good driver and would feather the clutch, but I overheated the clutch more than once which contributed to its early (100k miles) replacement. I used synthetic gear oil in my trans after the first 10k miles. I guess I bought into the idea that the trans would run cooler with synthetic.

 

[Plan B]

I don't think a small bass boat will be an issue. I used to pull a 17' Boston Whaler with mine. Only tough moments were pulling it from the water, as many of our boat ramps are fairly steep.... granted the truck/clutch was pretty fresh back then. Not sure how it would do with the 199K I have on her now, but I'm looking to get a boat again.
Maybe a performance clutch replacement would be in order?

 

[Nissan4Life]

I towed with my old 2.4l hardbody. Do you have a hitch? Or planning on mounting the ball on your bumper. I would recommend a hitch as it will give you greater angular range when you back up and prevent the ball on bumper dents.

 

[Cusser]

Towed my VW with my 1998 4-cylinder 5-speed using the ball on the rear bumper. Fine; no upgrade to Frontier needed except the plug-in trailer light adapter from Autozone for the magnetic lights placed on the VW.

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

Towed my VW with my 1998 4-cylinder 5-speed using the ball on the rear bumper. Fine; no upgrade to Frontier needed except the plug-in trailer light adapter from Autozone for the magnetic lights placed on the VW.

Where do you get a tow bar like that?

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