Congrats! I agree with everything you said. My setup is a bit heavier than yours but within specifications, the Mada pulls it like a charm. 2019 Platinum
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2021 Towing Experience
So I wanted to provide some new Mada owners my initial experience towing a travel trailer and what to expect. I have a 2021 Midnight Edition. Love it and always will. Besides the Infotainment issues with reboots.. But last update in December seemed to help. Anyways I looked far and wide for a travel trailer that was sized right for my Mada and my family and found the perfect match. The Coachmen Apex Nano 208bhs. It comes in at 25ft and 4300lbs on average. Tongue weight was exactly 600lbs with full propane and battery. I have an e2 round bar weight distribution hitch rated for 600/6000. If anyone is wanting to tow easily and safely without the white knuckles I would recommend sticking with my specs. Anything heavier in my opinion is a bad idea. Can you do it and is it rated yes but from my towing experience this is all you should do. Plenty of power in the drivetrain and stopping power perfect. I used boost 1 and 5 for manual brake setting on the TBC but switched to boost 2 as it provided better braking response on my dual axle baby. Drove home through the mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky with no issues. Some porpoising but not annoying and no sway issues. However when those big rigs or bigger trucks pass be ready for a little suction and movement. Once you understand and experience it a couple of times it's not a big deal. I kept the speed between 60-70 usually lower end. Just be mindful that everyone else goes 80 now so I stay right. Took me an extra 20 minutes home but it was so relaxing and uneventful in the right lane. I would say anyone that wants to have a perfect match for a travel trailer stick to 25 and under and under 5k#.. You will be much more relaxed. Remember the 80% rule and towing things heavier than your vehicle is always going to require extra effort. Yes it tows fine but stopping or any quick action is the issue so don't listen to people that say it's fine. My setup empty it's 51% of the towable limit loaded nearer 70%. You also have to look at the payload. I can get my family and about 100# of gear in the Mada and be within spec so anything more is not going to work unless tongue weight is lower. Be safe and try before you buy.
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Hello. I have a 2021 Armada SL 4X4. I tow a 2021 Winnebago Voyage 3033BH that dry is 7600lbs with a 660lb tongue weight and is 34ft total length. I use an Equalizer weight distribution/anti-sway hitch, and have had no problems at all. Yes you get pushed around a bit when it's quite windy, and yes the Armada porpoises a bit on large bumps, but otherwise the vehicle handles the load and tow extremely well. I do credit the Equalizer hitch for doing a great job at keeping the vehicle and trailer quite steady. It took me a while to get it set-up right, but once I did, it works very well. The trailer also has heavy duty suspension and brakes, which helps. With brake controller after trial and error I have it set at gain 6, boost 0. Sometimes I bump-up the boost to 1 on the highway, particularly in hilly terrain or at freeway speeds. I do tow with rear of the vehicle empty and we have been careful to not add a lot of weight with our gear inside the trailer, because I know I am on the upper limit of what the vehicle is rated for. That said, I was told by a Nissan employee that the tow capacities of their vehicles are purposely under-rated because they know people will push the limits. Note that in picture I did not yet have the hitch set-up properly. The hitch height was adjusted too high, and I had to also increase the tension on the load/sway bars.
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Nice rig!! I'll be setup about the same. We are the proud new owners of a slightly used 2019 Armada platinum! The wife and I are picking up our TT, Jayco Jayflight 294QBS.
We are looking forward to the "Beast" hauling her down the road. I've towed plenty of trailers and combinations in my life time and look forward to adding this to the list!!
All your rig photos give me more confidence that towing our TT with the Armada should be a breeze. Below is our trailer in Moab a month ago with our Subaru that is now going to be just a daily driver, not tow mule. We could go bigger on the trailer now with the extra capacity, but I don't think we will. It's just my wife and I and our dog, so it's roomy enough for us and small enough to get into the small campgrounds where a big rig won't fit.
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Alright, i bought a 27' Starcraft trailer, dry weight 6275 lb, and took it camping for the first time with my 2012 Armada SV. The Armada felt great and had no issues on the highway. Gas mileage was in the 8-9 mpg as expected. Note, i am a beginner. I had never towed a camping trailer before so it was pretty awesome. I still have the stock OEM shocks i bought the vehicle with. Reading thru all these threads, i came across the following package for shocks and airbags. It shows series Bilstein shocks with Firefox airbags. For sure i am going to replace the shocks with 4600 series because they are leaking, but any thoughts on the airbag? Just curious. Loaded the trailer is roughly 7k, i figure max i will ever tow is 7.5k. Any thoughts or recommendations on shocks and/or air bags would be appreciated. My first trip was only an hour away. In a month, i plan on going up in the mountains that will be about 6-7 hours each way for some hiking and fishing with the family. Armada has 150k miles and still drives like it was new!
I'll post pics on next trip.
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I'll post pics on next trip.
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