trailer NISSAN FRONTIER 2017 D23 / 3.G Owner's Manual

Pre-towing tips
●Be certain your vehicle maintains a level
position when a loaded and/or unloaded
trailer is hitched. Do not drive the vehicle if it
has an abnormal nose-up or nose-down
condition; check for improper tongue load,
overload, worn suspension or other possible
causes of either condition.
● Always secure items in the trailer to prevent
load shift while driving.
●
Keep the cargo load as low as possible in the
trailer to keep the trailer center of gravity low.
● Load the trailer so approximately 60% of the
trailer load is in the front half and 40% is in
the back half. Also make sure the load is
balanced side to side.
● Check your hitch, trailer tire pressure, ve-
hicle tire pressure, trailer light operation, and
trailer wheel lug nuts every time you attach a
trailer to the vehicle.
● Be certain your rearview mirrors conform to
all federal, state or local regulations. If not,
install any mirrors required for towing before
driving the vehicle.
●
Determine the overall height of the vehicle and
trailer so the required clearance is known.
Trailer towing tips
In order to gain skill and an understanding of the
vehicle’s behavior, you should practice turning,
stopping and backing up in an area which is free
from traffic. Steering stability and braking perfor-
mance will be somewhat different than under
normal driving conditions.
● Always secure items in the trailer to prevent
load shift while driving.
● Lock the trailer hitch coupler with a pin or
lock to prevent the coupler from inadver-
tently becoming unlatched.
● Avoid abrupt starts, acceleration or stops.
● Avoid sharp turns or lane changes.
● Always drive your vehicle at a moderate
speed.
● When backing up, hold the bottom of the
steering wheel with one hand. Move your
hand in the direction in which you want the
trailer to go. Make small corrections and
back up slowly. If possible, have someone
guide you when you are backing up.
Always block the wheels on both vehicle and
trailer when parking. Parking on a slope is not
recommended; however, if you must do so:CAUTION
If you move the shift lever to the P (Park)
position before blocking the wheels and
applying the parking brake, transmission
damage could occur.
1. Apply and hold the brake pedal.
2. Have someone place blocks on the downhill side of the vehicle and trailer wheels.
3. After the wheel blocks are in place, slowly release the brake pedal until the blocks ab-
sorb the vehicle load.
4. Apply the parking brake.
5. Shift the transmission into P (Park) .
6. Make sure the
indicator light (if so
equipped) indicates the transfer case is in
4H, 4L, or 2H and that the ATP light is off. If
the
indicator light is flashing, or the
ATP light is ON, make sure the transmission
is in P (Park) (A/T) and turn the 4WD switch
to 2WD or 4H. For additional information,
refer to “Automatic transmission park warn-
ing light” in the “Instruments and controls”
section and “Using four wheel drive (4WD)”
in the “Starting and driving” section of this
manual.
7. Turn off the engine.
10-36Technical and consumer information

To drive away:1. Start the vehicle.
2. Apply and hold the brake pedal.
3. Shift the transmission into gear.
4. Release the parking brake.
5. Drive slowly until the vehicle and trailer are clear from the blocks.
6. Apply and hold the brake pedal.
7. Have someone retrieve and store the blocks. ● While going downhill, the weight of the
trailer pushing on the tow vehicle may de-
crease overall stability. Therefore, to main-
tain adequate control, reduce your speed
and shift to a lower gear. Avoid long or
repeated use of the brakes when descend-
ing a hill, as this reduces their effectiveness
and could cause overheating. Shifting to a
lower gear instead provides “engine brak-
ing” and reduces the need to brake as fre-
quently.
● If the engine coolant temperature rises to a
high temperature, refer to “If your vehicle
overheats” in the “In case of emergency”
section of this manual.
● Trailer towing requires more fuel than normal
circumstances. ●
Avoid towing a trailer for your vehicle’s first
500 miles (805 km) .
● For the first 500 miles (805 km) that you do
tow, do not drive over 50 mph (80 km/h).
● Have your vehicle serviced more often than
at intervals specified in the recommended
Maintenance Schedule in the “Maintenance
and Schedules” section of this manual.
● When making a turn, your trailer wheels will
be closer to the inside of the turn than your
vehicle wheels. To compensate for this,
make a larger than normal turning radius
during the turn.
● Crosswinds and rough roads will adversely
affect vehicle/trailer handling, possibly caus-
ing vehicle sway. When being passed by
larger vehicles, be prepared for possible
changes in crosswinds that could affect ve-
hicle handling.
Do the following if the trailer begins to sway: 1. Take your foot off the accelerator pedal to allow the vehicle to coast and steer as
straight ahead as the road conditions allow.
This combination will help stabilize the ve-
hicle
– Do not correct trailer sway by steering or applying the brakes. 2. When the trailer sway stops, gently apply the
brakes and pull to the side of the road in a
safe area.
3. Try to rearrange the trailer load so it is bal- anced as described in this section.
● Be careful when passing other vehicles.
Passing while towing a trailer requires con-
siderably more distance than normal pass-
ing. Remember, the length of the trailer must
also pass the other vehicle before you can
safely change lanes.
● Downshift the transmission to a lower gear
for engine braking when driving down steep
or long hills. This will help slow the vehicle
without applying the brakes.
● Avoid holding the brake pedal down too long
or too frequently. This could cause the
brakes to overheat, resulting in reduced
braking efficiency.
● Increase your following distance to allow for
greater stopping distances while towing a
trailer. Anticipate stops and brake gradually.
● NISSAN recommends that the cruise con-
trol not be used while towing a trailer.
Technical and consumer information10-37

●Some states or provinces have specific
regulations and speed limits for vehicles that
are towing trailers. Obey the local speed
limits.
● Check your hitch, trailer wiring harness con-
nections, and trailer wheel lug nuts after
50 miles (80 km) of travel and at every break.
● When launching a boat, don’t allow the wa-
ter level to go over the exhaust tail pipe or
rear bumper.
● Make sure you disconnect the trailer lights
before backing the trailer into the water or
the trailer lights may burn out.
When towing a trailer, final drive gear oil
should be replaced and transmission
oil/fluid should be changed more fre-
quently. For additional information, refer to
“Do-it-yourself” section in this manual.
FLAT TOWING FOR 4–WHEEL
DRIVE VEHICLE (if so equipped)
Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the
ground is sometimes called flat towing. This
method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle
behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor
home.
CAUTION
● Failure to follow these guidelines can
result in severe transmission damage.
● Never flat tow your 4-wheel drive (4WD)
vehicle.
● DO NOT tow your 4-wheel drive (4WD)
vehicle with any wheels on the ground.
Doing so may cause serious and expen-
sive damage to the powertrain.
● For emergency towing procedures refer
to “Towing recommended by NISSAN”
in the “In case of emergency” section of
this manual.
FLAT TOWING FOR REAR WHEEL
DRIVE VEHICLE (if so equipped)
Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the
ground is sometimes called flat towing. This
method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle
behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor
home.
CAUTION
●Failure to follow these guidelines can
result in severe transmission damage.
● Whenever flat towing your vehicle, al-
ways tow forward, never backward.
● Never tow your rear wheel drive vehicle
with the front tires on the ground. Doing
so may cause serious and expensive
damage to the powertrain.
● DO NOT tow your rear wheel drive ve-
hicle with all four wheels on the ground
(flat towing) . Doing so WILL DAMAGE
internal transmission parts due to lack
of transmission lubrication.
● For emergency towing procedures refer
to “Towing recommended by NISSAN”
in the “In case of emergency” section of
this manual.
Manual Transmission (if so equipped)
● Always tow with the manual transmission in
Neutral.
● On 4-wheel drive vehicles, place the transfer
case in the 2H range. Failure to do so will
cause the powertrain to bind up.
10-38Technical and consumer information

Tie down hooks.................3-23
Tilting steering wheel ..............3-13
Tire Flat tire ..................6-3,6-4
Spare tire ...................6-5
TireandLoadingInformationlabel ....10-15
Tire chains ..................8-37
Tirepressure.................8-30
Tire rotation..................8-37
Tires of 4-wheel drive ............8-40
Types of tires .................8-36
Uniform tire quality grading ........10-39
Wheels and tires ..........8-30,10-12
Wheel/tire size ...............10-12
Tire pressure Low tire pressure warning light .......2-18
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) ....5-3
Top tether strap child restraint .........1-31
Towing 2-wheel drive models ............6-16
4-wheel drive models ............6-16
Flattowing.................10-38
Towing load/specification .........10-31
Towtrucktowing...............6-15
Trailer towing ................10-27
Towing a trailer .................10-27
Transceiver HomeLink® Universal
Transceiver .......2-55,2-56,2-57,2-58
Transmission Driving with automatic transmission ....5-14
Driving with manual transmission ......5-18
Travel (See registering a vehicle in another
country) .....................10-13
Trip computer ...................2-9
Trip odometer ...................2-4 Troubleshooting guide (NISSAN voice recognition
system)
.....................4-103
Truckbox .................3-18,3-18
Truck - camper loading ............10-25
Turn signal switch ................2-33
U
Uniform tire quality grading ..........10-39
USB interface Audio file operation ..........4-61,4-63
V
Vanity mirror ...................3-15
Variable voltage control system .........8-15
Vehicle dimensions and weights .......10-12
Vehicle dynamic control (VDC) off switch . . .2-35
Vehicle dynamic control (VDC) system .....5-37
Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) system ....5-37
Vehicle identification ..............10-13
Vehicle identification number (VIN) ......10-13
Vehicle identification number (VIN) plate . . .10-13
Vehicle immobilizer system ........2-26,5-12
Vehicle loading information ..........10-17
Vehicle recovery .................6-17
Vehicle security system .............2-24
Vehicle security system (NISSAN Vehicle
Immobilizer System) , engine start ....2-26,5-12
Ventilators ....................4-16
Visors.......................3-14
Voice Prompt Interrupt ..........4-81,4-92
Voice recognition system ............4-99
Voltmeter......................2-8 W
Warning 4WD warning light ..............
2
-15
Airbagwarninglight.........1-86,2-20
Anti-lock brake warning light ........2-15
Battery charge warning light ........2-17
Brake warning light .............2-16
Door open warning light ...........2-17
Engine oil pressure warning light ......2-17
Hazard warning flasher switch ........6-2
Loose fuel cap warning ........2-5,3-11
Low fuel warning light ............2-18
Low tire pressure warning light .......2-18
Low windshield-washer fluid warning
light......................2-20
Passenger air bag and status light .....1-80
Seat belt warning light ........1-18,2-20
Supplemental air bag warning
light ..................1-86,2-20
Vehicle security system ...........2-24
Warning/indicator lights and audible
reminders ...................2-20
Warning labels (for SRS) ..........1-86
Warning/indicator lights and audible
reminders.....................2-20 Audiblereminders..............2-20
Indicatorlights................2-20
Warning lights ................2-20
Warning lights ..................2-20
Warning lights, indicator lights and audible
reminders.....................2-14
Weights (See dimensions and weights) . . .10-12
Wheels and tires ............8-30,10-12
Wheel/tire size .................10-12
11-7