QX56 Towing

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Mooreagree

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Looking at the following 3 vehicles:

Suburban, QX56, and Armada. Need to tow a 5,500 lb (as it sits - not dry weight) travel trailer that is 28' long and 32' tongue to bumper. Passenger weight will be 500-600lbs and not a whole lot of gear - maybe 700lbs. Using a Tekonsha brake controller and Husky WD hitch with sway control.

Anyone with real world experience towing with a 2011 or newer QX? How is stability and sway? Does the shorter wheelbase cause issues?

Any reason not to go with the Armada other than a very dated look?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I'm towing a 26 ft 6200 lb trailer with a 2011 QX56. Stability and sway have been excellent. I have a sway bar but leave it off because I haven't had any issues. If you crunch numbers via some of the towing websites 25 to 26 ft matches QX56's wheel base. However, 28 ft should be fine. Just make sure the tongue weight is under 900 lbs. At 5500 lbs fully loaded you are well under the 8500 lb max with plenty of room for gear and passengers. The Armada would tow what your talking about just fine too.

Mooreagree said:
Looking at the following 3 vehicles:

Suburban, QX56, and Armada. Need to tow a 5,500 lb (as it sits - not dry weight) travel trailer that is 28' long and 32' tongue to bumper. Passenger weight will be 500-600lbs and not a whole lot of gear - maybe 700lbs. Using a Tekonsha brake controller and Husky WD hitch with sway control.

Anyone with real world experience towing with a 2011 or newer QX? How is stability and sway? Does the shorter wheelbase cause issues?

Any reason not to go with the Armada other than a very dated look?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Click to expand...
 
I regularly tow a Jayco Jayfeather 29BH which is about the same weight and length (maybe slightly heavier and longer). We've traveled from Chicago into Smokey Mountains and many regional trips into Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan. We're planning a trip out to Colorado this summer. Towing with the QX has been a non-issue. It actually seems more stable than my Dodge RAM that was traded in on the QX. I have a Tekonsha brake controller and Reese CAM weight distribution setup.
 
I looked at all available vehicles in this category (Pick Ups SUV's etc) and decided on the QX 56 specifically for its towing capability. Outside of large trucks or possibly the Escalade from Cadillac nothing came close. We wanted an SUV with the power of a truck and it fits that bill nicely.

Best,
Darrin
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I have a 2012 QX with AWD that I purchased specifically for towing a 2012 28' Airstream. As previously noted if you are under 900 lbs tongue weight and below the max tow weight of 8500 you are good to go. I STRONGLY recomment a WD hitch. I use a ProPride 3P and the setup is fantastic. The QX tows extremely well, though I have heard I'd find the gearing even better if I dropped the 22" wheels.
 
I am getting ready for a long trip towing a 6,500 pound wakeboard boat. I am curious as to what everyone thinks my mileage will be. I plan to tow at 65mph on relatively flat terrain at sea level. My GMC yukon XL denali that I used to tow got right around 10 mpg towing. My normal non-towing mileage seems to be about 14 which is almost 2mpg better than the GMC got. THanks,
 
sstexan said:
I am getting ready for a long trip towing a 6,500 pound wakeboard boat. I am curious as to what everyone thinks my mileage will be. I plan to tow at 65mph on relatively flat terrain at sea level. My GMC yukon XL denali that I used to tow got right around 10 mpg towing. My normal non-towing mileage seems to be about 14 which is almost 2mpg better than the GMC got. THanks,
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My suggestion would be to plan around 9-10mpg depending on how many hills and headwind you have.
 
I have experienced an average of 11-12 towing sensibly on flat ground going 65-70. Once head wind or hills become a big factor it drops to 10 or slightly less.

Darrin
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I'd love to see what you average, we have a trip planned in June to travel out to Estes Park, Colorado from Chicago. I'm planning on average of 10, but who knows :)
 
Compared to the Yukon XL Denali, I feel that that the QX has more power. I have not noticed the reduced wheelbase having an issue at all. I have only towed the boat around town, so my trip coming up will give me some real world answers. I do feel like the load levelers do not work as well the Denali's but I have not really played with it much. I did follow the rule to turn the engine off to help cycle the levelers. Here is a pic of my boat and truck. I bet the boat/ trailer all in weigh around 6,500 with a 650 tongue weight. The truck is a 2012 4x4 QX. Thanks,
 

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Looks great. Do you have a WDH on that?

sstexan said:
Compared to the Yukon XL Denali, I feel that that the QX has more power. I have not noticed the reduced wheelbase having an issue at all. I have only towed the boat around town, so my trip coming up will give me some real world answers. I do feel like the load levelers do not work as well the Denali's but I have not really played with it much. I did follow the rule to turn the engine off to help cycle the levelers. Here is a pic of my boat and truck. I bet the boat/ trailer all in weigh around 6,500 with a 650 tongue weight. The truck is a 2012 4x4 QX. Thanks,
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Last edited:
Ha...I guess turning my iPad upside down to view the photo right-side-up doesn't work... :cool:
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Sagging

Anyone notice sagging when towing? The 2 Youtube videos that show trailers being towed look like the rear end is about to drag on the ground. Could be a dealbreaker - not sure if they cycled the autoleveling properly but definitely looks like something is up.

I cannot post links but if you go to Youtube and type in "QX56 towing" you will see them.


Thanks!
 
Nice video. It doesn't look there is much tongue weight on the QX. It's just pulling so not much sag.

marctronixx said:
i onno i just looked at the first couple videos and didn't see what you are suggesting. perhaps post the name of the videos in question?

here it is towing a small aircraft out of the hangar @:106 . no sagging.

http://youtu.be/_5k-GprOdP4?t=1m6s
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I don't tow so I cant share. i only sampled a random towing video or two and all the ones i saw were not sagging.

these videos can be misleading. i have not heard anyone who tows with their Q or an armada complain of sagging rear.. unless the leveling suspension does not work.

nevertheless, i dont think this car suffers from that. if you have the proper hitch and your suspension is in proper order i dont see how you could sag unless you are overweight.

im not an expert just picked up this info from reading about others who tow and videos I have seen.
 
Maverick - thanks for the pic. Yours looks perfect to me and I have not been able to find any other complaints. I will probably pull the trigger this weekend. Black on black with technology package - new mid-year model WITH FACTORY INTEGRATED REMOTE START which was almost another deal killer.
 
Thanks for the info yall, I'm looking at purchasing an Infiniti QX56 soon for purpose of hauling a travel trailer.
 
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