eureka it may have burnt the lining on the caravan brakes. You probably should get it checked out. And take the bill back to the culprits!
Surely it is the Drivers Responsibility to ensure all the couplings, lights, brakes, and chains are connected correctly before driving off.
Hope it has not caused to much of a problem for you. Get your wheel bearings inspected/replaced as well.
I made the mistake once of not checking (in a rush 0400 in the morning) when another person put a mobile welder on the hitch of the truck. I lost it (it passed me) as I was going down hill into Picton NZ.
That was all my mate had done, was put it on the hitch, not latched, no chains, no lights. He thought I would do the rest.
I was younger then. Put it down to youth, inexperience, D/head. Luckily no one was killed or anything damaged.
-- Edited by elliemike on Thursday 6th of June 2013 11:53:30 PM
I posted in a previous thread to say how well our XTrail tows a 14.5ft van (old style). We have had no problem towing the van.
I now post as a 'warning' to others to check under their cars. While we have had no trouble towing it seems there has been a problem we didn't detect until this week. We have had a knock recently when we haven't had the van on and when the car went in for service this week my husband asked them to find it. Sorry to say, there is a crack in the chassis where the towbar has been attached. The dealer had to email Nissan to see how to repair it - after having taken the Nissan supplied towbar off. From my internet search I'm concerned to see that this may be a problem caused by the way the towbar is attached. As I see it, it is a Nissan problem. It seems Nissan takes no responsibility.
We have been told it will have to be welded by an expert. Then it should be capable of towing the van without mishap. I'm hoping it becomes stronger than before or I might always be a bit nervous - not that we had had a problem - just wonder how long before the bit fell off!!
I'm also concerned for those who are towing far heavier vans than ours. I repeat, we've had no problem towing our weight (probably loaded as 1000kg) but some who have posted in a previous thread are towing well over that. The first thing our service man wanted to see was our caravan rego paper. He said it was obviously not the weight that was the problem. We also do not use a WDH.
We're just glad we again asked for the knock to be found. It was thought originally that it was the shock absorbers.
Hope this is a help to others using an XTrail to tow.
The site I found also said Navara owners should check.
My 12ft caravan's weight is around 800kg loaded, the xtrail has no problem towing it.
Yesterday, after having a CB radio and reversing camera's installed in the car and caravan (took 5 hours to fit) The young guys kindly offered to connect the caravan for me, it was around 5.30 and dark, I warned them to take the brake off before pulling the caravan about 3 mtrs (their choice) toward the rear of my car, they did this but bugger....on arriving home, ready to disconnect I smell burnt rubber at the rear of the car. The caravan brake was on during the trip home which was about 10k trip.
I had a 2003 Xtrail and pulled a 13' Jayco and also a 14' Coromal, no WDH, had no problems towing, took overdrive off when towing up steep hills, through the suburbs (stopping and starting etc) and if strong headwinds. If the road was reasonably flat on highways I would put overdrive back on again. Only problem I had was with a computer card problem, went into limp mode, RAC towed it to a RAC repairer and taxi home(covered by my level of membership, Classic I think it is) and from memory cost about $300 to fix.
But otherwise very happy with it, sold it to my SIL who still has it and hasn't had a bit of trouble with it.
Sorry to hear about your chassis problem N & R, I've never heard of that problem before.
The Australian X'Trail site is a good one for anyone checking faults etc or other info on X'trails....
Yes duh, we haven't had any problems towing the van. It's a crack from the way that the towbar is fitted that is the problem. And it takes a bit of looking to see it. I suggest everyone who has a towbar fitted to an XTrail gets under and has a good search. It cracks near the back. Hubby says it was a dog leg crack near one of the bolts. Our crack had been there so long it had gone rusty. But otherwise VERY happy with our XTrail.
Yes duh, we haven't had any problems towing the van. It's a crack from the way that the towbar is fitted that is the problem. And it takes a bit of looking to see it. I suggest everyone who has a towbar fitted to an XTrail gets under and has a good search. It cracks near the back. Hubby says it was a dog leg crack near one of the bolts. Our crack had been there so long it had gone rusty. But otherwise VERY happy with our XTrail.
I sold mine when I got my Hi Ace, still get pangs when I go to my son in laws place and see it there, went to open the door a couple of times before I realised it wasn't mine anymore, much more room inside too than many similar RV's of other brands.....
Yes duh, we haven't had any problems towing the van. It's a crack from the way that the towbar is fitted that is the problem. And it takes a bit of looking to see it. I suggest everyone who has a towbar fitted to an XTrail gets under and has a good search. It cracks near the back. Hubby says it was a dog leg crack near one of the bolts. Our crack had been there so long it had gone rusty. But otherwise VERY happy with our XTrail.
I sold mine when I got my Hi Ace, still get pangs when I go to my son in laws place and see it there, went to open the door a couple of times before I realised it wasn't mine anymore, much more room inside too than many similar RV's of other brands.....
We used to tow the Avan Cruiseliner with an Xtrail Diesel. (think that's the vehicle in my Avatar)
Did a lot of travelling with the van on the back, lots of dirt roads for days on end. It was very good, economical, and did all we wanted with it. However I was not happy with the mounting of the tow hitch onto the bodywork. It always had me thinking when ever I was under the back end of the car doing maintenance inspection or whatever. I just kept thinking of all that loading being transferred from the hitch into the body panel it was mounted on.
We also were doing lots more Dirt Road travelling. The next planned trip across Australia in 2012 was, coast to coast via the Great Central Road, The Plenty and Donaghue Hwy's. and returning by the Savannah Way prompted us to get a bigger 4x4.
The issue with the spare wheel was another factor. We had 17" wheels but the spare was only 16" and you could not fit a 17" spare into the moulded storage space.
My 12ft caravan's weight is around 800kg loaded, the xtrail has no problem towing it.
Yesterday, after having a CB radio and reversing camera's installed in the car and caravan (took 5 hours to fit) The young guys kindly offered to connect the caravan for me, it was around 5.30 and dark, I warned them to take the brake off before pulling the caravan about 3 mtrs (their choice) toward the rear of my car, they did this but bugger....on arriving home, ready to disconnect I smell burnt rubber at the rear of the car. The caravan brake was on during the trip home which was about 10k trip.
I have let the company know what happened.
What sort of damage could have been done?????
Helen
Helen,always do your own check before moving your van.Trust no one.A quick glance is all you need.I used to go over my checks in the same way as a pre flight on a small a/c.
"However I was not happy with the mounting of the tow hitch onto the bodywork. It always had me thinking when ever I was under the back end of the car doing maintenance inspection or whatever. I just kept thinking of all that loading being transferred from the hitch into the body panel it was mounted on."
This seems to be the problem. We have picked up our car and I've seen the photos. It is the first time our dealer had seen it happen. It seems like a piece had actually fallen out after cracking and so one bolt was not attached to anything. The other side was on it's way to doing the same. They need to improve their towbar design and attachment points!!!
I am so disappointed. We so love the XTrail just like you did. It has never underperformed for us.
Now I hope the repair holds well. It's hard to see as it's under the towbar.
(Yesterday, after having a CB radio and reversing camera's installed in the xtrail and caravan (took 5 hours to fit) The young guys kindly offered to connect the caravan for me, it was around 5.30 and dark, I warned them to take the brake off before pulling the caravan about 3 mtrs (their choice) toward the rear of my car, they did this but bugger....on arriving home, ready to disconnect I smell burnt rubber at the rear of the car. The caravan brake was on during the trip home which was about 10k trip)
elliemike wrote:
neilnruth wrote:
eureka it may have burnt the lining on the caravan brakes. You probably should get it checked out. And take the bill back to the culprits!
Surely it is the Drivers Responsibility to ensure all the couplings, lights, brakes, and chains are connected correctly before driving off.
Hope it has not caused to much of a problem for you. Get your wheel bearings inspected/replaced as well.
Thanks neilnruth, elliemike
I didn't mean to lay blame on the young guys, yes I know it's my responsiblity to check. I let the company know because it was just another of many problems that occured on the day. I think they feel bad enough not realising the time it would take, not that it is finished yet, I'll be back next week to have the job completed.
An unexpected massive job wiring through the xtrail. The rear of the car was stripped bear and it was so dark behind the store when they finished, I didn't have a tourch to check.
Thank you for the advice.......I'll get the car and caravan checked out.
We have had no problem towing the van.
While we have had no trouble towing it seems there has been a problem we didn't detect until this week. We have had a knock recently when we haven't had the van on and when the car went in for service this week my husband asked them to find it. 
The caravan brake was 
