noseknows

I did try it out. Just under 2000 miles on mostly interstate. It really wasn't as bad as I thought. I wouldn't do it without heavy duty springs or air bags but it handled...ok. It sorta felt like towing a trailer as far as handling goes. But the power loss was negligible. Can't make fast maneuvers otherwise you'd really feel it get squirrely though. Every big bump stressed me out but nothing came undone or broke. Really wasn't worth the hassle for how little I got to ride around on the vacation. It wasn't dangerous or all that sketchy in the end.

I'm planning on taking a 2000mile round trip and want to bring my motorcycle down with me to ride around while my lady can use the Pathfinder. I have a beefy motorcycle hitch carrier rated for 600lbs with an aftermarket class III hitch rated for a 500lbs tongue load capacity. My motorcycle weighs roughly 420lbs or less depending on how full the tank is. I have LR9449 coils in the back and AC Heavy Duty coils up front. I'm planning on reinforcing the carrier with straps to the roof rack and tow points to stabilize the carrier and reduce any wobble. I'm pretty confident the Pathy will handle the weight but is that going to make the handling sketchy having that much weight sticking off the back of it? Anybody have any similar experience doing something like this? Thanks in advance!

Ahh, awesome. Thank you for confirming that.

I've started to notice a light "clunk" when accelerating from a complete stop or when getting on the gas from a slower speed. I did some searching around in the forum and saw that people tend to attribute the clunk to either bad motor mounts or bad trailing arm bushings. I checked to see if my engine jumps up when I gas it in gear and there doesn't seem to be a big movement in either the engine or transfer case shifter. I did, however, get under the pathy to check the rear arms and the bushings look pretty typical for what I imagine a 20 year old truck would look like. I am able to grab the control arm in the middle and twist it fairly easily like I'm twisting the throttle on a motorcycle. How much twist would be common with new bushings? I'm curious if my current bushings are within normal spec because I don't seem to get much wobble or instability at higher speeds. Anything else I might be missing?

Thanks. Turns out I have plenty of fluid, but your post gave me another possible source of a malfunction. If the switch on the lever checks out ok then I might wanna check that brake fluid reservoir sensor.

I have an '02 with the parking brake indicator in the dash always on. I've confirmed that the brakes aren't engaged. I'm assuming the switch is probably stuck where ever it is typically activated. I'm having a hard time finding info on where that switch is located. Is it at the brake lever assembly? Just curious if anyone has some insight and advice on where to look first.