Can someone please explain how the maximum payload of a vehicle is
decided.
I am looking at purchasing a new xterra, which touts itself as being a
tough heavy duty vehicle, capable of carrying five people, lots of gear, and
a large roofrack. Yet the payload capacity is stated in various publication
and on nissan as anywhere from 975 to 1098 lbs.
Yet other vehicles such as the pathfinder is rated for 1317, the
fjcruiser at 1711, the liberty at 1150 and even the small mini, minvan mazda
5, using low profile tires to boot is rated at 1183(more then the xterra)
I plan on using the xterra, for four or five people plus gear, to go
camping, skiing, etc.
Five adult men alone, so averaging at 180 lbs only can easily put the
xterra near the max.
Can someone please explain? Much thanks.

On Mar 7, 8:12 pm, "J.Lef" <j... (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote:
The main factor for max load is how much stress the chassis can take.
Then there tire loads, how much load the tranny can take, the power of
the morotr and others. Given its small towing capacity , it would seem
that the Xterra is built on a uni-body chassis, rather than a truck
one. Uni-bodies are lighter and tend to be used on cars which usually
don't expect to do much towing, if at all. Also, unibody is more
capable of providing creature comforts such more interior room, better
suspension etc. Truck chassis main advantage is the abilit to haul A#$
%#$& Truck chassis type vehicles are less comfortable, less
roomy, etc.

A perfect example of the differences between unibody and truck chassis
is the Mercedes Benz ML line. The previous generation MLs were built
on a truck chassis. They were heavier, slower, but could tow alot. The
new MLs are built with a unibody structure. Mercedes has been strongly
makreting how they are much faster than the previous MLs. It's mainly
due to more powerful engines AND lighter bodies, unibodies. Of course
these new MLs wont be able to tow as much as the last generation.
Mercedes probably looked at their buyers and saw that they weren't
towing much, so they re-designed accordingly.

CD

Thanks for the complete answer. The xterra is not a unibody, but
definately a truck chassis, with a frame on chassis. It is the nissan
frontier truck chassis, with the xterra body.
I even see a report from motor trend asking the same question on "whats
up with that", but they dont go into any details. I can post it, if you
would like to see it.

Much regards

J.Lef wrote:
then on hte Xterra must be the tranny and engine, since it has a truck
chassis.

CD

Okay here it is. Please comment if desired.

Much thanks

Motor Trend Online senior producer John Matthius discovered something
disconcerting about our Xterra. If you put four adults and cargo in it, you
can possibly reach or exceed the 930-pound passenger-plus-cargo weight
limit. He further noted pronounced suspension rebound and exaggerated bump
stops over suburban intersection dips. He goes on to say that this much gear
filled the cargo area to the roof, including the space between the rear
passenger seats.

Many buyers probably look at a midsize SUV like this and assume it
would haul more weight than it actually does-as we did.

J.Lef wrote:
unibody. The limitation, then, must be the engine and/or tranny.

CD

On 3/11/07 6:17 PM, in article s60Jh.103$ps.65 (AT) newsfe12 (DOT) lga, "Codifus"
<codifus (AT) optonline (DOT) net> wrote:

If, as someone else mentioned, Xterra is built up from the Frontier truck
chassis, it makes perfect sense. A standard pickup usually has a load rating
of 1/2 ton (which is 1,000 pounds). 930 is really close to that. Given the
added weight of the roof and body metal, they did really good to only be off
by 70 pounds. As with airplanes, everything counts, including the driver
and passengers.