hauling the N20

Posted By: Gene Halpern - ex Nimble 20 'Morgan Truce'
Date: 11/24/08 6:09p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Weight (pic) (David Hollenback)

I used to pull my N20 with a 4 cylinder Nissan KingCab 4x4---once from Vermont to West Virginia, then many times up a mile long extremely steep hill out of my place. (Brent will verify...) That particular stretch is definitely Low Range/First Gear territory. Most of my hauls were two to three hours in quite mountainous terrain. (West Virginia is known as "The Mountain State" with good reason.) I never felt I was abusing the vehicle, but I did make a habit of carrying the engine, fuel, and any other concentrated weight in the bed of the truck rather than the trailer. Obviously, if given the choice, one would opt for a very heavy duty vehicle for hauling loads, but that was the truck that I had at the time, it was quite fuel efficient, and (just maybe) I was lucky. The truck soldiered on through high miles and was eventually traded in---with the original clutch and transmission showing no signs of trouble. I think I helped myself (and certainly the Nissan) by always opting for a lower gear under all conditions and NEVER lugging the engine. But none of this should be taken as a claim that it would be impossible to destroy a small truck hauling a Nimble. I live in a portion of the country where guys routinely describe their trucks in terms of, "She'll go anywhere and do anything!"---- an attitude that is probably responsible for more destruction than any load carried and driven reasonably.