Our current SUV is a 2019 Infiniti QX-80, its rated to tow 8500 lbs. The trailer weighs in empty about 4700lbs so we are well within capacity of the vehicle to pull the trailer. The QX was not outfitted from the factory with a brake controller – so I went about the task of acquiring and installing one.
Doing lots of research online about brake controllers I settled on the Tekonsha line of products. Their controllers employed technology that basically makes a smart brake controller. For those that are not familiar with how they work -the controller feeds electricity to the brakes mounted on the trailer, its the intensity of this electricity that determines how much force will be applied by the trailer brakes. Have a more feature oriented controller gives you a better driving experience & smoother braking.
I went with a Tekonsha P2 controller and mounted it with two screws in existing holes in the vehicles trim panel. The QX-80 is a lease vehicle and I did not want to put any permanent holes in the cars interior. Most Nissan/Infiniti trucks and SUVs have built in wiring for the trailer brakes. Without this you would have to run a line all the way from the controller back to the trailer itself. I ended up buying Tekonsha’s adapter cable to plug the controller right into the car. Otherwise I would have had to take the Nissan/Infiniti pigtail and marry it to the included wiring for the controller. The adapter cable was inexpensive and made the install a plug and play operation – total time was under one hour.
For the trailer hitch itself, we went with a weight distributing hitch and a sway control bar. We went with a Blue Ox BXW1200 round bar weight distributing hitch and their dual pad BX-4024 sway control kit. The dealer mounted the parts to the nose of the trailer and set things up the day we picked the trailer up. So far the hitch has performed great and with a 12,000 pound capacity it will work should we choose to upgrade the trailer later on.
