Flat towing -27, Uniform tire quality grading -27 – NISSAN 2008 Xterra User Manual

Page 305

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FLAT TOWING

Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the

ground is sometimes called flat towing. This

method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle

behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor

home.

CAUTION

Failure to follow these guidelines can

result in severe transmission damage.

Whenever flat towing your vehicle, al-

ways tow forward, never backward.

DO NOT tow any automatic transmis-

sion vehicle with all four wheels on the

ground (flat towing). Doing so WILL

DAMAGE internal transmission parts

due to lack of transmission lubrication.

For emergency towing procedures refer

to “Towing recommended by NISSAN”

in the “In case of emergency” section of

this manual.

Automatic Transmission

To tow a vehicle equipped with an automatic

transmission, an appropriate vehicle dolly MUST

be placed under the towed vehicle’s drive

wheels. Always follow the dolly manufacturer’s

recommendations when using their product.

Manual Transmission

● Always tow with the manual transmission in

Neutral.

● On four-wheel drive vehicles, place the

transfer case in the 2H range. Failure to do

so will cause the powertrain to bind up.

● After towing 500 miles (805 km), start and

idle the engine with the transmission in Neu-

tral for two minutes. Failure to idle the engine

after every 500 miles (805 km) of towing

may cause damage to internal transmission

parts.

DOT (Department of Transportation) Quality

Grades: All passenger car tires must conform to

federal safety requirements in addition to these

grades.
Quality grades can be found where applicable on

the tire sidewall between tread shoulder and

maximum section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating

based on the wear rate of the tire when tested

under controlled conditions on a specified gov-

ernment test course. For example, a tire graded

150 would wear one and one-half (1 1/2) times

as well on the government course as a tire graded

100. The relative performance of tires depends

upon the actual conditions of their use, however,

and may depart significantly from the norm due to

variations in driving habits, service practices and

differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction AA, A, B and C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are

AA, A, B, and C. Those grades represent the

tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement as mea-

sured under controlled conditions on specified

government test surfaces of asphalt and con-

crete. A tire marked C may have poor traction

performance.

UNIFORM TIRE QUALITY GRADING

Technical and consumer information

9-27

REVIEW COPY—

2008 Xterra (xtr)

Owners Manual—USA_English (nna)
06/26/07—debbie

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