The Chrysler minivans also have a maximum frontal area for the trailer that you are towing. If you have too much drag, you are going to toast your tranny, regardless of the weight.
I'm designing a small industrial building right now. The roof panels going in that are 2 sheets of 24 gauge steel separated by 3" of foam insulation.
With pads on the roof to spread out the point loads, you can walk on it.
Just saying that it is a pretty common design, even if it feels cheap.
I bought about 3' of rubber tubing with an od of about the same size as the thread connection on my water containers. Jam one end in the container and the other in the tank fill. I rest the container on the exterior shelf. Works brilliantly and cheaply.
I don't know that particular controller, but normally you wouldn't see the brake lights when you slid the control. I know the pathfinder has a funny wiring harness. Double check the wires and ensure that everything is connected as required.
We have that on ours and it is much faster setting up and taking down. I watch my buddy's set up and they are always grunting as they heave the bed up with their back and slid the poll around trying to get it locked in place.
I sit and enjoy a beer.
We went there a couple of years ago. We had a site on the river. One morning about 3 baby ducks came and wandered around our camp site. We also saw a beaver dragging a branch down the river when we were canoeing.
We looked at that when we were buying a couple of months ago. I was turned off by the use of a timing belt instead of a timing chain. It needs to be replaced every 100K.
It does have a kick ass subwoofer in the back though.
As an engineer, I'll agree with you. I have a building full of engineers who could draw you something amazing, but can't figure out how to check the oil in their car.
I just bought the same vehicle. Our trailer is pushing 3000lbs plus we filled up the inside with stuff and people. First trip through Near North Ontario in the Canadian shield was fine. You should be good with almost anything.
I did find there was a lot of slop in the hitch receiver and need...
I have the same device and absolutely love it. Only issue that I noticed is that if you touch the brakes while in a sharp corner, the brakes become more aggressive due to the angle that the unit sits. Eventually, I'll add a bracket to make the thing square to the road.
The only fail is adjusting the braking. All I'd the other controls ate in a box on the tongue. Its as reliable as the unit you would mount to the dash.
I used the wireless tekanosha brake controller. http://www.etrailer.com/product3.aspx?pc=90250&pg=Brake-Controller&manuf=Tekonsha
The only thing you need to do is run a 12v line from the battery to your seven pin connector. Its a few extra bucks for the controller, but you don't have to mess...
Next item to check. What nuts are holding the spare tire in place? Mine are a different size than the lug nuts on the main tires and the bolt is so long that I can't use a tire iron anyway.