Towing with a Nissan Armada: Are they bad? or is it just mine?

Have you towed with a Nissan Armada?  How'd it do?  I'm looking to replace my 2007 Armada.  It's junk.  Literally bought it from the salvage auction with damage:

I've abused it, for sure:

I've also towed with it for thousands of miles:

Here's the thing, it feels very unstable while towing.  Feels like the rear of the truck is swaying left to right when you hit bumps: like the tail is wagging the dog.  Kinda does it when unloaded too.  Is it just that I have a piece of sh*t example that's too beat up, or do nice Armada's have the same problem?  I want to replace this with something else, and I keep finding (relatively) cheap ones that are nicer.  What's your towing experience like with one of these?

No personal experience with those specifically, but I think there's something wrong with yours. If it's moving laterally even unloaded, or when towing a light load like that malibu on the dolly, you've got something wrong. Bad ball joint, worn bushing, or even just a poor alignment that is causing it to move around. My Silverado had the same problem, but at the front. Ended up being the upper control arm bushings (only on one side for some reason) were worn out causing camber and toe change as the suspension cycled. 

IRS vehicles are almost always worse for this than solid rear axle if the thing is squatted down badly, but it still really shouldn't be unsettling. 

Overly squishy tires can contribute to rear end wiggles when towing as well. 

Have you had yours on an alignment rack to get checked? Any play in any of the bushings or joints in the rear end?  It doesn't sound normal, and any of those things could have been damaged in the wrecks and cause what you are feeling.  

Given how busted up yours is, I'd suspect that first.  I feel like a lot of folks tow race cars with them since they seem to be pretty cheap, but nice enough and can tow a fair amount.

I haven't towed with one but it sounds like you have a tire or wear problem. A quality LT tire with the correct load capacity will make all the difference in the world. As will replacing worn bushings and links. 

I used to tow with an E150 conversion van. I ran load range E tires on the rear to settle it down. It helps a lot. 

Bro I'm gonna say yours has a few very valid excuses to be less than perfect.

You know how sometimes people say stuff like "Idk why my car is running rough, it's got a check engine light for a bad coil but other than that it's mint and has never done this before."

This is worse. 

I'd check the alignment and weigh your trailer to make sure you've got enough tongue weight, but that's probably another afternoon and $200 thrown after a beater you're going to replace anyway. An Armada should absolutely be able to tow a car without issues. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Yeah, Zero chance I'm going to throw any more good money after bad, and try to fix this thing up.  (I've already done rear shocks). 

I hadn't considered air pressure in the rears affecting things, so I'll inflate them towards the upper side of their limit and give that a try.

I'm really just asking for real world experience towing with a nice Armada.  Is there some flaw in the suspension geometry that makes them less than ideal, and my junky example is making it worse?  Or does a good one tow really well?

Just trying to help connect the dots...maybe your Amada could be a source of 4x4 bits on this project?

I also wonder if the engine would fit. Same platform, the F-Alpha, although the van one is a lot different it sounds promising.

pimpm3  has/had an Armada and towed with it. I remember him making positive comments about it. Maybe he'll chime in.

I had two Armadas and they towed an open trailer with a car on it just fine. I towed at least one 1000 mile round trip with each. One even had self leveling air bag rear suspension if I remember correctly.