Can a Nissan Rogue Tow a Jet Ski? Complete CVT & Marine Towing Analysis

The 150-lb tongue limit is exactly 10% of 1,500 lb. Nissan asks for 10–15%, so:

• At 10%, 150 lb allows a 1,500-lb trailer.
• At 12%, 150 / 0.12 = 1,250 lb.
• At 15%, 1,000 lb.

A PWC trailer with a normal tongue therefore hits the tongue limit before the tow rating once it passes about 1,250 lb.

PWC trailers are often set up with the craft well forward on the bunks, which pushes tongue weight up. Measure it with a bathroom scale under the coupler for light trailers, or at a truck scale; see how to calculate tongue weight. If it is over 150 lb, adjust the winch post or bunk position as the trailer maker describes, rather than loading gear behind the axle.

The 80% planning figure for the Rogue is 1,200 lb, which also keeps you below the 1,500-lb point where Nissan says most states want trailer brakes.

A personal watercraft's advertised weight is usually its dry weight. On the trailer it weighs more:

• Dry weight: from the PWC maker's spec sheet for your model year. Small recreational craft and large three-seat touring or performance craft differ by several hundred pounds.
• Fuel: gasoline is about 6.1 lb per gallon; PWC tanks commonly hold somewhere around 10 to 20 gallons depending on the model.
• Gear: life jackets, tow rope, cooler, cover, battery if not counted.
• Trailer: empty weight on its VIN plate or spec sheet. Single PWC trailers are light; double trailers weigh more and are longer.

Verdict for the Rogue:

• One small or mid-size PWC on a light single trailer usually totals under 1,200 lb. Fits, with margin.
• One large touring PWC can approach or pass 1,200 lb once fuelled and on its trailer. Add up the spec figures and weigh it; it may be over the planning margin and over the tongue limit at a 12% tongue.
• Two PWCs on a double trailer are, with almost any combination of craft, over 1,500 lb. Not a fit.

The binding limit for a single large PWC is usually the 150-lb tongue load, not the tow rating.

Pulling a trailer up a wet ramp is where a FWD Rogue is at its weakest. Backing down a slope moves weight toward the rear axle, and the tongue load adds more there, so the front tires that steer and drive a FWD Rogue carry less weight on exactly the surface that offers least grip. AWD Rogues can send drive to the rear wheels, which helps.

Ways to make retrieval easier, whichever drivetrain you have:

• Back in only as far as you need. PWCs float off and on in shallow water; keep the Rogue's tires on dry concrete if you can.
• Pull out gently. Steady, light throttle keeps tires from breaking loose on algae. Leave traction control on.
• Choose the ramp. A shallower ramp or one with a grooved surface is easier for any front-drive vehicle.
• Rinse after salt water. Hose down the trailer's hubs, springs and lights, and the Rogue's hitch and rear underside.

Never carry passengers anywhere outside the seats to add weight to the front wheels. If a ramp is too steep or slick for your Rogue, use a different ramp.

None of these weights describe a specific craft or trailer; they are hypothetical.

A 2025 Rogue AWD (1,500-lb rating, 150-lb tongue limit) with a hypothetical door-label payload of 965 lb, and a mid-size PWC on a light single trailer.

Trailer:

• PWC dry weight: 650 lb
• Fuel, 15 gallons at 6.1 lb/gallon: about 92 lb
• Life jackets, rope, cover: 40 lb
• Trailer: 230 lb
• Loaded trailer weight: 650 + 92 + 40 + 230 = 1,012 lb, about 67% of the rating

Tongue weight: measured at 12%, about 121 lb, under the 150-lb limit.

Payload:

• Two adults: 330 lb
• Cooler and bags: 135 lb
• Ball mount: 15 lb
• Total: 480 lb, plus 121 lb tongue = 601 lb, inside the 965-lb label figure.

Every check passes. Swap in a large touring PWC at 950 lb dry with an 18-gallon tank and the trailer is about 1,330 lb: inside the 1,500-lb rating, but over the 1,200-lb planning figure, and a 12% tongue (160 lb) is over the 150-lb limit.