Excursion towing questions

[Colem]

Hey I'm wondering if anyone towing with a excursion could help me out. I'm not happy with my current setup. 2002 excursion v10(she loves gas stations) with a 8327ss that has 1250 approx hitch weight. Currently I have round bar WDH and bars that are rated for up to 1400 lbs. I'm going on a long trip in May and want to feel confidant that my wife could handle some of the driving.
1 excursion rear seems to be very low. 2+"
2 sway off other vehicles
3 a bit of slop in the steering

I'm thinking about the following but my budget cannot afford to do all at one time.
Helwig swaybar
Equalizer or blue ox hitch
Steer box (redhead)
Air bags

If anyone can help me understand what would be the best impact I would be very grateful.
Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[Rrickim63]

Are you over on payload? Seems like a lot of hitch weight for an excursion after you figure passengers,etc

[ChooChooMan74]

Are you currently using a weight distribution hitch and/or sway control?

[jgroff]

other questions I had was what tires are on the excursion? and is there slop in the steering when not towing?


sounds to me like the wdh isn't setup properly. I would be looking at a propride 3p or arrow for that comb, but bags and the equalizer/blue might work.


My new trailer is the same length as yours just lighter. I wasn't taking the chance I bought a propride for it.

[fonzie]

Here is 2002 Ford Towing guide for reference.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Rrickim63

Are you over on payload? Seems like a lot of hitch weight for an excursion after you figure passengers,etc

I agree.

Op what does your payload sticker say ?
It the sticker that also lists your tires specs on the door jamb.

[Dodge Guy]

I have an 02 X and am towing similar weight/length. I bought it used at 2 years old with 17k miles. I was ready to trade mine in after a month of owning it, the marshmallow feel wasn't confident inspiring for a HD SUV! I first adjusted the steering box, no help. I then installed my air bags from a previous vehicle, no help, but did fix the sagging rear (of the X)! I then installed the Hellwig rear away bar and it made a HUGE difference in how the X handled. No more rear axle steer from the soccer mom rear springs.

I also have a Reese Dual Cam that is dialed in perfectly, I highly recommend this hitch! It is a step below the Hensley and ProPride.

My setup is rock solid now and nothing upsets it when going down the road. I have done 14 hours in a day and am not "worn out" from towing or stress.

Also make sure the tires in the X are "E" rated and inflated to 75 front and 80 psi rear. Same for the trailer tires, "E" rated name brand tires inflated to 80 psi.

[firedaniel]

Hey Colem is agree with the other guys. You know I have the same trailer it pulls like a dream behind my F350. I know different tow vehicle. But without the wdh set correctly even my truck will sag a bit in the rear. You should not have any sag if it is set correctly. That will affect your steering and overall ride. I would start there

[Klbrown53]

According to Forest River specs looks like your trailer is heavier than ours by around 500 pounds and your hitch heavier by around 150 pounds. Thing to remember is that real world weight is probably more. It certainly was in our case.

My Tundra pickup is rated at 10,600 and payload of just over 1400. I put mine on the scales and ended up pulling around 7600 pounds. Tongue weight was what I was surprised with though. Mine weighed 1250 pounds. That is a lot of weight hanging off the back of a half ton pickup and is near my max with two people inside. As the dealer set it up it pulled well without much sway (with a Equal-I-zer brand weight distribution hitch) but my rear sagged 2.5 inches. Come to find out the dealer did not set the hitch up properly. It was a very easy fix to get it set up properly and I accomplished it myself with help from people on this forum and a couple of calls to the hitch manufacturer. Just remember that most dealers want your money and then they want you off their lot so they can get someone else's money. (Sorry about the extreme opinion but that is how I feel).

I am off the opinion that for safety reasons I like to have extra capacity and I do but not much. Get a good grip on your TV max capacities and stay under them. As others have said verify you are good on your tires also. According to my hitch instructions the rear of your TV should not drop more than an inch.

Good luck


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[geotex1]

We can speculate probably as much as you've already rattled your brain. However, until you get some scaled weights of everything, both with and without your WDH bars engaged, and loaded as to how you regularly travel it will be impossible to achieve a true solution. I certainly would enjoy helping you move forward toward one because I too tow with large SUVs and have for long while (big block GMs). As a general note, reducing body roll of our big SUVs is close to a must for good towing characteristics and why GM had a rear anti-sway bar standard on the 3/4-ton SUVs with factory heavy tow package till the GMT-800s were introduced with the active suspensions. So that Hellwig has good merit!

[RhoZeta]

Originally Posted by Colem

Hey I'm wondering if anyone towing with a excursion could help me out. I'm not happy with my current setup. 2002 excursion v10(she loves gas stations) with a 8327ss that has 1250 approx hitch weight. Currently I have round bar WDH and bars that are rated for up to 1400 lbs. I'm going on a long trip in May and want to feel confidant that my wife could handle some of the driving.
1 excursion rear seems to be very low. 2+"
2 sway off other vehicles
3 a bit of slop in the steering

I'm thinking about the following but my budget cannot afford to do all at one time.
Helwig swaybar
Equalizer or blue ox hitch
Steer box (redhead)
Air bags

If anyone can help me understand what would be the best impact I would be very grateful.
Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

My 08 F250 with 170K on it had a well worn steering gear box, if I had not traded it in my next purchase for it was a redhead as this is where the majority of your front end slop comes from on our type of steering systems. (unless your ball joints and bushings are worn out then that is another story) My truck had the camper package so it had the rear sway bar from factory. A good and properly adjusted WDH will all but eliminate the sag and the pushed around feeling from passing trucks. Will also help make the front end feel more solid as it is putting more weight on front axle as well.
I can not recommend the Equalizer WDH enough, I had it, it worked like a champ. I hear that the Reese dual cam works well too.

The Hensley Arrow and Propride hitches are from what I hear, the best, they are also the most expensive. To me it seems they are made for TV/Trailer combos that are on the bad side of marginal/not properly equipped. They use physics to force the margin back around to the good side..

[Colem]

Thanks everyone looks like I have a bit of clarity in what I need to do😄. I will be getting the scale tickets in about a month when I drag her out of storage. In the mean time I think first thing will be a sway bar. I do have E rated tires and run them at 80psi in the back. Also I need to rearrange some stuff in the camper to reduce tongue weight by a little and I will be removing my leveling boards due to a Christmas present of Anderson camper levelers from my inlaws. Thanks again I've been racking my brain for weeks and don't want to make purchases that will not help.


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[AquaMan]

I would get your scale weights before moving anything in your camper. Too light of a tongue weight will be worse than what you are experiencing now.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by AquaMan

I would get your scale weights before moving anything in your camper. Too light of a tongue weight will be worse than what you are experiencing now.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

X2
Scale your unit!

[Colem]

Good point thanks again everyone


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[simplyrwc]

I also have an '04 Ex. When I originally started towing the advice I was given was to upgrade the shocks, Helwig sway bar and bags. With the shocks and sway bar I went from a stressed white knuckle drive to a stressed semi white knuckle drive. Better tires improve the drive even more. Bags didn't do too much for the wander but did help take some of the soccer mom mobile bounce out of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums