towing with an expedition

[TURBS]

As fonzie said deduct all cargo and passengers including hitch weight of camper from 1514

1514 minus actual loaded tongue weight of camper

Minus 100 lbs for hitch and sway bars

Minus passengers

Minus all cargo in tow vehicle


2015 Columbus 320RS
2008 2500HD Duramax
2015 nights camped "34"

[lee h hall]

i pulled a 27',6000# avenger with a 2003 expy.i never felt uneasy.it just ran in 2nd gear alot up hill.the anti sway bar and equalizer helped alot.i now have a 2012 expy and i have not pulled with it yet. the 2012 seems to be alot stronger with the veriable valve timming and the 6spd trans.i think you should not have a problem.you do need to add up your wait. there are a few good websites to help you with that. google is my freind.good luck.

[Telstar]

You can find the vehicle specs on the Internet. I had a 1999 Expedition Eddie Bauer with the larger V8 and the towing limit was in the 7,000 lb range. My son in law pulled there 23' trailer fine with load equalizing hitch. Yours may be too hevy. I would go for a crew cab F-150.

[jking46]

It can be very confusing. Typically suvs don't have enough cargo weight capacity to let them pull a camper as heavy as yours. As others have said, your cargo capacity is 1500 lbs. Your hitch weight when loaded for camping will probably be between 900 and 1000 lbs. That only leaves you 500..600 lbs for the total weight of everything in the tow vehicle. Passengers, critters and all gear. My guess is you will be over but close.

[CampingGA]

Ok I understand now. We currently have a F150 that has a max tow at 8000. I think we are going to stick with that. I did need to figure out the hitch weight. Im sorry for the confusion. Just crazy

[V-Lite Fun]

I had an Expedition. I tried pulling my V Lite 26WBR with it. I could pull it around Florida on flat land but it was under powered. The biggest problem was the sway even with a anti sway WD hitch. It was the tail wagging the dog everywhere. Also after several trips around the state I started to notice the slightest vibration in the rear. I figured the rearend was about to give out so I traded for an F250 diesel. It's been happy trails ever since. It handles mountains like a dream too. Personally, when you are wondering if you can get by, you can't in the long run. Best to start out right to begin with.

[DSQR]

There's a difference between CAN pull and SAFELY pull. I find the biggest part of towing is not pulling but stopping.

[CampingGA]

Our F150 seems to be fine. We took it about 5 hours away and it was some uphill and it was ok. Since it says 8k but we went with a 6k trailer. We don't even want to come close to 7200. If someone wrote a book about this they would make a ton. It's the hardest thing to find out. I mean I actually had to call Ford to get the info on our F150.

[fonzie]

Here is 2007 Ford towing guide....

https://www.fleet.ford.ca/resources/...guideApr08.pdf

[CampingGA]

Yes I found that. After calling Ford. Thanks Fonzie.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by CampingGA

Ok I understand now. We currently have a F150 that has a max tow at 8000.

You need to understand that max tow really means nothing, without the payload capacity.
ESPECIALLY with SUVs.
They are famous for low payload capacities, compared to their towing capacities.

[doc73]

Unfortunately it is a border line scam when the dealers sell you on what your vehicle can tow. I always laugh at the half ton towable signs on three axle 5ers and 10,000 lbs trailers that the dealer says can be towed by a crv!

I've worked with heavy equipment most of my life. So I understand what a vehicle can and should actually be pulling.

I feel bad for people like yourself, campingga, who like many get "scammed" into a false sense of what can be done with a vehicle (sometimes safely and often legally, assuming one cares about that) .

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[CampingGA]

SO your thoughts are I can't even tow what I have with my F150? I followed the guidelines. Not sure what else I could have done.

[doc73]

Again, looking at the yellow sticker will tell you that. But with 8000 lbs probably not.

But with all that said we will be called the weight police and you will be told to drive on by others. Some take the weight ratings as the gospel others as just a suggestion they ignore. I'm kinda in the middle. You need to do what you feel is comfortable and decide for yourself.

It may be unsafe / illegal to tow with your vehicles it may not be.. It may wear out your tyranny in 30,000 miles or break other stuff on the TVs or they might run 200,000 miles without problem. It is really hard to say.

Edit: the 150 will still probably pull better than the expedition with the longer wheelbase.

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[doc73]

Originally Posted by CampingGA

SO your thoughts are I can't even tow what I have with my F150? I followed the guidelines. Not sure what else I could have done.

What guidelines did you follow? From Ford or the dealer?

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[CampingGA]

Originally Posted by doc73

What guidelines did you follow? From Ford or the dealer?

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Ford. We think we are being pretty conservative with it. Being it says 8 but ours is 6. We never travel with anything in the tanks.

[doc73]

Ok, just remember you will never be the dry weight.. 2 20lbs propane tanks, clothes, food, bedding, water in hot water tank, pipes. You should keep some water in at least the black tank to avoid problems down the road.

I towed a 2000 popup with my lifted Jeep wrangler for years. Had two king beds shower, it was a 12 x 8 monster. I survived, not sure how lol. I would still expect on 1000 of stuff even trying to be light and go with it if you are happy with the setup.

I would guess that 90% of typical person, who took the sales brochure as being truthful, out there with rv's (other than the small crowd here who will correct me) are over weight for either their TV or trailer weights and they seem to get along just fine.

Trailer towing weights are usually determined in less than realistic conditions... A 150 lbs person in the vehicle and Nothing else..

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[CampingGA]

Yes. I understand. I may just make my husband drive it alone and put as many things in the car. I really don't want to push it. I appreciate your comments. It's just crazy hard to figure out.

[doc73]

Yes it can be because it is all about misdirected information and no reality situations. I hear they now have a "standard" way to figure this stuff out but who set the standard (sae did) and did they actually use a realistic way of figuring. I have a monster of a diesel truck and it can technically tow less than some ford f150 due to the CCC (2400 for me) .... No real consistent answers and false truths to make a claim of best in class whatever...

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[fonzie]

You could also get it all set up for camping and then go get it weighted at a Cat Scale and get real numbers.....

CAT Scale Locator | CAT Scale