Help! Tow vehicle question

[Donna723]

We just bought a used 04 shamrock 19 ft hybrid. Anyone else out there have a camper this size and weight? Wondering what you tow it with. I have spent every night for a week looking for a new/used tow vehicle and frankly am just stressed out!

Can I pull this....

With this....? 04 ford expedition

[TURBS]

First of all welcome to the forum!

Second we would need ALL THE specs from both the trailer and tow vehicle.

And thirdly CONGRATULATIONS!

TURBS

"SABRE OWNERS UNITED"

[Donna723]

04 expedition, this is all I can get off the dealer site right now. Going in person to see it tonight.

260 hp horsepower5.4 liter V8 SOHC engine4 DoorsRear-wheel driveAutomatic Transmission4-wheel ABS brakesPassenger AirbagFront fog/driving lightsDusk sensing headlightsSignal mirrors - Turn signal in mirrors 7pin wiring harness



Gotta go get paperwork to see specs of the camper, brb!


Thank you so so so much!

[ChooChooMan74]

Welcome to the forum!!

I think an expy will be more than enough for a Roo 19. Congratulations with your new purchase!

[Kuba]

You will be fine

[rlocicero]

I would guess that the trailer is about 3200 lb. The Expedition is usually set up with 5.4l engine and 3.55 gears. My 2005 F150 supercrew 5.4 3.73 gears towed a 6800 lb HR savoy. Did a nice job. Sounds like you should have no problem, but check the numbers.

[Donna723]

Looked thru all the old paperwork that was in the trailer. Nothing with specs on it. Guess I'll keep looking...

[rgthoma]

Yes it'll tow it just fine. I tow my Roo 21SS with a 5.4 engine and 3.55 gears.

[KMP44]

Sounds like you put your cart before the horse ... or your Kangaroo before your tow vehicle...

Kidding aside - an Expedition should be more than capable. The towing capacity in the owners manual should be more than your Roo weighs loaded, but double check. The spec that is usually the one that max's out first is paylod of the tow vehicle. You will want to check the door sticker for the max gross vehicle weight (GVWR). That minus the empty curb weight is going to tell you the available payload.

You can compare that to the total weight of passengers, fuel, gear, and the weight of the trailer hitch and the tongue weight of the trailer.

To estimate (on the high side) your tongue weight of the loaded trailer, take 15% of the max gross trailer weight. Should be on a sticker on the front, street side wall of the trailer.

There are some detailed theads here if you search that give you all the ins and outs of calculating exactly how much a given vehicle is rated to tow and there are some handy towing calculators you can enter your specs into.

And - sales people are salespeople - they tell you whatever they need to in order to close a deal, so they will almost always say yeah you can tow that no problem - but it pays to do your homework and check the calculations for yourself.

Congrats on the Roo!

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by Donna723

Looked thru all the old paperwork that was in the trailer. Nothing with specs on it. Guess I'll keep looking...

Can you go look at the trailer? The weights are usually on a sticker (often yellow, sometimes white) on the side of the trailer. Mine are on the driver's side, right at the front, at eye level.

Others sometimes find them near the door

And again others sometimes find them on the inside of a cabinet.

[DK-in-SC]

I don't know about the 04's but on our 08 Expedition there were two available towing packages. A standard 6000lb and a heavy duty 9000lb. The standard came with a 4-pin plug and the heavy duty had the 7 pin. If the 04's are similar you should be fine, especially if the 7pin plug you mentioned indicates the HD towing package.


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[Donna723]

sorry to say the 04 expedition is a no go. It was in much rougher shape than the pics showed. On the other hand we found an awesome Lincoln Navigator that the price was right on. The dealer said he would add a transmission cooler and upgrade the wiring for us at no additional cost. We are gonna have our mechanic look at it tomorrow. Any thoughts?

[Donna723]

I found this sticker on it.

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by Donna723

sorry to say the 04 expedition is a no go. It was in much rougher shape than the pics showed. On the other hand we found an awesome Lincoln Navigator that the price was right on. The dealer said he would add a transmission cooler and upgrade the wiring for us at no additional cost. We are gonna have our mechanic look at it tomorrow. Any thoughts?

Yep. Use this to figure out if you're ok:

Check 1) Weight of trailer(as per the sticker I referenced above) + 1000 lbs + weight of passengers < GCWR of truck - Weight of truck

Check 2) Weight of trailer + 1000 lbs * 18% < Payload (Cargo carrying capacity) - weight of passengers

If both are ok (or a at least close) you'll be fine.

[Ford Idaho]

Originally Posted by Donna723

sorry to say the 04 expedition is a no go. It was in much rougher shape than the pics showed. On the other hand we found an awesome Lincoln Navigator that the price was right on. The dealer said he would add a transmission cooler and upgrade the wiring for us at no additional cost. We are gonna have our mechanic look at it tomorrow. Any thoughts?

Stat's on the Lincoln are?

I fear the Lincoln's suspension may be a bit soft.

[rockfordroo]

I'm pulling my Roo19 with a Chevy Silverado. See specs below. No problems. Mileage sucks, but that seems to be true for everyone.

I tried pulling it one season with a Chevy Traverse (3.6L V6, 5200 tow capacity). Didn't work out too well for me.

I think you'll be OK.

[indybp57]

Our Roo 183 is going to be very similar in weight. GVWR is 4800, camping ready for us its around 4200. We tow with a Ram 1500 5.7 HEMI with 3.92 rear. It has no problems pulling the Roo. Our Trailblazer 4.3 I6 will pull it, but not very comfortably. You want a little margin in towing capacity.

[Donna723]

What about a Lincoln Navigator as a tow vehicle?

[rockfordroo]

I pull my Roo19 with a Silverado V8 - see specifics below.

I pulled it the first season with a Chevy Traverse, 3.6L V6, 5200 lb towing. I wasn't happy, so I got the Silverado. Pulls very well.

[vinmaker]

Hi Donna,

This is probably all very confusing. I too find my head swimming sometimes with all this tech stuff. The bottom line with trailers is that you really cannot tell by looking at a vehicle how much it will tow. Sure the Navigator looks like a beast that could pull a house. But it might not be true. A trailer puts a lot of stress on a tow vehicle. It is vital that your vehicle is set up for these stresses. Whether it be bigger brakes, axles, Transmission coolers, gears, etc. A lot goes into the engineering part of it. The point is that you want to ensure that the engineers did consider it and made the appropriate modifications to the base model.

When looking at vehicles, I like to insist on a factory installed hitch. Never found a manufacturer to stick a hitch on a vehicle that was not designed to tow. The hitch will also have stickers from the manufacturer stating the capacity. As was said, a little bit of extra is best. So if your trailer is 5K lbs, it is best to have a little bit of extra towing capacity.

Do not let a dealer say "Sure. I can throw a 2" hitch on it for you. No problem." It is too complicated that for. Sorry but it is true.

Vin.