My brother and sister-in-law took the plunge and are buying a 2008 Rockwood HW256. They plan on towing with their 2011 Explorer Limited with trailer tow, using a WDH. The dealer insists that they are 'ready to go', and only need to plug in, hook up and go. Problem is, try as I might I can't find any reference to such an Explorer having an integrated brake controller. I've downloaded the owners manual, checked several forums and searched Ford towing literature and the interweb and have only found threads asking where to plug the brake controller into the vehice!! Can anyone confirm or deny the existence of an integrated brake controller on a 2011 Explorer Limited with trailer tow??

Thank you in advance.

 

Just look at the dash. If it has one it is right there in front of them! Is the seven pin at the bumper wired and in place?

I don't mean this in a malicious way, but there is more to trailering than simply hooking up and driving off, if someone has never done this before. it might be helpful to take a friend along who has some experience towing to help them get off on the right foot.

Steve

 

Bet the salesperson has no real idea about the mechanics of towing. Only what the spec book indicates.

I think this new Explorer only has a 5K tow rating. Maybe less?

 

I was worried about the and was hoping surely someone was checking those things. My thought was it would not have a lot of extra tow capacity.

Steve

 

I have towed before, several times. I own a pop-up, my second, and have wired my last three vehicles to do so. Unfortunately I am on vacation right now, and am trying to help him out long-distance.

Yes, the Bargman is wired in and in place, and yes, the fuses and relays are installed. They have done their due dilligence as far as contacting those who should know, their salesman and Ford customer service, to find their answers. Not sure how much faith I have in these sources though.

They are trying to do everything right given the short amount of time between their purchase and their first short trip. The camper they bought has an empty weight of about 3k, and a loaded weight of about 3900 lbs, well below the Explorers capacity of 5000lbs with a WDH, which they also have. Therefore they will be well below their GCVWR, and max tow weight rating on their first tow this weekend which will be only about 60 miles round trip. If Ford is giving them a bum steer though, I want them to know about it, particularly when it comes to trailer brakes.

 

I feel my brother and SIL were misled about the towng capacity when they purchased this vehicle. My other brother and I both own pop-ups and have towed them extensively. The brother in question was under the impression they would be able to buy a reasonably sized travel trailer, hook up and go (my SIL did not want a pop-up and wanted a toilet with shower). When we (my brother with the pop-up and myself) began looking into the towing capacity of the Explorer we were concerned. The Explorer owners had no idea they might need a WDH for a trailer over 2000lbs, and had no idea what a WDH was. They also had little idea about the relative weights of campers.

They have done their due dilligence and purchased a camper well within their towing capacity. I would suspect their loaded weight to be around 3600 lbs as there are only three of them, or right around 72% of their rated capacity. That would equal about 700 lbs of gear, clothes and food, pretty conservative unless they get really stupid. Many have reported that their Explorer have had no problems with this type of load.

I am sure the salesman didn't know anytimg about these figures, or didn't care.
Ford CS seems to be giving them a line of bull also, unless there is in fact an integrated brake controller in this vehicle. I can find nothing in the owners manual about having one, or nothing in the towing guide about having one either. Maybe someone with experience towing can get away with towing this camper without trailer brakes, (I have done it myself when my trailer brakes developed a short at one of the magnets) but I think it would be a horrible idea for someone on their first tow.

 

The issue of whether it has an integrated controller can be resolved in less than a second by simply looking at the dash. There will be a manual control on the dash if the integrated controller is there. Otherwise they will have to plug in an after-market controller in the plug under the dash. Also very simple to do.

Thanks for providing the additional info. It is always hard to know how much experience someone has had and I tend to assume the worst and hope for the best.

Luck,

Steve

 

Thanks for the info. I have plenty of experience towing, and over 28 years wrenching for a living. Unfortunately I have absolutely none with their vehicle. That is why, especially since I am 300 miles from the vehicle now, I have downloaded the owners manual, done internet searches, checked the towing guide and posted here. Difficult to do this task under these circumstances, especially when I suspect Ford is giving them the bum steer.

Personally I believe in plenty of excess capacity, and tow my similarly sized pop up with an Expedition. For the cost of a few mpg I have a huge safety factor, and yes, I have installed and wired in the brake controller. I have offered my brother my controller to use, and have offered to swap vehicles, and to tow for him. However, with Ford telling him he is all set he tends to believe it.

 

As you realize, no matter what Ford tells him, he isn't unless he has a controller. I am not sure exactly how best to get more information out to folks about to tow. I work with RV dealers and I know they don't know squat, at least most of them, because they always are asking me or simply saying dumb stuff. It also seems like the car dealers don't know so I am kind of at a loss who is supposed to know this stuff. It places a heck of a burden on the buyer for sure!

Steve

 

Yes, I realize he isn't. As you state, it is a scary thing when you can't trust an authority like the dealer to provide you with the proper info.

Looking through the owners manual just now I see no dial on the dash for adjusting the gain on a controller. I have even found threads on the internet where owners of these vehicles have located the under dash connector for a brake controller. The only doubts I have my mind as to whether there is an integrated controller is whether it could be part of the anti-trailer sway feature, or part of the hill descent feature in this vehicle, and if the gain control could be found somewhere in a menu found on the touch screen on a higher end model like the Limited. I don't understand why a dealer wouldn't have a resource available in the form of a person who is educated in the area who could definitively answer these questions for potential buyers.

 

Unfortunately I am not familiar with this model, but I don't see how you could have a menu driven manual override as that would defeat the whole purpose of using it in an emergency. It has to be where you can reach it quickly and easily or the liability issue to Ford would be huge. I am betting this vehicle does not have the brake controller built in.

Steve

 

With that light of a trailer, does he NEED trailer brakes ?

If the towing capacity is 5k on the Exploder,
doesn't that infer that the truck's suspension, brakes, cooling, etc... will handle 5k ?

(Granted, it's probably good to have trailer brakes, but my heavy utility trailer doesn't have them and never gave me an issue on any of my tows - but we ARE in Texas were 2% is considered a mountain )

 

States vary, but that much weight requires trailer brakes and a break away in all states except one.

Steve

 

Well, I am happy to report that, despite towing his camper about 20 miles to his camp site without a brake controller intalled, my brother crawled under the dash and discovered the connector for the brake controller and understands that he needs a brake controller and will hook mine up for his tow home! I feel much better knowing he and his family will be safer on the trip home.

Thanks for all the help.

 

Give him this link as well:

https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...Crossovers.pdf