I have a question regarding the towing capabilities of my Stock 2000 Excursion 6.8L with 70k miles on it. Would it be capable of towing this:
2004 Prowler Regal 35'

Would I need to modify the suspension or transmission in order to protect the truck from anything breaking or going wrong, or should it be ok in stock form?

FYI, the empty weight on the trailer is ~7000lbs and GVWR is around 9800lbs.

Give me your opinions and experiences.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

This is a loaded question: However, my thoughts anyway. I would rather do this than work…. :-)

I have a 2000 EX 4WD with 4.30 gears, more miles than you 150K, (Jealously kicking in here) looks like yours is maybe a 2 wheel drive. What gears do you have? Assuming 3.73.

I bought my EX almost 3 years ago then the trailer came, very similar in size and weight to yours. (33RES Cougar). Guessing loaded I’m close to 9,000lbs, still haven’t been to the CAT scales. I did nothing to the EX before hooking up to the trailer the first time. That first pull was almost disastrous. Got to 51mph, not more than a mile from where I picked up the trailer, the trailer sway was so bad that it took me 5 foot off to the shoulder. Then there was the cost of soiled laundry and the bunched up spot on the seat where the lower part of my anatomy grabbed hold.

My EX was bone stock with oversize and under inflated tires, like driving on balloons. I just didn’t know any better at the time. The plan in the back of my mind at the time was to tow the trailer then fix issues. The guys at the trailer yard said I was good to go with my set up…. They were wrong!!!!!

So before the trailer was towed again… Started my research, The new oversize D rated tires were gone, replaced with stock size Michelin E rated (10 Ply equivalent), running 80 PSI when towing and a Hellwig Sway Bar. Then after towing more and identifying issues, other upgrades were Air Bags, Upgraded Rear Springs. My tongue weight is right at max of 1000lbs (Actually a little over by my tongue scale). Still towing with generic weight distribution hitch (hoping Santa will bring something better). For more power, 5 Star Tuner, Y Pipe and Cold Air Intake. Brakes have been completely redone, I’m sure I have left a few things that I did to the EX out, but you get the idea of what I have done and I’m sure others have done different.

Have I gone overboard? Maybe, probably.... but the EX has become very solid for towing. I can sit out there all day long at 65 to 70MPH on the open interstate. Keeping in mind that my trailer tires are only speed rated to 65MPH as I’m guessing yours will be. I seldom down shift on the open interstate. Cross winds and semi’s passing still get my un-divided attention. Getting around 8 maybe 9 MPG when towing.

With all of that said, do your research, fully understand your hitch set-up. There a lot of great advice in here and in the towing forum. There are those in these forums have forgotten more about towing than I will ever know. Do not do like I did and just hook and go with a brand new trailer without research into what you need, it could be very embarrassing….

I should have done a lot more research and addressing issues before I hooked to the trailer for the first time. Some as simple as tire pressure. Is the EX capable powertrain wise? If you have 3.73 gears, I’m guessing that you will not be doing much towing in overdrive. But yes very capable.

In my opinion and experience with that length and weight will the EX need suspension help? Yes. Others may have different stories and I’m sure opinions but that’s mine… Knowing what I know now. I would not hook up to something that size without at least E rated tires inflated to max pressure and rear sway bar.

If you do have 3.73 gears and 2 wheel drive, I hope others can chime in on their thoughts with that set up. I have been playing with my set-up for a couple of years now just now feel like I’m getting things dialed in.

Things still on my list…. 1.) Better weight distribution hitch. 2.) Get to the scales to see how close I am with current set up and how the weight is distributed on the EX.

To others, what have I left out?

Hope this helps and gives you a direction to go.

Steve

 

Wouldn't hurt to look up the specs on that trailed OP, gives you a better idea of what to prepare for. I'd anticipate some serious butt squat on a stock suspension though, so be prepared for that if you're trying to snag it now and move it home.

@WE3ZS is our towing guru around here, I'm sure he'll have some input considering he's probably the heaviest V10 Excursion tower on here, if not all of the motors.

 

Steve covered it pretty well.

I towed a 7klb empty unit from Oregon to CO for around 30 hours straight, standard 3.73 gearing 4x4 with 33s instead of stock tire size. I used a pretty solid WDH and it pulled relatively well. Had no issues walking right up several 8% grades between 55-60mph- granted I had a present misfire at the time and the engine was a little lacking on power because of it.

Check your tires, check the trailer tires, and be prepared for winds/passing semis. The first time a semi passes you- you'll see what we mean, it's an interesting experience and takes some getting used to, other than that - technically you should be fine, but you'll have to hook up to it and see to really know for sure- some issues just don't present themselves until under heavy load.

 

Have you installed a rear sway bar?
The Hellwig front/rear sway bar set should help a lot with crosswinds and semis.

 

We pull a 2009 23' TH, 7k (empty), 1050lb tongue with our 2002 6.8L 114k.
I installed the following for towing: F250 rear springs, Hellwig front/rear sway bars, load range E tires, 2004 5R110 trans cooler, 2008 diff cover, tow mirrors, P3 brake controller. The trailer came with an Equalizer WD hitch. I installed a Dexter EZ Flex equalizer kit and Maxxis 8008 tires on the trailer. Everything else is pretty much stock original. Have not had any problems towing. No problems with sway or crosswinds. Sometimes forget it's back there, until going up a hill. Any hill at all and the trans shifts down a gear. Getting just over 8 mpg towing. Pulls hills between 45-50, but I prefer to not run over 4k rpm.
Changing the rear springs to F250s really helped the rear end ride height with the trailer connected.
The most noticeable improvement in tow vehicle handling was the Hellwig sway bars. The Hellwig bars are larger diameter than the OEM bars. The rear bar is adjustable, but if you don't use the stiffest setting just get the stock F250 bar which costs less.

 

Thank you for all the input. I double checked the spec on the trailer. It is 6950lb dry and 9500 GVWR. Also I can confirm that my Ex is 2wd with 3.73 gears.

Sime follow up questions:
1. Several mention load range E tires at 80 psi. Is this front and rear tires or just rears? If only rear, are fronts stock pressure ~45 IIRC?
2. Is there a preferred site to buy the Hellwig setup from?
3. The seller of this particular trailer said it includes a WD hitch. Is there anything in particular to look for in a quality WD hitch? What differentiates one with sway control vs. those without?

 

When I bought my EX it had 167K on it. I did some towing without any mods and it was a handful. 9000 lb (loaded) enclosed car trailer. The first issue I had to address was the transmission. It overheated and took a dump. $2500 later, I was back on the road. I also added an OEM sway bar (F250 parts) and the large 6.0L trans cooler. I have 305 E rated tires as well. All this helped a great deal. Made towing a bunch easier.

Since then, I've replaced the front ball joints, all leaf springs and the steering box. I like to keep a close eye on my brakes and I installed a set of gauges to monitor exhaust temp. (I have a 7.3L), boost and trans temp. With the trans upgrades (standard from stock when being rebuilt) and the big cooler, the temp stays within the prescribed 100* over ambient. It may go up by 20-30 over going up hills or in heavy traffic but cruising it stays cool.

I have Air Lift air bags in the back but since I replaced the springs, I haven't had a need to use them.

Some of these mods can help you have a care free towing experience rather than worrying about getting there or being stranded. Ask me how I know.

Edit: If you want to see more behind you, look into some '08 style towing mirrors, HUGE difference.

 

Did you just call me FAT!? If so, good call, I am!
Seriously though, thanks Matt.



Howdy T-Bird Man, first I'll address your 3 questions above then move onto some other stuff that the other guys covered and then some more.
1. Load Range E tires are the safe bet for the Ex when towing heavy as they provide ample capacity and some addition reserve. The fronts should be fine running at the door sticker pressure or maybe +5 PSI to get started and running the rears higher will also be a good starting point. Once you get the TT and get a good 3 pad scale ticket (CAT scale) you can then adjust your tire pressures to the actual axle weights from the scale. There are online tire pressure/weight charts to consult for the needed pressure for a given load.
2. I bought my Hellwig bar from JC Whitney about 5 years ago, just do a little online searching to find the best price. The current Hellwig is an improvement over my older style as it has three levels of adjustment vs my single link mounting point. It's a fairly easy DIY installation job too.
3. From the grainy pictures in the ad it looks like the hitch might be a Reese Dual Cam or similar WD hitch system. Double check with the seller to confirm, then find the manual online to prepare for your initial setup. The WD hitches with built in sway control have addition points where friction is applied to help tame any sway, if it is in fact a Dual Cam it applies friction at the ends of the spring bars onto the cams vs a non sway control hitch that just has the spring bars attached via chains with no applied friction.


Trans temperature - Get some way of reading your actual trans temp, either a stand alone gauge (what I have) or one of those new fangled OBDII dongles and a tablet or smartphone app like these kids have these day. Like Carbon said above, the target goal is stay approx 100 *F above ambient with only short spikes over 200-220*F and a max of 240*F-ish, but try to avoid hitting that max. If you do have a high temp event, pull over and let the truck idle in neutral to cool down, never shut off a overheating trans as that will allow it to cook.


6.0 trans cooler upgrade - With your new trans temp monitoring ability (above) you will be able to decide if you need to make the cooler upgrade. If you find that you are running at higher temps then the bigger cooler will help to bring them down a good bit. I have pulled our old 9,500lb TH and our current 11,000lb TT over 30k miles all over the Eastern states with the stock V-10 cooler and have never been over 210*F. I do have a new 6.0 cooler and all the fittings and hoses to swap up for the future but haven't gotten around to it yet.


WD hitch initial setup - To avoid the same misadventures that Steve described above from his tow home with his new TT you will want to do a quick tape measure setup to get the hitch "close enough" for the trip home. The main purpose of the WD is to move weight back onto the front axle that is removed by the tongue weight of the trailer when hitched. So before hitching (all measuring done on a flat level surface) take the measurement of your front wheel well to the ground. Then once hitched up you will want to adjust the hitch tension to get that front measurement back down to that unloaded height. This should get you a good starting point for a decent tow home. Once you get to the scales you can dial it in even better to get the best setup. We can help with that setup here when the time comes.


Brake controller - You will want a top shelf trailer brake controller, I use the Tekonsha P3, a very popular and feature loaded controller that does an excellent job. With the proper Ford hook-up cable it is truly plug and play, there is a grey plug up under the EX dash for it.


Rear suspension - As has been mentioned by Matt and others, you will most likely see some serious rear squat even with a good WD hitch. In my opinion the best option to combat that condition is to go with a set of air bags. They will give you more than enough additional capacity and offer a level of adjustability that new heavier spring can't. I have a set of modded B codes on my rig (and some other bits) mostly for the additional lift and capacity but I am still looking to add air bags to help handle our heavy tongue weight. With the trailer from the ad, I would expect to see over 1,000lbs of tongue weight, which just so happens to be your hitch's factory weight rating with the use of a WD hitch. That rating is based on the bolts used to connect the hitch to the frame, later model EXs had slightly larger bolts that upped the tongue weight rating to 1250lbs, you can upgrade to the bigger bolts and be good to go with the higher rating, the bolt are the ONLY difference.


Tow mirrors - Get some! Seriously, get a set of tow mirrors, those little dog ears mirrors on your EX won't let you see enough to safely tow that large TT. I started out with the same little mirrors and changed up to the '05 rounded style tow mirrors then later to the '08+ larger more square-ish ones. I like the newer ones much better, especially the larger lower section as it provides a much improved view.


Trailer tire - They suck, nearly all of them do. (Assuming they are standard ST trailer tires). Check the dates codes on the trailer tire sidewalls and plan to replace them if over 3 years old. (Don't forget the spare too) Also be aware that nearly all ST trailer tires have a max speed of 65 MPH and running over that will shorten their already short life spans. My TT's tires were built in Oct '13 and 2 of them have already failed. I keep then covered whenever parked and always check pressures before trip and monitor underway with a TPMS, they are junk and I'm spend a lot of money to get away from them in the future. Run your ST trailer tires at their max listed sidewall pressure.


Good luck, it looks like a nice bunkhouse trailer and I really like that big access door into the bunkroom to load bikes or whatever.




OH, and to answer the question asked in the thread title, yes it will tow it, but.............There will be some upgrades wanted to improve that experience.

 

Tom covered it all. I'm towing a similar size TT as you, 7100lba empty 9200lbs loaded and ready to travel. TW is 1200lbs. I'm using a Hellwig rear sway bar and air bags with the stock springs and Rancho 9000 shocks. You will want 4.30's with anything over 7000lbs loaded. I'm also running the 5star tunes. As for the hitch, I use the Reese Dual Cam. All money well spent!

 

Well you just proved that I didn't cover it all!
Custom tunes from 5Star Tuning will make a nice improvement in the trans shift strategy and performance along with a little more grunt from the motor. 1Ex Camper above prefers the Tow tunes and I like the Performance tunes for our towing chores, personal choice and some differences in our setups, but either way the tunes do help.
And the deeper gears will always be a plus with the V-10, they make their best power output up high in the RPM range and deep gears will move you into that range while cruising. And with your RWD EX the cost to regear is half of what it is for those with 4X4s!

 

That excursion did not have a rear sway bar, I sold the v10 and trailer to go bigger, the new truck will get one though for sure.

 

Wow!!! Thank you to everyone for the great information. Fortunately/unfortunately I think you have convinced me to pass on the trailer that I originally posted about and instead invest in making my Ex tow ready before getting a trailer. My thoughts right now are (in no particular order):
OBD scanner to monitor trans temp
Rear air bags
Hellwig sway bar
load range E tires
4.30 gears

one question I didn't ask, since my Ex only has 70k on it the plugs are original. Will towing near the limit increase the likliehood/chances of plugs blowing out such that I should go ahead and replace them?

Thanks again to all,
Kevin

 

First thing is tires. It's the only thing between you, and the road.

Then, I was gonna say, "Get the trailer now!" until you mentioned plugs. It's a not-so-common issue, and doesn't affect every vehicle, but can be a PITA when it happens to you. Getting that straightened out first would be wise. At least give them a once over. Plenty of reading on FTE to give you some confidence.

Air bags can be decided once you're hitched up. You'll know by looking before the shakedown run if they're needed. Slow down if it isn't right.

Sway bar, and gears can be done later.

Hit the road, and don't look back.

 

Having bought our 2002 with 104k and blowing a plug at 108k I'm a little biased. Change the plugs - now! Well, at least check the torque on them. I believe the plugs work loose with miles, towing or not. The longer they are in the more likely one will work loose. One person on another forum had one blow at 68k, most others are over 100k. When you change them can you check the torque before pulling them? Our entire passenger side were a bit loose. If they are OEM they are probably not SP479, the current replacement. I change plugs/boots/springs at 50k and retorque once more at 10k. The coils last a long time.
First things I would add would be tires and Hellwig sway bars, then see how it handles.
Air bags are just masking that what the Ex really needs to carry weight is stronger springs. This article has some good info - Excursion Leaf Spring Swap with F250 Springs | SD Truck Springs | Leaf Springs, Helper Springs and Suspension Parts
I added a Koso BA024B11 temp gauge even though there is one on our dash. The dash gauge is just a 3 position readout, not a real gauge (oil pressure , too). It reads trans fluid temp returning to the pan.