I'm looking to buy a fair sized travel trailer (family of 6) and am interested in what "real world" towing capacity I should expect from my Expedition. I know the Ford rating is 7700 lbs and of course the RV dealers will tell me I can tow anything I can afford. But in practical terms, what is the max length and/or weight I should be looking at? We intend to use the trailer more for long-distance cross country types of trips than just local camping so on the road performance is important.

Vehicle details:
2002 Expedition Eddie Bauer 2WD
5.4L Engine
3.55 Rear Axle

Thanks in advance for any input.

Randy

 

Hey Randy, welcome to the show.

If you're planning on hauling all six people plus gear while towing the trailer, I have a feeling you'd be a bit disappointed with the Expy you mention, especially if there will be hills. At the very least, opt for the 3.73 rear end, but you really need an Excursion with the V10 or PSD.

 

They say the expy should stay at 25' or under. You could rpobably find a TT at 25' or less to sleep 6. TT are failry light as well. Less than 4000lbs dry weight. Go to a dealer and ask them to do a test tow up a large grade and find out. The 5.4 is an excellent engine and can rev at 3500-4000 rpms for long periods w/o isuues. The 3.53 is your limiting factor. pack light in the truck (pack trailer) as you will be approaching your GVWR w/ 6 people full tank and gear.

Although you have the 3.53 the 2X4 has a higher towing capacity than the 4X4. Check to make sure you have an external (extra) tranny cooler as your 2x4 may not have the factory towing package. The 7700 lbs is max tow rating. What you need to look at is what your expy will weigh fully loaded including tongue weight. Subtract this from the GCVWR (gross combined vehicle weight rating) and that is what your towing capacity is. Real world towing will include 2nd gear hills at times, but the truck has ratings for a reason. Some say stay w/in 85% of these capacities. My opinion differs. The trucks are rated for a reason. They may tow a house, but is that comfortable for you. I'm comfortable towing at 35mph if I have too.

Weight ditribution and sway control is a must with the shorter wheelbase expy.

Hitch up and tow on.

 

A really good place to look for more info on this very subject is the open roads forum...

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm

Check out "towing" and "tow vehicles"...a search for Expedition in "tow vehicles" will enlighten you greatly...

 

ditto. That forum is pretty damn good. You may need to click on the "open Roads Forum" to get to "Towing". the "Tow Vehicles" is on the first list though.

 

Thanks to all for the input. Unfortunately I'm fairly locked into the Expedition right now so a different tow vehicle is not an option.

Based on the input here and at RV.net, we're looking at 26' trailers with dry weights around 4500 lbs.

I plan on upgrading the tires to LT275 from the stock P275. Do I need to do all 4 or just the rear?

Also, I'll invest in a good anti-sway hitch, probably soemthing like the Reese dual-cam. I'm not unwilling to go Hensley-Arrow if I have to but would prefer to put the $ elsewhere if I can get away with it.

The other thing I'm looking into is the cost of changin the rear-end to 3.73 from the 3.55. I'm not a mechanic so would have the dealer do the work. Any idea how much it should cost?

Are there any other upgrades for the Expy that make sense? Suspension? Chip? Any input would be appreciated.

BTW, I do have the trailer towing package so I've got the transmission cooler and upgraded suspension.

 

You may find that you tow just fine w/ the 3.53 rear.