I have a 2003 v10 ex with 373 gears. I need to tow a 2000lb trailer with about 6000lbs to 7000lbs mud truck, so 8000lbs to 9000lbs total. I saw on the bumper the other day that it's only rated for 500lbs of tongue weight and 5000lbs max tow. Is this true??? Don't know much about this, but is there any way to tow more weight? If I use a weight distribution hitch does that double my tongue and my tow weight? Any help would be great. Thanks...

 

Your 2" receiver is rated for 1250#'s of tongue weight and 12,500#'s max tow capacity.

However there are two caveats.

1) You need a WD hitch
2) Your Ex is only rated for 9600#'s max tow capacity with 3.73's

So...you need a WD hitch to tow that much weight behind the Ex.

Also I would recommend a hitch that combines WD AND sway control...so you should look at the Reese Dual Cam (DC) or Equal-I-zer BRAND hitch...both of which fit the bill nicely.

Make sure you buy a hitch with proper tongue weight rating and make sure you load your trailer with sufficient tongue weight (10% MINUMUM) of the overall trailer weight...so you will have 800-900#'s of tongue weight when properly loaded.

Hope this helps...and WELCOME to FTE!!!

Joe.

 

the "low" rating is because your X likely doesn't have the Tow Package. It's Fords way of protecting themselves if you cause damage while towing a heavy load. Tow packages are typically a 7 pin, 4 pin and trans coolers. Not sure what all the X has with/without the Tow Package.

Get a good WD/Sway hitch and have fun. You might need to get better rear leafs or airbags to offset the sag with your proper 900-1000 #'s on the bumper.


If you are going to be towing regularly, I suggest you do the Mod V/B code spring swap. Short story is you swap Superduty leafs in. They give you a little height and help the tow stability

 

ALL Excursions have the "tow" package per say...well not exactly I guess but the option "tow package" ONLY adds the rear sway bar and telescoping mirrors...that's IT...really...

Notice the OP said he looked at the BUMPER...ALL Excursion bumpers have the 500/5000# rating...the 2" receiver however will have the following tag...



Tylus is spot on about the V/B springs!

 

Thanks for all the info guys. I don't know if it has the tow package, but I do have the 7 pin, 4 pin and trans cooler. I DON'T have the tag on the hitch, so thats why I want by what the bumper said on it. I knew it had to be more then 5000lbs. Only towing maybe once or twice a month on a 40 mile trip. Well thanks again guy's, I've been wondering how I was going to tow my mud truck, and now that I know I can tow it, I'll sleep better about it

 

even if you don't tow often, the leaf swap is well worth it

the X is a very heavy vehicle and the leafs sag over time. they aren't as robust as the F-250/350 leafs because Ford was trying to tone down the ride so people wouldn't complain as much.

 

I recommend a weight distribution hitch. Also, make sure you have a sway bar in the rear. Most important, make sure your trailer has brakes and your Ex has E load range tires. With that, your Ex will tow just fine.

 

What about trailer brake control modules?

 

I use a Prodigy controller in mine, it works well. I mirror the spring swap, it's a good way to go, or, personally I did air bags on the Ex and a Hellwig rear sway bar. I regularly towed 9-10K in the car hauler between cargo and trailer weight, it made all the difference in keeping the Ex level. The only thing I'd do differently is change out the differential gears to 4:10 or 4:30. I am running 35" tires now so the 3:73's are down to an actual 3:55-1, which does have an effect on launches.

Best of luck to you.

-Mark

 

Mine has 10k on my 2001. I tow a 8500# I'm figuring. do I need to upgrade my hitch to be on safe side?

 

Joe...you bring up a good point...I posted the above receiver rating based on the OP's year Ex...

BUT...the early Ex's were NOT rated as high.

I believe all 2000's and some 2001's had the LOWER rated hitch installed.

Those receivers are rated at 1000# tongue MAX and 10,000# MAX weight WITH a WD hitch...

The receivers "look" the same...but the difference is that the early receivers used a 14mm bolt and the higher rated receivers used 18mm mounting bolts...a BIG difference if you have ever laid them next to each other.

So anyone with an "early" Ex...your receiver is likely NOT rated per the photo I posted above so check your hitch tag!

Thanks for bringing that up and I don't see any issue with 8500#'s on your hitch...unless you have a very heavy tongue which exceeds 1000#'s...do you happen to know your tongue weight?

Also great point on the brake controller...the OP NEEDS a brake controller for a trailer that big...I personally wouldn't rely on surge brakes but I know large and heavy boats use that method all the time...I'm just not comfortable with 9000#'s relying on the surge approach is all...but that could be just me...

Joe

 

I may upgrade my bolts to be on safe side. Do you put a scale under your tongue jack and get it level to figure tongue weight? I weighed my whole configuration in the yard yesterday and came up with 15900 and that's with no gear. Why the wife had to have this one I do not know

 

Joe,

Not to hijack the OP's thread...but many people have a similar question on tongue weight...

There are a couple of ways to find tongue weight...a tongue scale would be the most straightforward...it costs on the order of $100 or so.

But you can get the same result using a CAT scale.

1) Take individual front and rear axle weights of Excursion alone
2) Hitch up to trailer but do NOT engage WD bars and go across scales and get same individual axle weights from #1 PLUS the trailer tandem axles on one scale


From these two weights you can determine tongue weight.

Take the rear axle weight from #2 and subtract the rear axle weight from #1 BUT you must also subtract the added weight on the rear axle from the FRONT axle.

Here's some numbers:

1) Front/rear = 3500/4500
2) Front/rear = 3000/6300

Math:

6300 - 4500 - (3500 - 3000) = 1800 - 500 = 1300#'s tongue weight

Does that make sense?...compare whatever your tongue weight is to the overall LOADED trailer weight and insure you have MINIMUM 10% tongue weight for a stable towing experience

You can go for one more weight and get the whole trifecta...

3) Engage WD and head back across the scales

Now this is where you "tweak" the WD to optimize the overall weight and balance. You must strive to RETURN the FRONT axle to the same weight you had in measurement #1...tightening and/or loosening the WD bars to optimize the weight distribution. You must achieve as close as possible the FRONT axle weight as it was in the unloaded state to get the balance back to "neutral"...

Many folks never run across a scale and they are flying blind so to speak and then they have stability issues while towing.

These three weights will give you all the info you need...

Good luck and let me know if something isn't clear.

Thanks,
Joe.

 

I don't want to **** anybody off, but I'm pretty sure you'll be fine just the way your Ex is. I towed a 2,500 lb trailer with 7-8 k lbs of 3/4 ton running gear (D70 and D60), big-block, mud truck and 4 sets of tires many times before I did my spring swap, with no weight distributing hitch (I continue to tow it with no WD hitch), and maybe even once or twice before I had my brake controller (scary, I know). I towed it up to 250-300 miles in a day twice with an all stock 7.3 Ex with just a brake controller. I suggest you get a brake controller because it makes it ten times safer, but I wouldn't miss any mud bogs over swapping the springs. Towing with stock springs isn't as nice as Vs and Bs but it was never white-knuckle for me either. I wouldn't worry about a WD hitch unless 1) your trailer isn't long enough that you can fine-tune tongue weight with the position of the load (camper guys don't really have this luxury so they are gung-ho about WD hitches - understandable) and 2) you are towing this truck often and far and you aren't comfortable with how you can position the load on the trailer.

Before I get rebuttals, I do agree if you tow often a V/B swap is great, and a WD hitch may be very helpful. More important in my opinion though, is a brake controller, and Load Range E tires.

P.S.-I have no rear sway bar either.

 

I calculated mine using Joe's method, or a variation of it. I found that the WD setup I'd been using for a long time got the front back to within 80lbs of the unloaded weight with a 6800lb trailer and 760lbs of tongue weight.

The interesting part of this, and since it relates to towing with an Excursion I'll mention it here, is what it says about tire inflation: At least with my setup, there is no reason to inflate the fronts beyond what I run when unloaded. I typically run 60-65psi up front, and had often gone to 75-80psi when towing, but never liked the feel of wet roads when I did that. Now I know why, and will leave the fronts at my usual 60-65psi.

Mark