Ok guys, it's been awhile since I have been on. Sorry! We are planning on pulling our 25' travel trailer to Disney World this year. We just got the camper last year and Excursion the year before that. I pulled the camper a few times last year. The furthest was up in Northern Michigan. We live right outside of Indianapolis (north). So, this will be the first time that I will have pulled anything that far and through the mountains! Can you guys give me any advice. I could go down through Alabama and then over to by-pass mountinas but that is out of my way. I'm not so much scared, I just don't want to wear the brakes out. I know going up the EX will be fine. Let me know your thoughts.

 

Use the trans to hold speed coming downhill. You can turn off the OD for more engine braking. If you need even more don't be scared to move the shifter to 2 or even 1. You can go all the way to the 1 position at ANY speed. The computer is smart enough to not allow a shift at too high of a speed. I have put the shifter in 1 at 80 MPH. It won't shift to 1 until it slows to a speed that I safe to go to first gear.

 

I don't think you'll have much trouble, I pull 6K lbs quite a bit through the mountains and even without trailer brakes, never had much issues with the hills. How are the brakes on the camper, are they on both axles? How much does your camper weigh?

 

Mark, thanks for the reply. Please don't read into what I am about to say. My dad said not to run in 2nd gear for too long. He said it would hurt the transmission. I trust your input since I saw that you were a former Ford Trasnmission Engineer. Should I limit it or does it matter?

 

Did that trip Nov. 2011. great trip. no issues going through the mtns. just drop it in 2nd coming down and it will hold 50 without even touching the brakes. if you haven`t already done it I highly suggest a 5 star programmer for towing. I wish I would`ve had it when we went down. the stock shifting strategy from Ford sucks! especially in the hills.

otherwise enjoy!

 

46/71,

I'm not positive on the brakes on the camper. I am going to go through them as soon as I get it out of storage. It was used so not sure what has been done to it. It was well taken care of as far as exterior and interior for a 2008 model but I bet the wheel bearings need repacked. They seemed to be good last year.

The dry weight of trailer is 4570, GVWR of 5,500, and hitch weight of 865.

 

1 Excursion,

Do you have the 5-Start Programmer now? I looked it up but there is not much detail on it. How will that help me? I am not familiar with tuning devices at all.

 

When coming down a grade, don't jam on the brakes hard on the Ex if you can avoid it. You don't want to jack knife. Instead, manually pull the trailer brakes and gently on the Ex brakes. If the trailer starts to fishtail, pull the trailer brakes only to help pull you straight. You can also slowly accelerate while pulling the trailer brakes. Just be gentle. Leave a good distance between you and the vehicle in front of you.

Just turn the OD off at the crest right before you start going downhill.

 

Two things about towing any Travel Trailer with an Ex. One, I prefer a Prodigy Brake controller (the new P3's are incredible!!) Two, I will not tow a largish travel trailer or cargo trailer now without a Reese Dual-Cam integrated sway control/weight distributing hitch. For the money that it costs, the drive-ability is vastly increased, and no more tail wagging the dog even when semi's are passing. It "locks" the truck and trailer into a straight line,and the two act as one, instead of having sway between the truck and trailer. I have pulled my old 22 ft Travel trailer over 20,000 miles with an old friction brake style sway control, and have pulled my current 30 ft Travel trailer over 10,000 miles with the Reese Dual-Cam, and the difference is night and day. Ask anyone else that tows, and has tried both, and you wind that they agree. I haven't found anyone yet that did not agree that the Reese Dual-Cam is way better. IT is worth the money, and the time to set it up correctly.
Good Luck!
Garry in AK

 

Assuming you are travelling by interstate highway, there aren't any hills between Indy and FL that will give you the slightest concern at that weight. I took mine all over WY last year, and never used 2nd gear on the highway going up or down. I rarely tow over 65 MPH either.

 

I am looking into a ew brake controller. Mine is before the Prodigy's came out. I will be doing all highway driving. Probably down 65 and pick up 24 down into chattanooga and then 75 out of there. So the mountain is not bad out of chattanooga?

Garry, are you using the straight-line or the standard dual-cam reese set up? I would need to get new spring bars and then the sway control kit. My spring bars are old. They don't curve on the end. They are the old straight ones.

 

How can I say this diplomatically? Forget it, I can't.

Your dad doesn't know what he is talking about. Where did he get that idea?

 

Strait-Line Weight Distribution System w Sway Control - Round Bar - 12,000 lbs GTW, 1,200 lbs TW Reese Weight Distribution RP66088

This is the one I have.

Strait-Line Weight Distribution System w Sway Control - Round Bar - 12,000 lbs GTW, 1,200 lbs TW Reese Weight Distribution RP66088

And this is the one I just installed on my brothers burb and 26ft cargo trailer. They are moving from alaska to Minneapolis in may.

If you already have the round bar hitch head, e-trailer is the best price i am aware of for the new bars and the dual cam.

I hope this helps!
Garry

 

24 is a tough one beyond Chatanooga, you're going over Monteagle and this is considered one of the most hazardous interstate locations in the USA. It's one of the few places that does not adhere to interstate guidelines and has grades that are higher than the normal percentages allowed. It's easy for my unloaded Expy to pick up 40mph going downhill and semis ride their jacobs all the way down in the right lane. When the signs go up, make sure your guard does too. Join the 18 wheelers in the right lane and keep it down to 50mph or less when you crest so that you don't have to ride too hard on the way down. You'll smell brakes all the time from hotshots hitting it too fast when they crest. It's not enough that the grades are steep, there's much worse in the US. The problem is that they are long, as long as 2.5 miles. That's a long way to retard speed. I ride the expy in 2 all the way down, especially with a load. I did transport between INDY and Atlanta/Valdosta GA for years so believe me when I say the hills definitely need to be respected. Your Ex is going to be very heavy so make sure all the brakes are good, and make sure you've got your trailer brake controller set so that the trailer pulls straight in a situation and doesn't start to fish. Also the advice on the Reese Dual Cam is spot on, it's a wonderful unit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_24_in_Tennessee
Also remember that if it rains heavy landslides are common. Be careful pulling at night if it's rained as you may not see a slide that has occurred and not been spotted by HP yet. If HP is aware you should see warning and cautions before you reach the area.

 

Kevin,

When are you going to Disney?

While I don't have an Ex any longer...seeing one on the road always gets a head turn from me...it was an incredible family TV for us and we saw a LOT of this beautiful country from inside of it (42 states to be precise!)...

We'll be down there the first week of June (thankfully we'll miss "rainbow" weekend...not that there's anything wrong with that weekend). We're staying at the Kissimmee KOA for 8 nights...my girls are almost 14 and 16 so we'll only be doing Disney for a couple of days and then Universal and some other things down there...I've heard Fort Wilderness is killer...but I'm going to stay out of the park resort area with my bus...

As far as your original question/concerns on hills.

Well in those 42 states I've towed with our Ex...I've tugged 9000#'s behind me and we've been too and through the Rocky's 3 times...like others have said...all you need to do is use the trans...that's what the gears are for...I've used 1st and 2nd gear going up and down more times than I can count for LOOOONG stretches of pavement too...many want to "let it roll" coming down hill thinking they are saving petrol...well...you cannot when you are loaded down...you must use fuel going up to get you up the hill and use fuel going down to keep your speeds at bay...no worries on doing so...at least for me as I did it for countless miles and never had an issue...now I will suggest that you need to make sure your fluids are properly serviced and at proper levels...

My brake controller was the Prodigy and I would highly recommend either that one or the P3...although there are probably newer ones on the market...the Prodigy and P3 are excellent proportional brake controllers. I would think about the best out there is possibly the Maxbrake which taps into your brakes hydraulic system and uses a direct proportional amount of braking force on the trailer relative to that you are using on the Ex...but in my experiences...the Prodigy did an exceptionally smooth and effective job for a $100 controller and a 10 minute install...

The P3 has some great newer features and diagnostic information about it over the simple Prodigy...but you should read up on that to see if those features are something you are interested in...one is the current output monitoring feature that I really liked...if you are observant you will notice how much current is being sourced by the controller for all 4 brakes...and over time...you can use that information to tell you if it is time to service your brakes as the current sourced level drops as in one brake not working, etc...but you would have to be observant to those details...I never upgraded to the P3 as the Prodigy did me well.

Good luck...you will be fine if you take your time and don't try and rush going downhilll and use the gears that Ford gave you!

Joe.