I recently bought a brand new expedition with the 4.6 motor and I am having problems towing my 4300 lb trailer. When I went to the dealer, I went throught all the specifications for towing before I even looked at them. My wife has wanted one for about two months and even test drove a couple of them. We want to buy a camper, after we got an expedition but our criteria for the camper purchase was based on the towing capacity of the vehicle. The owners manula has a max hauling capcity of 5k and the spec book from the dealer has 6050. We'll I went with a camper that weighs 4300 lbs, giving enough to haul before reching the max. I didn't want to wear the transmission out any time soon by going closer to more hauling weight. Anyway, I took a trip with long rolling hills and flat land (central Texas), and about 150 lbs of personal items added to the trailor weight. This vehicle strained the whole 350 mile trip. Gas milage dropped to 7.5 and the rpms stayed at 2.75 at a max speed of 60 mph. Any hill had this vehilce struggling to maintain 45mph. I don't see this vehicle lasting another trip. The dealer told me that this engine would have no problem towing. I call them from my trip, total miles on the odometer was 1000 miles, to tell them about my towing problems. Now its a used vehicle and the depreciation according to the dealer is 25-50%. It has 1500 miles and they took it in to the shop, and minus the new differential problems, they are checking to see if there are engine problems. They keep saying that it should pull my trailor fine but I want a expedition with the 5.4. Any thoughts on how I can get this trade without going in a money hole? I am telling them that this vehicle does not perform to the specifications they showed me.

 

Ive said it before, i'll say it again, and again.. Ford has absolutely no STINKING business putting the 4.6 in a vehicle this heavy and then saying it can pull that kind of weight, I towed a little over 2,000 pounds with mine (a 4.6 also) . Ford seems to put out those numbers based on the fact that you will tow on Flat ground or down hill, well what about coming back up? There is NO advantage to this 4.6 over the 5.4 including fuel economy (which is VERY minimal) since you have to have your foot to the floor every time there is a trailer hooked to it... ( and half the time when its empty) Most minivans struggle less pulling weight than these things do..
But buying used I was stuck with a 4.6, had I done more than Test drive it, I would have waited for a 5.4.

trust me, Ford will find nothing wrong with your motor, it;s just plain underpowered for this vehicle.

Ron
99 expedition
XLT
4.6

 

Unfortunately, this situation is even worse with the 300 lb. heavier 2003 models.

 

Sorry you made the choice of a 4.6. I tow 5K lbs in the passes of CO at 11K ft. so I know a few things about towing. The worst gas mileage I've gotten was 8 mpg towing at 60mph into a 40mph headwind all day long. So, 7.5 or 8 mpg is realistic with running at higher rpms and foot on the floor. I know TX like the back of my hand so the hills aren't that steep, long or high.

Given that the factory tow and vehicle capacity figures for ALL makes and brands are opotimistic dreams of marketing types who never tow, and are for ideal conditions on flat leavel ground with half a tank of gas and only a 150lb driver on board, then your vehicle did perform the job required. If your dealer is not willing to work with you and trading up to a 5.4, the most effective and efficent thing you can do to make your vehicle a better towing machine is to get a 4.10 or 4.11 differential. Sure it will reduce your solo gas mileage a mpg or 2 but it will make a huge difference in your towing power by increasing torque to the driving wheels. Check out Randy's rack and pinion on the web for an idea of costs, then shop locally if you can.

 

I tow a two horse trailer with my 2003 4.6 with both horses and tack and saddle inside the truck just fine. The trailer is the old steel kind not the new aluminum jobs... Don't know how much weight that is but my truck runs like a champ. In fact my father and I were commenting just how well it did on the way back from the 4th of july parade with the horses in tow.

 

I'm with tsdrallyer,

I'd change up to 4.56 gears. Better to be over geared than under geared I think.


Big Mick


I tow a 5k lb trailer with my 5.4 and it works great. I've got 3.73 gears. I'd love to have the 4.56 gears....

 

A 4.6 with different gears will do almost as well as a stock 5.4 so don't fret too much. I tow a camper and it does fine. Just look into a different gear ratio.

 

horsepower and torque wise, the 4.6 lacks 20 hp and 60 pounds of torque compared to a 5.4, so MOST of that should be made up with the simple addition of an exhaust, and filter, correct?

Ron
99 expedition XLT

" ps I use my expy to haul everyone around, and the escort for the really heavy towing"

 

Guys,

Not to say that Ford is a saint for putting the 4.6 into the Expedition, but the Federal government dictates what the average across the board should be in the CAFE standard. And let's not forget that there are a ton of people out there that are completely happy with their 4.6. Every time Ford sells a V10 Excursion, a couple of focuses or ZX2s have to go out the other door. That's how governmant regulations work.

How many Insights did GM sell, technically zero because nobody could afford one; you had to lease it via a government subsidized program. How many alternative fuel vehicles did anyone sell to a John Doe like you and me, just a hand full because the vast majority went to fleets and government entities via, you guesed it, a government subsidy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those anti governement wackos. In fact, I've been around this grand planet so believe me when I say good ole America is as good as it gets. My pastor puts it sucinctly, "Don't go looking for a perfect world, country, government, or church for that mater, because if you find it you will certainly ruin it."

Getting back to the 4.6, yes it can tow 5000# down hill with a tail wind, but getting it back up is going to take a 5.4. Sorry, there's no two ways around this one.

Let's look into this one further. 4300# trailer typically goes out on the first outing at least 4700# with minimal food, water, clothing and gear and empty tanks. That would leave 300# between the other half and anything that would put you at the limit. And that is if nobody was fudging. A full 30 gallon fresh water tank will add 250# to the load. A full tank of gas will run at least 150#. 30 gallons of LP will weigh 120#. Did you opt for the 13,500 BTU A/C unit that will add another hundred lbs. I put these numbers out because a 4300# trailer typically has a 30 gallon fresh water tank and holds 30 lbs of propane and has an A/C unit on top, and all this extra weight is not usually calculated into the trailer's weight card.

For crying out loud, when I go on a picnic with my family I routinely pull out with more than buck-fifty in gear and that is with food and drinks for one meal.

Can everyone see how scary it would be to tow a 4300# trailer with a 4.6 without dragging everything onto the local scale? I'm willing to bet that a year from now that trailer is going to go out wet pushing 5500 big.

As for what you do now, I'd hammer the dealer on this one if he sold it specifically to tow; that's being plain dishonest. But this is to say that hammering a dishonest salesman will get you anywhere, or not. You may end up splitting the loss with the dealer or supercharging what you've got. 100-150 reliable horses should be doable for under 4k with all the trimmings.

Sorry but all options don't look pretty at this point.

 

The 4.6 can be beefed up with an intake, exhaust and a gear change in the rear differential. You will be happy with the towing after that.

 

All is not lost. Things to ponder in regards to the 4.6 and towing.

1. The new motor needs about 5000 miles to break in. Yours is still tight.

2. K&N Filter and exhaust upgrades will help. They actually helped mine more during towing than empty.

3. Consider a reprogramming of the computer for premium fuel.

4. 3.73 gears for sure!

5. And with all that said, I just traded my 2000 4.6 Expy in on a 2003 with the 5.4 and 3.73 gears. No towing yet, but this thing is a kick in the butt compared to the 4.6!

6. Good Luck!