I was told that if you wanted to pull a 36 foot trailer you would have to have an F-350 or another vehicle with a 1 ton chassis. I was hoping for a second opinion. I have an Expedition (2003) and I am not trading it. Also, what about a 30 foot or 24 foot trailer- are these too big for an Expi or an F-250? The trailer will be loaded with instruments and other band equipment. I am guessing no more than 5 tons. If you need more info just post here and I will check back. Thanks in advance.
B.
2003 Expedition
and 2000 Windstar

Hey, is there a date for a new version of the WindStar?

 

I think they will be too big for an expedition. The trailer my marching band used was always pulled by a dually, and it was a 24 foot if I remember correctly. I don't think a dually is absolutely necessary, but it is probably the most stable way to tow a trailer of that size. I wouldn't pull it behind the Expedition, but I might consider pulling it with an F250. I'd still go for a 350 if at all possible, but in a pinch you could probably get away with a 250. Just remember that you will be carrying thousands of dollars worth of musical instruments that you will be responsible for by pulling it with a personal vehicle, so you want to have something that is up to the task, and can perform safely and reliably.

 

It isn't the length it's the mass. 24, 36 foot doesn't matter except for turning. 10,000 is fine for a heavy duty 250 and 350 with the appropriate axle etc. There are light duty 250s and axles that can't handle a load. I would guess the Expedition would be over rating with 5 tons(10,000#) of gear and trailer. Your handling will be iffy and your braking power will be exciting, especially in mountains.

You can probably tow 5 tons but you will wear out the Expy and you probably will be illegal in several states. Not that the local PD is watching for overloaded trucks to bust, but if you got in an accident you will have some splainin to do Lucy.

The best way to figure you tow rating is read the manual and the door post sticker. You want to find your GCWR(Gross Combined Weight Rating), GVWR(Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) and the GAWR(Gross Axle Weight Rating, front and rear). To find the correct listings for your truck you will need to look at the door sticker which will give you axle codes etc which then can help you figure out which truck in the manual is the same as yours.

If I only had two figures to use I would use GCWR and GVWR. Take the GCWR and subtract GVWR to get a ballpark trailer weight. I think in your case, it will not be near 5 tons. There are lots of nuances but this will get you close enoguh to even consider towing.

Towing with an under rating vehicle can be exhausting, way too exciting, illegal and will wear out your vehicle. If you won't trafe the Expy, at least tow within rating for safety's sake.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Banddir:
If you haven't purchased a trailer yet, DO NOT GET the 36' trailer. Many schools won't have enough space down by the football field to turn around a 36 footer, especially when people aer parked all over the place.

I pull my son's HS Marching band trailer. We have a 8x24 rated at 10K. This is the max weight of the trailer. You will never get the trailer to this weight unless you are building shelves in the trailer and stack it floor to ceiling and front to back with instruments. We carry 5 (wood and steel - homemade) stacked 4x8 carts for the pit instruments and a golf/utility cart to pull them. This fills the back 2/3 of the trailer. The show backdrop panels go on the sides of the carts against the walls. We have a shelf across the front. Sousaphones go on top strapped to the wall, and bass drums go below the shelf. Snares and quads fill in the area between the cart and the shelf. Our trailer weighs close to 3k but never goes over 6k loaded. Your Expedition will tow this, but get a band parent with an F250 or above to do this.

We used to also rent a 20' UHaul everytime we went on the road for the pit intruments and the uniform racks. Today I'm picking up a 7x16' Vnose trailer (almost 20' interior length) that will be used for this purpose in the future. Since the trailer will be ours, we can put in shelves to go over instruments that used to have open space above them. Since this is a smaller trailer, somone with an F150 or an Expedition can tow it without a problem.

Since you are the Band Dir, you don't want to be responsible for towing this everytime you go on the road. You've got too many other things to worry about. If the job of towing is shared, you will want as small of a trailer as you can get by with, as occasional towers forget that something is behind them and hit things. I missed the last playoff game last year (took my son to a weekend DCI tryout) and the person who borrowed my truck and drove the trailer hit a curb or post and bent the axle and destroyed a rim. That cost the band $800 to fix.

If you have any questions, you can email me.

Good luck

Dan