As some of you have seen in my question about theft protection, I REALLY like my "new" Excursion. It is a late super sharp '05 Limited, with "all the trimmins". Well, not "all the timmins" I would have liked for really heavy towing, but was unable to find one already "set up" for heavy towing.

Let me qualify my question, by noting how I have "set up" my own Excursion, and describe the "load".

I have installed air-bags to control the ride elevation of the rear end, so it won't go down regardless of tounge load. I also installed a Hellwig sway bar on the rear. Yes - I know..I know..for REALLY heavy tounge-loads, the best solution is a "weight equalizing" hitch with those spring bars you have to lift up with a jack-handle. Both of my trailers, when fully loaded, run around 11,000 lbs, obviously at the upper limits of tow capacity for the Excursion. As a side-note, the car-hauling box trailer has less than confidence-inspriing electric brakes on two of its three axles - the boat trailer has surge brakes on all three of its axles, that REALLY work !

We have some pretty bad portions of the Interstate out here in the west, so to protect both car and trailer, I bought a special hitch that has a huge air-spring. REALLY smooths out the ride for both tow vehicle and trailer. I really would prefer to use that on long trips. But there is no way to use it with my weight-equalizing hitch !

So - my question is - have any of you tried towing trailers as heavy of mine WITHOUT a weight equaliz. hitch ? Were there any problems in vehicle "sway" at Interstate speeds ?

 

I have not done the 11K number but have been all of 10K+ with my boat loaded with fuel. I had zero issues with the trailer at speed when I moved to a 3 axle trailer.

When I towed a friends 34 with 2 axle trailer I did not like the way it towed as all as compared to my tri axle for the same boat. it seemed to want to wander and walk at will

I changed my trailer brakes out to electric over hydraulic and still have the stock drum brakes and it stops better than the truck.

I do not have the air bags, but do have the sway bar and rs9000 shocks, when towing I crank up the shocks and it helps more than I expected.

Good luck

Christian

 

fantastic - thanks for your answer - but - what kind of hitch are you using - are you getting away with an ordinary standard hitch, or are you using a "weight equaliztion" one with spring bars..? if what you say about the additional stability of a three axle trailer over a two axle trailer holds true for me, guess I am O.K. ? ?

 

I am using the "stock" receiver with a cast 4inch drop 12k rated hitch with a 2 5/16 ball. I do not like the WE hitch with boats, I have moved my boat back on the trailer slightly to reduce the tongue weight slightly. I get about a 1 to 1 1/2 inch drop on the back end of my truck with the boat hitched up. I try to tow with only about 50 gallons in the boat tank, and then I fill the rest of the 120 gallons (170 total) when I am closer to the lake when I am on a trip, that reduces my towing weight by almost 1000 pounds which makes a difference.

I tell you I can tell when I pull in to do the final fuel stop and fill up the X and the boat, I can tell that I added a crap load a weight.

I have a v-10 so I do not have the torque the TD guys have.

 

thanks for the info..cken.

I presume when you are towing heavy stuff..you leave your over-drive locked out ( yes..I have a four speed V-10 too, and, unfortunately, the 3.7 axle ratio). Have you noticed any significant rise in transmission oil temps when towing up grades in the summer..?

Just out of idle curiosity...how come you didnt put air bags on the rear suspension to control your riding height. I leave only about 10 lbs air pressure in the air bags for now (not towing at the moment)...dosnt seem to hurt the ride, and, when inflated, should leave it nice and soft when running heavy tounge loads (like in the 1,000 lb. range ).

 

Yes I do tow with OD off, and I also have the 3.73 axle, I have not noticed any rise in tranny temp, I do change the fluid and filter every 30k in the tranny for peace of mind.

I was looking at the air bags, but I only tow the boat a half dozen tmes a year to poker runs and I did not notice a lot of differnec in ride with the ranchos turned up to max damping.

I am getting ready to buy a PSD X and may look at doing more mods ot the suspension on it, but this has worked well for me (knock on wood)

 

I installed a Roadmaster ACtive Suspension that made a world of difference in both towing and unladen driving. Easy install, inexpensive and works.

I also use a WD hitch with my 25' enclosed car trailer and sway control. I most likely do not need the WD for my trailer, but it does help even a bit of the tongue weight.

Remember that Excursions do not have the same rear springs as a F250.

 

I had a 24' enclosed car trailer, and towed it with an '87 F350 crew-cab SRW (small-block gas engine ... 5.8L). Even when the trailer was EMPTY, the weight-distributing (WD) hitch made a world of difference ... not in regards to tongue weight, but for confidence in driving control. Without it, the trailer would want to pull the aft end of the F350 around, especially on two lane highways. But with the WD hitch, the trailer followed straight as an arrow. Keep in mind that the F350 had a longer (14') wheelbase, but weighed about 3,000# less than the X.

I've since gone to an 18' flatbed open car trailer. When there's less than 1,000# loaded on the trailer, I leave the WD bars off. As soon as I load a car onto it, those bars are back in service. Granted, my loaded open trailer "only" weighs in at around 5,600#, but with the WD hitch (no air bags) hooked up, I sometimes forget the trailer is back there. Have even been startled a couple times when I see that a car is travelling so close behind me, only to realize (Duh!) that it's my own car on my trailer. Without the WD hitch, I have to keep both hands on the wheel. BTW, I do not disengage the OD until the transmission starts hunting.

 

for Matt - what on earth is a "Roadmaster Active Suspension".... ?

for CFI - thanks for your "post" - yeah...I HOPE you are wrong, but logic says you are right, meaning I may have to give up the smoother ride made possible with that fancy air-spring hitch unit, and use my weight-equal. hitch.

Pete

 

Roadmaster Active Suspension is basically a coil spring that mounts lengthwise parallel to your rear leaf springs, but above. I installed mine as I heard good things about them, and at the time they had a money back guarantee. The install was very easy.

The ride did not change much, but seems more controlled. The drifting on the highway was reduced. Squat with weight in the back reduced. Handling in corners is better. The product seems too simple to work.

Check it out here....www.activesuspension.com.

FWIW, one rainy night last Fall, I was coming home with my girl, my bass player and his wife. We had a amp, bass and guitar in the back. A friend with a Mustang GT was following. He called my cell phone to tell me that he could not stay with us on the on and off ramps in the Mustang. Right after the install, I took it to the Ford dealership as one of the techs is a friend and wanted to see the set-up. We went out with a second tech that has an Ex. We went around a corner, and the 1st tech asked the 2nd is his truck could do that....he replied..."not staying in one lane".