Since Ford seemed to see wisdom in putting the axe in the Excursion (jerks!), I'm looking at an Expedition EL -- and while I know its not nearly as much truck, I'm wondering if any of you guys have had much (any?) towing experience with one?

I've got a 30' travel trailer that comes in at about 7500lbs and I'm just trying to figure out how frustrated I'd be trying to tow it in Colorado with an Expy EL.

Thanks in advance for any comments!

 

We tow our 8000 lb. boat/trailer with an 07 Limited (non- EL). It's impressive so be able to maintain the 55 mph speed limit on a mountain grade. I'd think you could probably tow your trailer anywhere. The 6 speed tranny works great, and shifts smoothly.

The load-leveling rear suspension is what makes all the difference in towing a trailer this size. It has worked flawlessly in keeping the vehicle level despite the load on the rear end. Without it, your rear end will likely sag, thus causing the front to feel "light" and have diminished steering ability.

As you've probably noticed, the Tahoe/Yukon can't town your weight, especially loaded with gear, unless you get the hard to find 4.10 geared rear end. The only other vehicle I considered was the Nissan Armada. It has LOADS of power and drives like a sports sedan. The interior is supposed to be new for 08. Haven't seen it, but we would have gone with the Nissan had it not been for the poor interior on the 07 models.

 

I am waiting in hopes that they will offr the same diesel in the Expedition that they are going to offer in the F-150. We do know that it is a twin turbo 4.4 or 4.6 (the same one that Range Rover uses in europe) the HP and tourque will be nearly the same as what my 6.0 in the F-350 has. If they put in in the Expy I will have one of the first in my area. I pull a 33' 10,500 lbs Aluma-lite travel trailer. The fuel mileage while towing will be the biggest advantage. The 5.4 and 6 speed are quite capable to move the load but fuel mileage will suck

 

I think you'll be borderline or worse if your weight is actually more then #7,000. In colorado you'll have the high altitude which will lower your performance. Everything I've read says you'll loose 2% performance with a gasoline engine (diesels have a turbo) every 1,000' above sea level, so 10,000' = -20%! I intentially bought a light weight 30' trailer to be only about 85% GCVW, which for the 2007 EXPY is #15,000. At #7,000 you'll be at about 95% GCVW. I've been there, and done that with my last tow vehicle and it wasn't pretty.

 

I have towed a fair amount with our 07 EL. The biggest load is my IH Scout 4x4 on a tandem axle trailer - about 6000 lbs. The Ford tows that load real well and gets over 10 mpg doing it. I do not have the load leveling or have I used a WD hitch set up. We also tow our boat which is not as heavy but offers a lot of wind resistence. All said I really like the way the Ford tows and am very happy with it. BTW I am in FL and have no input in a mountianess area.

 

Towing a 30' trailer behind an EL would NOT be considered safe. The issue is wheelbase, not weight. Please read here for some good info on the topic:

http://www.rvtowingtips.com/how-long.htm

 

I read that same article and rv.net before purchasing my trailer, which also has this comment...

Note: TT=Travel trailer, TV=Tow Vehicle, WB=Wheel Base, GCVW=Gross Combined Vehicle Weight



I put a lot or reserach into safety before purchasing the TT that I did. My prior TV was a 1997 GMC Safari Van (Chevy Astro clone) and I was at my limits for weight and WB when towing a 20' trailer. With that TV & TT combo, I had a very scary sway situation that shook the trailer so bad, all 4 hub caps came off. After much research I determined that besides a rather soft suspension, short WB and >90% of max GCVW, I had too light of tounge weight. I weighed my trailer +van and quickly purchased a trailer tougne scale to ensure that I had 10-15% tounge weight. Even though I was using a Reese Dual Cam system, I had errantly loaded the TT too light in the tounge causing the unsafe sway condition.

After I purchased my Expededition EL I could now consider upsizing my TT. From my past experience, I knew I didn't want to get too large of a TT for my TV. After narrowing down my decision to an a Trailcruiser model 30QBSS, I posted questions about towing to the Trailercruiser / R-Vision owner forum @ http://www.r-visioncamping.org/ and found many people safely towing the same trailer with Suburbans, regular length Expeditions F150's, etc..
If this was built like a normal aluminum skinned TT, then yes 30' would be too much for weight, height and length, however this is a lower profile aerodynamic smoothwall lightweight TT with a total length of 31'-7" and an overall heigth of only 10'4" with A/C. The empty weight is only #4,500 and about #5,500 fully loaded for travel. With the Expy EL + my family of 7 + TT, I'm about #13,000 which is still #2,000 under max GCVW. I am still using the Reese Dual Cam sway control, but replaced the spring bars with heavier bars for the increased tounge weight. I have towed about 2,000 miles with this rig sofar and absolutely no trailer sway even at highway speeds of 65 MPH and getting passed by Semi's. I also towed about 1,000 miles with a Husky weight distribution system and a cheap friction sway and still had no problems. My new TT is over 10' longer then my last TT and weighs about #2,000 more but with the Expy EL my towing experience is no longer a white knucke experience. I have plenty of power and vehicle control with absolutely no sway in any condition.

My point is, my 30' TT is not unsafe with my Epxy EL. Safe towing has much to do with the TT design, hitch setup, sway control, TT loading, TV size, and of course TV WB. I'm an Engineer and am very confident decision I made for my Tow Vehicle and trailer without any compromise in the safey of my family or others. BTW, I would not tow this TT with the non EL Expy.