2011 escape limited towing
 

Last month, I purchased the Uhaul towing hitch and light kit for our V-6 escape and mounted them all. The hitch fit fine with no modifications to the vehicle what so ever. I did remove one of the rubber straps that holds the muffler long enough to torque the new hitch but that was it. The light kit is simple enough to install and only requires the running of one wire to the battery circuit to power the converter system in the light kit for the turn signals.

I did this in anticipation of our vacation so we could tow our 15 ft jon boat to the beach. Well under the factory towing recommendation . Its not very heavy by any means even with the bicycles and raft box added into the boat. We traveled just under 300 miles and the escape showed 20 mpg when we arrived but it was all back road small town driving. Normally it gets 24-25 mpg. However, we did not want to carry 2 vehicles just to carry the boat when my f250 only gets 19 on its best highway traveling day (new oil, air filter, etc).

It did good with very little sway and did not have any issues at all with the load behind it.

I just returned from a 800 mile round trip to Canada towing a boat much larger than yours (2000+ lbs). A 15' jon boat should be a breeze to tow.

It was basically not even noticeable.