What's everyone towing with an Expedition?
- Thread starter afdds
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
glen54737
Well-known member
My dad tows a 1986 Avion 30-p travel trailer which weighs about 8000lbs(actual weight) with his using a Hensley Arrow hitch. He goes Vegas to Michigan and back with no problems. on the trip back from Kansas to New Mexico he got 12mpg the best he had ever seen(good tail wind). It's a 2003 before that he has used a 1998 Expedition and a 79 Mercury wagon.
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
glen54737 said:
Isn't 8000 lbs a bit heavy for an expedition?
rbell
Well-known member
I had an 04 Expedition that I pulled a Maxlite ML28RL with. It was 30'6" long and weighed about 6500 lbs loaded. That was with the heavy duty tow pkg and 3.73 gears. It did a really good job and just seemed to like to tow. I had an Equalizer hitch though, good hitch.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
You don't want a survey of others - you want to learn the towing capacity of YOUR Expedition. It has a rating assigned by Ford to twell you the maximum safe tow load. According to the 2003 Ford Towing Guide, a 5.4L Expedition 4x2 can tow a max o 8900 lbs, while a 4x4 is limited to 8650. Those weights include the trailer and everything in it as well as the weight of the hitch and everything in the car other than the driver and full fuel tank. In other words, if you carry passengers or load a bunch of stuff in the Expedition, you have to subtract that weight from the towing capacity. We also recommend a 10% safety margin to assure decent performance and the ability to maneuver in emergencies.
Bottom line is that the trailer GVWR (not the dry weight) should not exceed the max tow capacity less any anticipated weights to be carried in the tow vehicle itself. And a smart person will stay 10% under that as well.
2003 Ford Towing Guide - Expedition
Bottom line is that the trailer GVWR (not the dry weight) should not exceed the max tow capacity less any anticipated weights to be carried in the tow vehicle itself. And a smart person will stay 10% under that as well.
2003 Ford Towing Guide - Expedition
Best be buying something that weighs no more than about 54 to 56 hundreds pounds and if traveling in the west and the mountains, even less than that. The more people you have in the vehicle and the more stuff you take the less the trailer can weigh. So you have to watch the trailer capacity also. JMO
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
I think a more approprate question would be Whats everyone towing legally and within the weight limits with an Expedition?. But also the best thing to do is as Gary mentioned and buy something that fits the towing capaity of your Expedition.
rbell
Well-known member
Gary's advice is good. The one I had probably worked so well because it was only about 75% of the towing capacity. They sure like to tow though.
