2000 5.4 engine - Trailer towing capacity discrepancies?

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Hi all,
I have a question about the trailer towing abilities of my 2000 Expedition, one of the all-time favorite vehicles I've ever owned. I can't imagine an SUV driving more like a car than this vehicle. I have the Eddie Bauer edition for that year and my understanding is that it's comparable to a Lincoln Navigator (only without the higher propensity for being stolen!)

4WD
17" wheels
3.55 ratio limited slip axle
trailer towing package
4-corner load-leveling suspension

As per a document I found online giving the trailer hitch specs, the Maximum Trailer Weight is 6900 lbs.

HOWEVER, on the step bumper of the vehicle it says (molded into the plastic covering) "Max Tongue Load 400 lbs." and "Max Gross Trailer Weight 4000 lbs."

4000 lbs. vs 6900 lbs. is a big difference. Also, the Max Tongue Load of 400 lbs. seems quite puny, as well.

I'm thinking about getting a travel trailer and most of the ones I'm most interested in are in the 5000 lb. range, so this discrepancy is a major concern. I have to think I'm not understanding something to think there's a 2900 lb. difference between what the document I downloaded (an official Ford publication, I believe) says and what's stated on the bumper.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can educate me regarding the above.
 

Bedrck47

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The max weight for a step bumper is 4000 lbs

In order for you to be capable of the 6900 lbs rating you would need a frame mounted class III receiver and weight distribution hitch and the heavy duty tow package

You do not want to tow that heavy of a TT on the step bumper
 
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The max weight for a step bumper is 4000 lbs

In order for you to be capable of the 6900 lbs rating you would need a frame mounted class III receiver and weight distribution hitch and the heavy duty tow package

You do not want to tow that heavy of a TT on the step bumper

Thanks very much. I thought the stock “trailer towing package” *was* heavy-duty. I guess it’s actually not.

Hey, based on your handle, are you into gold prospecting? That’s the main thing I plan to use my SUV and trailer for!
 

JRFog

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If you have the trailer towing package, you should already have the class III receiver and 7 pin trailer connector.

Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk
 
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Nothing to do with gold

Go to ford etis Enter your vin number You can get a readout of what was on the expy It should show what tow package you have

Went to that website (thanks for the tip, I'd never heard of it before) and it did say "With Heavy Duty Trailer Towing".

Which still leaves me scratching my head, because the bumper says ""Max Tongue Load 400 lbs." and "Max Gross Trailer Weight 4000 lbs" -- neither of which sounds very heavy duty!
 
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Look on page 155 and 156 of the owners manual, the section that says USING A STEP BUMPER

Those pages say,

"Using a step bumper
The rear bumper is equipped with an integral hitch and requires only a
ball with a 25.4 mm (one inch) shank diameter. The bumper has a
Driving
155
1 814 kg (4 000 lb.) trailer weight and 181 kg (400 lb.) tongue weight
capability.
Use a frame-mounted weight distributing hitch for trailers over 1814 kg
(4 000 lb)."

I'm wondering if the base-level Expedition came with the 400 lb tongue weight/4000 lb trailer weight but the "Heavy Duty Trailer Towing" package my model has boosts those capacities? On page 12 of the 2000 "2000 CAMPER/TRAILER TOWING" publication (available to download for free online) it indicates a max trailer weight of 69 lbs, WAY higher than what's moulded into the bumper cover.
 
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