Ford Expedition - towing 6000+ lb travel trailer?

Anyone towing a 6000+ lb travel trailer with an Expedition? What is your experience? Does it tow well, not tow well? Does it pull you or do you pull it? Does it wag at all? How's it going up hills (not mountains, but hills)? What year/model do you have and what WDH do you use? All help appreciated.

What year?

First gens are rated to tow 8100lbs (IIRC). Later trucks, more. With a WDH it's fine.

If the trailer is wagging the truck then there is too much weight on the tail of the trailer.

Please search - there is a lot of threads like this on the site. You can get a lot of examples of towing here instead of waiting around for responses.

HTH

I have the '06 Expedition XLT 5.4 4x4 with a 3.73 gear ratio and a 4-speed transmission but it has the standard tow package with a class III hitch receiver. I'm looking to upgrade to the heavy-duty trans cooler (but not the heavy duty radiator) and I already installed the 7-pin connector and brake controller. I also have a WDH (which brings up the max rating on the class III hitch receiver to 950 lb tongue weight which is over the 860 lb max the Expedition can handle). I have reviewed about every thread out there on the internet related to this and while some have helped I'm still having trouble coming up with a max tow weight number that I'm comfortable with for my situation. I'm thinking (after upgrading the trans cooler) that a max GVWR I'm comfortable with for a trailer would be 7200 lb and a max tongue weight would be 720 lb. I came up with these numbers from the calculations below. Do they hold water? I'm also looking for feedback from those with similar vehicle specs who have real world towing experience close to those max numbers and how the trailer handles for them. Don't want a white knuckle ride (been there done that). Can anyone help me out?

My calculations
------------------
TRAILER
7200 lb GVWR. (With tongue weight about 10% of total trailer, max tongue weight for Expedition is 860 lb and max trailer weight rating is 8600 lb GVWR. Take 15% off for safety and ease of towing cushion).

TONGUE WEIGHT
860 lb (max rating) - 140 lb (15%+ cushion) = 720 lb

GCWR
6580 lb (vehicle GVWR of 7300 lb minus my tongue weight of 720 lb) + 7200 lb (trailer GVWR) = 13780 lb (5% less than 14500 lb max rating)

VEHICLE
7300 lb (GVWR) - 5600 lb (Vehicle weight) = 1700 lb (Cargo weight max for in vehicle)

CARGO WEIGHT
720 lb (tongue weight for me) + 500 lb (3 extra passengers) + 300 lb (cargo in Expedition) = 1520 lb (under the 1700 so OK)

Read the attached link for a better understanding of towing and weights

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f37/how-to-weigh-your-tv-tt-3871.html#post24549

Is the Cruiser RV Shadow Cruiser S-260BHS within the capabilities of my Expedition (dry weight 4595 lb, GVWR 7540 lb) if I keep the cargo under 1000 lbs (so 5595 lb total)? Also, do I need to be concerned with length (is 26 ft trailer doable as long as it's a lower weight)?

I tow a 2016 Jayco White Hawk 24RKS with a max trailer GVWR of 6500lbs. I use a WD hitch made by Husky HD Center Line #32217 with built in sway control. I went light to keep it easy on my ride. I'm running the 2014 Limited EL with a 5.4L, 3.73's and 6sp. You can feel the weight on hills but it holds its own. Read your tow guide for your year to see if you need to subtract weight rating based on options and when a WD hitch is required. Good luck.

tsalmon said:

Is the Cruiser RV Shadow Cruiser S-260BHS within the capabilities of my Expedition (dry weight 4595 lb, GVWR 7540 lb) if I keep the cargo under 1000 lbs (so 5595 lb total)? Also, do I need to be concerned with length (is 26 ft trailer doable as long as it's a lower weight)?

Click to expand...

Whatever the tow capacity listed in your manual is includes all weight both attached to and inside your vehicle. If you're hauling 4 200-lb adults and 200 lbs of luggage inside your truck, subtract out 1,000 lbs from the tow capacity. So if it was 8,500 lbs in the manual, now it's 7,500 lbs. When calculating the total weight of the trailer itself don't forget about the weight of fresh/waste water, etc. You can easily be carrying an extra 800 lbs of fresh water with the tanks on some trailers filled to capacity.

skeeter said:

I tow a 2016 Jayco White Hawk 24RKS with a max trailer GVWR of 6500lbs.

Click to expand...

Thanks for directing me to this specific trailer. We're shopping for a new one and the weight and layout look promising for our needs. Back to the topic ...

I towed a 6000 dry weight travel trailer for years with my previous 2003 Expy 5.4/3.73 limited slip, 9200 lb tow capacity, in addition to my 6000 lb boat. It towed both OK. My typical speed on the interstate is 65mph. I lock out the overdrive on hills. You do know the 24 foot long trailer is back there, but no problem from a handling perspective. I would get 6mpg towing the TT and 8 mpg towing the boat.
Personally, I would upgrade the rad, in addition to the oil and trans cooler, as you indicated you do not have the HD tow package. I would limit the trailer to about 6000 lbs dry weight, to give you some headroom.
My new 2016 EcoBoost tows like a freight train. But I would not want to tow much more than 6000 lbs.
brick

Pulled a skid steer with mine

My folks bought a 28' TT and while I haven't towed it yet, I will. its about 6400 lb dry. I have a `07 EL EB with the tow package so it should be no problem for it. The only thing I want to do is add the electric brake controller.