Pulls hard right when towing

[theoldwizard1]

My daughter's 2019 Expedition Max XLT. HD Trailer Tow.

She has owned it for over 6 months and it has been wonderful. Today was the fist time they hitched it up to their travel trailer, 28' Jayco. Her old Expedition (2014 ?) towed the trailer to FL and back to MI and on numerous other trips, with no problems.

Not more than a few miles from home, it started to pull to the right. Then they got a message to "service traction control" and it kick the transmission out of towing mode.

Luckily, they had a back up vehicle (F350) but it was kind of tight with 2 adults and 4 kids.

It is going in to the dealer, but any ideas

 

[Greg Parker]

My daughter's 2019 Expedition Max XLT. HD Trailer Tow.

She has owned it for over 6 months and it has been wonderful. Today was the fist time they hitched it up to their travel trailer, 28' Jayco. Her old Expedition (2014 ?) towed the trailer to FL and back to MI and on numerous other trips, with no problems.

Not more than a few miles from home, it started to pull to the right. Then they got a message to "service traction control" and it kick the transmission out of towing mode.

Luckily, they had a back up vehicle (F350) but it was kind of tight with 2 adults and 4 kids.

It is going in to the dealer, but any ideas

Aside from the potential issues with the vehicle itself, it could be the weight distribution hitch (WDH). They usually need to be "tuned" a little to be setup properly, per tow-vehicle. I know sometimes mine seems to hang a little bit (on one side) and can put some oversteer into my Expy. But usually a mile or two down the road, it will "tow true" again and stop pushing the vehicle around. So...if they don't find any specific issues with the drivetrain, I would consider "loosening" ...or "relaxing" the WDH setup a little bit and see if that makes a difference.

 

[AKentPhoto]

...and the f350 towed it just fine? My first check would be the trailer. Bearings tires etc.

Next would be the hitch as mentioned...

Then maybe wheel speed sensor or the rear diff?

 

[Deadman]

Could be any of that anti sway BS, or who knows what...

 

[RustyOval]

I had a similar situation the last time I towed my camper. When I was setting up my camper I noticed a crease in my camper umbilical cord. I found that two of the wires were bare and contacting each other. I repaired the cord (taped up the damaged areas) and all the weird messages I was getting went away. My tow/haul, 4auto, and traction control issues dissappeared. I think the wires shorting together was confusing the computer. I have had zero issues since....

 

[AKentPhoto]

Maybe put a Biden sticker on the back to keep it more moderate?



Sorry... Couldn't resist...
Rusty makes a great point though. If you don't see anything wrong with the wiring did you try replugging in the trailer connector? Could have been a bad connection there. Maybe try another trailer? The wiring malfunction could be on the truck side as well.

 

[ChaseM]

I just had the exact same thing happen to mine on the return trip pulling a 24 ft camp trailer with equalizer hitch. This was the third time I have pulled it a long distance with zero previous issues. It started pulling to the right and then all the lights came on on the dash and I lost my towing mode and cruise control. About an hour later while driving, the traction control light went back off and everything went back to normal. Then a few hours after that, it happened all over again and stayed that way for the last couple hours of the drive. Please let me know if anyone figures this out. Thanks!

 

[plumcolr]

If you have it in "4A" try "2WD"

 

[fothco]

With my /13 Expee -Max , the dash lit up : Trac Cont, anti-sway , Brakes etc ; but it needed a new sensor cable from rotor to up inside suspension area . A recent brake job had damaged that 3' sensor cable connection right at rotor . All is well now . fothco .

 

[ChaseM]

Theoldwizard1 - Any news from the dealer? Mine had a bunch of communication error codes. Cleared them out and now everything is fine, but I didn't resolve the issue...