Were you towing a 41 foot trailer with the Expedition?
Anyone tow 8,000 lbs. with their 2021 Expedition FX4 with max towing?
- Thread starter Pawpaw
- Start date
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OP
OP
Pawpaw
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What??? We had a 41' Solitude we pulled with a F350 dually. The 41' er was totaled during hurricane Ida and I sold the dually and bought the Expedition. Now the wife and I decided to downsize to a 30' Cougar TT. Picking it up tomorrow.
OP
OP
Pawpaw
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Camper was flipped on its side and the wall separated from the roof. Truck didn't have a scratch on it. This was a few years ago at Bluewater RV resort in Freeport, Texas.
I have a similar set up: 30 ft trailer (shadow cruiser 259bhs) but towing with a max plat and hd tow package instead. I also had concerns about the tongue weight as the TT dry is rated 750-900lbs depending on who you ask. Weighed the trailer this week at 6200lbs and tongue just over 900 with two 20 lbs LPs, two 6 volt deep cycle batteries and trailer loaded with supplies. Had no issues last week with the pull other than moderate sag.
I’m managing the tongue weight with loading more to the rear trailer axles and plan on keeping 100-200 lbs of liquid in the rear tanks next time. I anticipate this will bring me south of 800lbs tongue. Sumo springs to be installed sometime next week. Will provide an update in the future.
I’m managing the tongue weight with loading more to the rear trailer axles and plan on keeping 100-200 lbs of liquid in the rear tanks next time. I anticipate this will bring me south of 800lbs tongue. Sumo springs to be installed sometime next week. Will provide an update in the future.
mrmustang
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That is pretty heavy squat, you need to reset your weight distribution hitch bars, and potentially the height of the ball itself to eliminate this imbalance. Could be as easy as lengthening the chain on the bars when you cinch them in to place, but I'm betting if you place the trailer just behind the truck, unhooked, and level it out, that the ball is misaligned as well. Perhaps do that, level the trailer, and take a close shot of it to post here (perhaps a stand alone thread so as to not thread drift this one further).
Bill
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Pawpaw
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Had a little too much squat so son in law re-adjusted the hitch and I added air to the rear tires and it's got the rig leveled out. Hooked back up and took it out on the hwy up to 70 mph and it did great. Had some swaying at about 55 to 60 mph earlier but no problem at that speed now. Towed about 150 miles yesterday and got 9.5 mpg so not as bad as expected. Payload on my Expedition shows 1769 lbs. Told the wife to be prepared to travel light!!
OP
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Pawpaw
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Nice rig!! I ended up having son in law re-adjusting the Equalizer hitch and aired up the rear tires to 65 psi on the Expedition and it helped a good bit. I'll end up using one 30 lb propane tank and leave it empty. 2 full ones is a lot of weight. Also plan on loading to the rear of the camper to take weight off the front. Only taking short trips at 60-62 mph max so I think we'll be OK. Really surprised how easily accelerated and braked with weight. Got 9.5 mpg averaging 60 mph. Brake set at 5.0 and used normal drive and let the 10 speed do its thing.
Picked up a Curt BetterWeigh to easily monitor the weight when I move around stuff for distributing the weight. My WD hitch was installed professionally and in fact is 2 inches higher than the TT’s tongue when level so I’m reluctant to raise it even more. Most likely will also have to remove the batteries and propane when travelling to keep the tongue weight below 750 lbs (744 being 12%). Sumo springs coming this week.
OP
OP
Pawpaw
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I live in the SE tip of Louisiana where its usually hot and humid. Needed the 2-AC's more than heat. Only use propane for the hot water heater and stove. Once in a blue moon do we get down to freezing when camping. Have the electric fireplace to take the chill out in the morning. The 2-30 lb propane tanks when filled add a lot to the tongue weight so I may empty one out and just run off of the other. Just wife and I in the Expedition and with a 1769 lb payload I'll throw some weight over the trailer axles plus I warned the wife to pack light. The 2nd AC in the bedroom is a needed option and throws a few more pounds on the tongue but worth it. We hit 87 degrees F yesterday!!
Agree. I’m thinking of running with a single lp tank as well seeing how it’s only used to heat the water tank and occasional griddle. Everything else we do is electric and I almost always stay with a full service site.
