2015, Upgrade to Heavy Duty Towing

cptncmmndo said:

My '16 is a 4x4 XLT EL w/o the heavy duty tow, and has 3.73 gears. I'm thinking all 4x4 EL's have 3.73, and I've heard all EL's in general have them too. Not sure about the 2WDs though.

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Bigfishfin said:

Howdy!...I wanted an Expy to replace my very old Durango, and did research on late model Expys to see what would fit my needs. A major requirement is that I have a cargo trailer I pull frequently and thus needed a HD tow package. In my investigation, (aided by this forum, thank you all) was information that trailer wiring for a 7 way plug was largely a factory wired item for the standard XLT and the stock hitch receiver was class 4. In addition, I checked high and low and could find NO viable evidence there is in fact a "standard VS HD" radiator option, (checked online and with local dealership parts dept.) To be clear, only one radiator is available, that I could find, and the fin count on my stock unit is 19 per inch, which some postings of Ford pickups, etc., indicate to be HD.

So, the only issues I could find that would prevent me from having the factory equivalent HD tow package on a standard late model XLT was: 3.31 differential gearing, an auxiliary transmission cooler and a trailer brake controller.

Armed with this information, I search for and found a 2015 XLT with low miles. I have now added the 10 gauge battery wire from the plug under the power brake unit to the rear and installed a 7 way plug, added a factory transmission cooler and a trailer brake controller. All this cost about $300.00 and my time of maybe 5 hours (used to twist wrenches). The only difference I see now from this rig having a factory HD tow package (15,200 lb GVW) is the 3.31 gearing as opposed to the 3.73 gearing and I don't consider that an issue because of the minor 0.42 gearing difference as well as the low rpm torque range of the Ecoboost. I also use a weight distributing hitch on my trailer. BTW, tows great!...

Any thoughts? Have photos of transmission cooler install if interested.

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Anthony DeVor said:

Where did you get 15K tow capacity? The expeditions to my knowledge can only tow up to 9,200lbs according to the manual and that is at most. Thanks

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Ian Gilmore said:

That’s gross combined (SUV + Trailer)

just remember there are lots of numbers, all have to be in line to be legit. Gross, payload, rear axle, hitch, etc

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