Advice for Buying Used Expedition for 25 Foot Airstream (7300 pounds fully loaded)

Hello all,

I am in the market to buy a used Ford Expedition, somewhere around 2017-2020. I am hoping to spend around ~25-30k, or more if necessary. I am having a hard time confirming that the car has a "heavy duty tow package" online. Is this absolutely essential to get the 9200 pound rating or can the car be customized after buying? Any advice on which specific car to buy would be great. Hoping for captain seats and a 3rd row if possible. I will be towing a 25 foot airstream which is 7300lbs fully loaded up. Thanks in advance.

caliwino said:

Hello all,

I am in the market to buy a used Ford Expedition, somewhere around 2017-2020. I am hoping to spend around ~25-30k, or more if necessary. I am having a hard time confirming that the car has a "heavy duty tow package" online. Is this absolutely essential to get the 9200 pound rating or can the car be customized after buying? Any advice on which specific car to buy would be great. Hoping for captain seats and a 3rd row if possible. I will be towing a 25 foot airstream which is 7300lbs fully loaded up. Thanks in advance.

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I would recommend you first determine how much tongue weight your trailer will apply to the hitch receiver of your tow vehicle. That will really drive what tow vehicle you end up getting.

You will likely run out of payload or rear axle weight capacity before you run out of the advertised "tow rating" for the vehicle.

A ~7,500lbs travel trailer could have 1,500lbs of tongue weight on the tow vehicle is probably on the upper end of what common 1/2 ton based vehicles would be able to handle.

Thanks. The tongue weight is 860, so I calculated it looks like I have 800-900 pounds of additional weight I can add to the car with passengers etc. since the expedition is about 1750 max. Knowing that, which is enough for us, what features do I need to order to make sure I can tow 9200 pounds? I see some with tow packages, but not heavy duty……what are the basics I’m looking for? Do I need a max? Thanks again.

You’ll need the HD (heavy duty) tow package that will allow you to tow up to 9,300 lbs with a standard length expedition or, I believe, 9,000 lbs with a max length expedition (for 4th generation 2018+ models). If you find one without HD tow package, it will be limited to 6,000 lbs towing.

Max length will help with stability and sway (longer wheelbase) but isn’t necessary unless you need the interior space for people, pets, and cargo.

You can go on a trailer forum such as keystone or heartland and throw out what you plan to purchase and get their thoughts. or the brand trailer you have and do alittle asking what they think if it would be adviseable.

caliwino said:

Thanks. The tongue weight is 860, so I calculated it looks like I have 800-900 pounds of additional weight I can add to the car with passengers etc. since the expedition is about 1750 max. Knowing that, which is enough for us, what features do I need to order to make sure I can tow 9200 pounds? I see some with tow packages, but not heavy duty……what are the basics I’m looking for? Do I need a max? Thanks again.

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So I would surmise the first limiting factor may actually be your rear axle weight rating.

Payload (in this case, ~1,750) is usually the summation of (front axle weight rating - front axle weight) + (rear axle weight rating - rear axle weight). It is possible to exceed the rear axle weight rating with part of your cargo + tongue weight, but still be under the overall payload.

The only way to know for sure is to take your tow vehicle + trailer to a certified scale and determine the steer axle, drive axle, and tow axle(s) weight.

* I am not saying that if you go 1lbs over your rear axle weight rating, you will crash and burn on your first drive with the trailer.

apex96 said:

You’ll need the HD (heavy duty) tow package that will allow you to tow up to 9,300 lbs with a standard length expedition or, I believe, 9,000 lbs with a max length expedition (for 4th generation 2018+ models). If you find one without HD tow package, it will be limited to 6,000 lbs towing.

Max length will help with stability and sway (longer wheelbase) but isn’t necessary unless you need the interior space for people, pets, and cargo.

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The Max length will also have a larger fuel tank and will reduce the frequency or need to pull into smaller gas stations with a trailer which would be inconvenient.

Unless there's a compelling reason to get a non-Max (such as garage space), I would always opt for the Max. The larger fuel tank trumps the ~300 reduction in the tow rating.

On 2015 through 2017 the HD Tow package is included with the Limited and above models. On 2018 and above, HD Tow required option package 536. Also 2015-2017 include the 28 gallon fuel tank on Std and Ext length, whereas the 2018 and above had 24 on Std and 28 on Max only.

I also very much agree that you will prolly max out your rear axle capacity before coming close to max tow capacity.

I towed a 25’ Bigfoot trailer with a weight and size very similar to your trailer. A 2020 XLT “standard “ Expedition with the HD tow package. I was at the upper limit on all of the recommended towing limits. In order to keep the tongue weight below about 850#, I had to load the trailer heavy towards the rear. Used a tongue weight scale to verify the weight. We live in Colorado and often traveled I-70 through the mountains. It worked just fine. I tow at 55-60 mph.
Concerning frequent gas stops. I like to take a rest break about once an hour if I’m towing so frequent gas stops are a welcome break.On Interstate highways truck stops make good places to gas up. When driving on local roads, when I get to 1/2 tank I start looking for easy places to gas up. Never once ran out of gas.

caliwino said:

Hello all,

I am in the market to buy a used Ford Expedition, somewhere around 2017-2020. I am hoping to spend around ~25-30k, or more if necessary. I am having a hard time confirming that the car has a "heavy duty tow package" online. Is this absolutely essential to get the 9200 pound rating or can the car be customized after buying? Any advice on which specific car to buy would be great. Hoping for captain seats and a 3rd row if possible. I will be towing a 25 foot airstream which is 7300lbs fully loaded up. Thanks in advance.

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Look for a 7-pin connector to confirm the HD Tow Package. To get the max towing rating you will need a weight distributing hitch, too.