I have an 09' Expedition EL with the STANDARD towing package. The dealer told me that to bring it up to a HEAVY duty towing package is to add a tranny cooler and upgrade the radiator and add a WDH. I have a Reese WDH. I towed with it one time using the WDH and had a difficult time steering since the rear end was squatting terribly. This unit does NOT have the air ride suspension and the dealer claims that it cannot be retrofitted. Also, I suggested adding helper springs or air shocks. They said that this would not help. Right now, they are trying to figure out exactly what to do to make this work. My travel trailer is 34' long, weighs 6147 unloaded, GVW 7951 and a tongue weight of 671. Any suggestions outside what I have mentioned?
09' Expy EL Towing Issue
- Thread starter gomer34
- Start date
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I believe you already have the tranny cooler, but the HD cooler is bigger as is the radiator. You can add aftermarket airbags and that will help tremendously, but the real problem is the length of your trailer. Did it "tailwag"?
I assume what you mean by "tailwag" is a lot of swaying in the trailer. If so, then I guess the answer to that is "no". I have a dual cam sway control I use with the WDH . It takes most of the sway out, but not all of it - there is always a little, especially when passing tractor trailers or if any other windy conditions prevail.
With a WDH properly installed, you should be able to pull between 8600 and 9000 lbs (not sure what the new gen Expy's can tow), with a tongue weight of 860+. Even though you mention the weight distribution of the trailer, it sounds as if the trailer is not properly loaded and causing the rear of the vehicle to sag too much. You typically want 10% of the loaded trailer weight distributed at the tongue. But, even if the weight is too far back on the trailer with a light tongue, it can cause the tow vehicle to have issues like steering bacause it will pull up on the rear of the vehicle on bumps.
I tow approx a 6000 lb trailer/boat combo (in my sig) and it sags the rear as I am right at the 600 lb tongue limit WITHOUT a WDH. I have no issues whatsoever with the trailer swaying or the front end of the Expy being too light. In fact I towed it 1200 miles from SC to WI through the mountains at 70 mph and it couldn't have gone better.
I have looked for helper springs for my '06, and have had no luck. I'm sure a good suspension shop could fabricate some for you. They would definately help here regardless what the Ford dealer says.
I tow approx a 6000 lb trailer/boat combo (in my sig) and it sags the rear as I am right at the 600 lb tongue limit WITHOUT a WDH. I have no issues whatsoever with the trailer swaying or the front end of the Expy being too light. In fact I towed it 1200 miles from SC to WI through the mountains at 70 mph and it couldn't have gone better.
I have looked for helper springs for my '06, and have had no luck. I'm sure a good suspension shop could fabricate some for you. They would definately help here regardless what the Ford dealer says.
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KWT2000
Full Access Members
i think theres a couple things goin on here... is your trailer designed to be pulled with a light duty tow vehicle, things like axle placement and holding tank placement are the main differences on that... also it sounds like the tounge is too heavy then with that awsome WDH it is shifting weight to the front axel and over loading it which will give you a hard steering condition. im thinking if you scaled it loaded this would be the case, you can find the front axle rating on the door sticker or in the owners manual... in my opinion your trailer is too long for a short wheel base tow vehicle, weight is only one consideration when your towing
06EXP
Full Access Members
Stoned06,
You could probably help your situation by moving the axles on the boat trailer forward a little bit. I knoe my dad did that with his boat and it helped alot.
Thanks for the replies guys! It sounds like I may have various issues going on here. As far as this being a short wheeled base vehicle, I must remind you that this is the EL (extra long -131"). I used to pull this trailer with a 04 Ram Quad Cab short bed with no issues. Granted the Expy is not as "beefy" as the Ram, but the wheelbase length shouldn't be an issue. The trailer dealer set up the WDH and sway on my old Ram. I set it up on my Expy, so I am thinking that it does need some "tweaking". I probably need to raise the hitch ball up to the next notch and readjust the WDH some. I am hoping that this will take care of the issues that I am having. Installing a tranny cooler and heavy duty radiator have nothing to do with the sag issue, I will just need it for the long hauls.
You're probably right. It's just that the boat is never off the trailer for me to do that....unless I am using the boat and can't have fun and fix it at the same time. lol.
The trailer was specifically made to the specs of the boat, so we have assumed it was made correctly. I guess I should check it out when I have some time.
Tweaking the hitch set up should be beneficial. You shouldn't have hardly ANY wag, that tells you something is not exactly right with your set up. Typically, the wag is present if there's too much tongue weight.
Raise the ball so the trailer sits level and see how it reacts.
Raise the ball so the trailer sits level and see how it reacts.
I have been in contact with the trailer dealer. He is saying a lot of what jimmyv13 is stating. The hitch ball probably needs to be raised a notch and he told me that there are adjustments on the hitch that actually cause some "tilt" in conjunction with the use of the WDH thus raising some of the weight off of the rear of the Expy. I don't know if I will get the chance to do anything with it anytime soon, since we are expecting rain most of the weekend in my area.
Another thing is that this vehicle does NOT have a tranny cooler or heavy duty radiator. In your (the readers of this forum) opinion, do you really think that I need to upgrade both of these units? If I service the tranny at least once a year and keep an eye on the temp. gauge when I tow, I think that I should be OK. What do you think?
Another thing is that this vehicle does NOT have a tranny cooler or heavy duty radiator. In your (the readers of this forum) opinion, do you really think that I need to upgrade both of these units? If I service the tranny at least once a year and keep an eye on the temp. gauge when I tow, I think that I should be OK. What do you think?
