2019 XLT Towing questions

[tpagolfnut]

I am a newbie to this forum and towing in general. I recently purchased a 2019 XLT with the heavy tow package. I also recently purchased a travel trailor that weighs 6300lbs loaded. Should there be any issues towing this trailor through the mountains? I was pulling today from Phoenix to Flagstaff to get out of the summer heat and the vehicle over heated. Was this just a case of a bad hose or something else or was it too much for the vehicle to pull up the 6% incline mountain passes? Need to know if I should get a bigger vehicle, smaller trailor or if I should be fine.

Thanks....

 

[Calidad]

High heat, high speeds and not many XLTs have the heavy tow pack. Door card will list rear axle type. 3.71 rear axle is heavy tow pack 9000lbs. 3.31 is the basic mini van suv package 6000lb MAX tow.

 

[tpagolfnut]

Yes, I took it to a CAT scale and weighed it with the trailer attached and was below the stated limits. 2680lb steer axle, 4060 drive axle, 5360 trailer axle. Just wondering if anyone had any experience in towing that could give me some pointers. I drove it in tow/haul mode the whole way, didn't switch to manual mode going through the mountains. If anyone has any towing advice it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JasonH]

Get an OBD Bluetooth adapter so you can monitor temps while towing. The towing limitation is frontal area, not just weight. Check the towing guide for your model year. Some people have had success swapping out the thermostat, as there was an issue with it not opening fully. Also try locking out the top two gears. This will increase RPM for better coolant flow and reduce boost. If that doesn't work, you might need to upgrade the radiator. Also Ford suggests using premium when towing.

 

[CharlesP]

I'm curious as to what engine your 2019 has in it ?

I have a 2012 3rd gen Expedition Limited with the V8 towing a 6800 lb trailer, and have pulled it many times over the Appalachians and the Rockies (8% grades) with no problems, but it's getting on in age and miles (125k). Was wondering how the newer 4th gen Expeditions tow with the V6 twin turbo which seems to be the only model dealerships carry these days ?

 

[B52 Gunner]

Our 2018 XLT also does not have Heavy Duty Tow package, and pulling our trailer over steep hills causes it to run hot around 220F. You can do two things: keep speeds down and pack light (dont travel with tanks full) OR throw money at it to solve the problem. The reason you have the over heat issue is due to what comes with the Heavy Tow pack - an upgraded radiator for better cooling, auxiliary oil/transmission coolers, and 3.71 axel ratio for easier towing. There are other items in the HD Tow but they dont impact cooling.

Good luck.

 

[rollinstone]

I tow with a 2014 Expy with hd tow pkg. Trailer only weighs 3500 lbs. We’re out West so most of our towing is in the mountains. I never try to do 65 mph on a climb. I go for about 2500 rpm and take whatever speed that gives me on climbs. Never experienced an overheating issue on climbs and high temps.

 

[tpagolfnut]

I'm curious as to what engine your 2019 has in it ?

I have a 2012 3rd gen Expedition Limited with the V8 towing a 6800 lb trailer, and have pulled it many times over the Appalachians and the Rockies (8% grades) with no problems, but it's getting on in age and miles (125k). Was wondering how the newer 4th gen Expeditions tow with the V6 twin turbo which seems to be the only model dealerships carry these days ?

I have the 3.5L eco boost v6 in my 2019. It seems to have plenty of power to pull my trailer, 5200lbs. With the HD Tow package shouldn't have any problems in the 5 - 6% incline crossing the mountain passes. Being new to towing, I am sure the biggest issue is my driving. I wasn't real concerned with my speed, tried to keep the rpms at 2k. I do remember that one time the rpms shot up to about 4k and it was shortly right after that I had the over heating issues. Just got my expy back from being fixed and ready to try it again. Was told my someone on an RV forum that I should keep the driving mode in tow/haul but disable the 8,9,10 gears. Has anyone had any issue running their a/c also while crossing the mountains? Sure wish there was a training or class for this as it is real expensive to learn by trial and error.

 

[LG_123]

It sounds like you were going uphill too aggressively and the truck downshifted to get more power and was working so hard it overheated a bit. Speeding up before a hill and letting it slow down a bit as you climb will help.

Occasionally having it show up as getting a bit hot shouldn’t matter much as long as you top off the oil afterwards in case some burned.

I had ours get close to the redline once when towing through Cape Breton (which turned out to be far more steep and dangerous than the Rockies). It was smoking by the time I found a place to pull over and cool down and I hope I never do that again in case it caused some damage I haven’t found yet.

 

[Grizguy]

I have a 2019 max xlt with tow pkg. It should pull without any issue other than sucking a lot of gas.
I tow frequently.. but not a lot with the expy. uses too much gas.
It should not over heat.