Can we talk HD Tow one more time?

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Calidad

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100lbs of umm junk stuffed in a 2lb sack lol. Guessing he might be a former fuel delivery truck operator who thinks 60,000lbs behind a tractor is the same as a 37ft p-o-s behind a light duty Expedition lol
 

sjwhiteley

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RV and TT dealers are there to sell trailers. I’ve been to RV shows where they what vehicle can tow the specific trailer: ‘your Jeep Grand Cherokee can tow this!’

when I bought my first TT many moons ago, I simply walked into an RV dealer and drove out with a 20 foot travel trailer hooked up to a Honda passport. I had no idea about weights, distribution, GVWR, and so on. They said I can tow it…(dry weight matched the max rating of the vehicle).

it squatted like crazy. Since I’m one for appearance, I thought it looked like ****. That took me down the rabbit hole of understanding, knowledge and realization.
 

WESIII

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Just came back with my first ever Travel Trailer and thought I would add my reflections and experiences to this thread. My Wife’s family live in Northern Michigan, while we live in South Florida. I bought the camper at a dealer In Northern Michigan, so we drove up, hooked up and then went from there. The camper is a Coachmen Spirit 2454BH weighing 5,500 lb dry. I estimate that we added another 1000 lbs. of stuff. From bumper to ball, the trailer is 29 feet. My Expedition is a 2019 Max AWD with 303A. Prior to the trip, I swapped out the 22” wheels for 18’s with Sumitomo LT tires. I also added Sumo helpers and swapped both front and rear sway bars with Hellwigs. The hitch was set up by the dealer and is an Equalizer 4 way WDH (10,000 lb).

We towed up to the Upper Peninsula and back down to South Florida, mostly on I-75, then I-95 in Florida. According to the Expedition Tow screen, we towed just under 2500 miles. I was very impressed with the power of the Expedition and Tow mode gave this newbie confidence in driving with the trailer. The engine braking and 4A mode was especially welcome on the slippery roads of the Tennessee Mountains during heavy rain and fog. The WDH, plus the Hellwig bars kept sway to a minimum (on I-10 there was a 12 mph cross wind that promoted a little sway). I was not, however, impressed with the gas mileage of 8.5 mpg overall (with 93 octane), but it is what it is (I do admit that I was probably driving closer to 80 mph more often than I should have). I am glad that the max has a 28 gallon tank. I’m also surprised that with my relatively light trailer and Sumo helpers, that there is a fair amount of squat. I don’t think it affected my steering or caused any sway, but just looks a little unbalanced. The next trip, I’ll try to move more weight behind the trailer axles. Overall, my first experience with owning a camper and towing it with the Expedition is a very positive one.
 

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expeditiondriver

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Have you all had any issues with your headlights pointing too high while driving with a trailer? Due to the squat?

If so, any solutions?
 

mwl001

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Have you all had any issues with your headlights pointing too high while driving with a trailer? Due to the squat?

If so, any solutions?
Once properly weight-redistributed my Expedition squats less than one inch in the rear, probably 500-600lbs on the hitch.
 

shane_th_ee

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I don't think anyone here would've recommended pulling something that heavy. Seems like the RV dealer didn't provide advise the customer appropriately.
Would you expect anything different from Camping World?
 
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