Towing questions.

[Jason Randall]

About to make an offer on travel trailer and am trying to decide if weights are too much. First Expedition and first trailer so excuse ignorance. Looking at specs says trailer dry weight 8000lbs and trailer can be loaded to 9600lbs. With the better hitch shows 9200lbs max so as long as don’t load camper over 9200 should be good to go? Also hitch weight 695 and they have the Equalizer branded 4 point load equalizer Hitch & sway bars.

 

[Traveler]

What year Expedition? Does it have the towing package?

Sent from my moto g(7) optimo (XT1952DL) using Tapatalk

 

[Jason Randall]

2017. Don’t believe has tow package. Manual says 9200 with stab hitch and a 920 hitch weight.

 

[JExpedition07]

Slow down their friend. 9,200 pounds is with no gear or people in the truck. Take a look at your payload sticker, notice it says 1460 pounds. Take 920 pounds off that and that leaves you with 500 pounds left. Assuming you’re a 200 pound dude that only leaves you with 300 pounds left. Is it just you and one other person and no gear in the Expedition? If you have any kids or dogs/gear with you it’s going to max out the truck or go over and you’ll be doing some white knuckle driving.

 

[Fasttimes]

About to make an offer on travel trailer and am trying to decide if weights are too much. First Expedition and first trailer so excuse ignorance. Looking at specs says trailer dry weight 8000lbs and trailer can be loaded to 9600lbs. With the better hitch shows 9200lbs max so as long as don’t load camper over 9200 should be good to go? Also hitch weight 695 and they have the Equalizer branded 4 point load equalizer Hitch & sway bars.

Jason, you will be over the limit almost certainly and it will be not only scary driving but a legal liability should you get involved in an accident. I have a 30ft total length (27' model) travel trailer with a 6400# dry weight and pull with a 2010 Eddie Bauer Expy with Heavy Duty Tow package (9200 tow capacity) with the Equalizer WD hitch set up and I'm at the limit honestly. Although this set up never seems like an issue with the pulling, the real issue is the Trucks payload capacity. Once you factor in hitch weight, battery, propane, stuff in storage in front of trailer, stuff in tow vehicle and the passengers you are over in no time. And it took a good year of trips making tweaks to the WD hitch to get it where I think it needs to be, but let me tell you some of those trips were pure white knuckle till I got it right. Squirly front end driving is no fun.

My suggestion is either downsize the trailer slightly or upsize the tow vehicle to a 250 class Pickup.

 

[JExpedition07]

Yep, for that trailer an F-250 would fit it like a glove. I’d agree with Fasttimes in downsizing the trailer to something lighter if you want to tow with the expy.

 

[Fasttimes]

Yeah, it's a shame there never was a new version of the Excursion. I'd be first in line to buy one.

 

[07navi]

Yeah, it's a shame there never was a new version of the Excursion. I'd be first in line to buy one.

I had mine for 10 years and never towed with it other than a snowmobile but still sold it easily to someone that did tow. It was tow king and never knew the snowmobile was even back there.

 

[B-McD]

I have almost the exact setup as Fasttimes except a 30' box so 33' all in. Trailer is about the same weight. My truck pulls it fine but we use my son-in-law's F150 max crew cab if towing more than 150 miles. His tow rating is only another 1000 lbs higher but his long wheelbase helps. Good luck but you have lots of nice trailer choices in the 6-7K pound range.

 

[Fasttimes]

It usually the payload number that really limits you with the Expy. 9200 tow rating is very nice, but if your payload capacity isn't up to ***** then it really affects how the set up rides.

Jason's sticker says 1460lb max payload, but my Expy is only 1402lb, I imagine because it's Eddie Bauer version, perhaps more options, usually means less payload.

In my case....

• Hitch weight of trailer, 700
• battery, 45
• propane tanks full, 30
• Stuff in front storage compartment of RV (grill, chairs, tools, hoses, etc) conservative 50
• Equalizer hitch set up, 100
• Cooler in back of Expy, 40
• Large Rotty dog, 120
• My fat azz, 280
• Wife, 120

1485lbs : over by 83lb

Now, a true metric would be going to scale and have it really tested, but this is just a rough estimate. So, I'm often over my payload capacity on trips. It stinks, just the two of us and the dog and we're over. Can't even invite anyone for fear of really pushing the limit. Lately I've been moving stuff around to reduce the weight on the hitch. Nix the cooler, move items out of front storage to back over the axles in the RV, only filling one of the two propane tanks when really needed, running lean. Need to get on a diet too, that would definitely help, easier said than done.

My point is, tow capacity is really just one factor in the over-all set up and for an Expy the payload capacity is the true limiting factor.