towing with 2019 expedition max without max tow

[sjwhiteley]

I think you’d be fine towing what you have, but it puts a max limit on what you may want to tow in the future. I wish I had the max tow - for an optional future capability - but it works for the next few years.

the drawback is cost: I believe the max tow, and ‘off road’ packages are in demand, so will cost more. Or rather, those without have a discount. Hopefully you get lucky, though.

 

[plumcolr]

Dunno how far you tow your boat or if any significant hills. s My 17 without HD tow pkg pulls a car trailer fine, short distances (about 20 miles) relatively flat ground with an added brake controller and the original 3.31 gearset. Loaded the trailer clocks in at a little under 9000#. Wouldn't consider a trip with that much tho. Performance is more than adequate and trans temp never goes above normal range. Oh, and this is very occasional, maybe twice a year.

 

[Rossue]

I bought my wife a 2020 Expy Max LTD stealth with the tow package.
We towed my roughly 2000# RZR 4 Seater on a 2700# 22' trailer to South Carolina from PA for Thanksgiving. So just over half of it's towing capacity.
I will say the Expy HAS power, but that was about it for the positive towing experience.
The thing got about 7-8 mpg.
The rear of the Expy squatted like a sorority girl in the woods with a bladder full of beer.
The brake controller is time-delayed so it flat spotted one of my trailer tires so it shimmied for 500 miles.
And the mirrors are too small for towing.

Now I may new a little jaded because I traded a 17 F 350 platinum long bed, diesel for this Expy. And that thing could tow Montana if it had a hitch.yes, the entire state.

Otherwise I love the Expy, but it's not a towing machine I'm my book.

We tow a 4300# wet 21' Escape TT. We tow in the mountains a lot which is primarily why I wanted HD Tow. A WDH is a must with the soft rear suspension. Had the same WDH with Yukon that didn't really need it to level squat, it just was smoother. With a Brake Controller you nees to set the gain properly. And, if you have electric brakes you can get lockup if the are too loose as the shoes slap when activated. Usually the front passenger side that will lock up first as the roadway is slanted that direction and the front getams the inertial force. Has happened to me when trailer was new. Brake adjustment after 300 miles when new then every 3,000 thereafter unless they are properly working self-adjusting.

Over the last 21K miles, with 75% towing we get 12-14 mpg while towing with 87 octane.