Towing with Standard towing and 3:31 gears?

[Dreamin]

Hello All,

**Short background**
I recently picked up a beautiful used 2010 Expedition XLT 4x4. We had planned on using it for trips and when we need to haul anything our 03 Civic HX couldn't (45mpg non hybrid). This Expedition has the 3:31 rear gears so mileage is excellent for such a big vehicle. So far we have been averaging 18+ mpg mixed city/hwy and I have been nothing but impressed. Most the time running straight Highway we are watching the AVG mpg between 20 and 21mpg!

Yeah I know you don't buy a big V8 SUV for the mileage but when you are looking at 20+mpg it's nothing but impressive!

**Finally getting to the point **
Anyway now getting to the point, we have been recently looking at picking up a Travel trailer for camping and trips. When I picked up the Epedition, I saw that it had a hitch and didn't look any further than that plus we were able to get an awesome deal on it that we couldn't match on any other used Expedition. Turns out this has the 4 pin plug which means it only has the standard towing package so I'm stuck at 6,000lbs which is fine so far.

The used trailers we keep coming accross are the 28 - 31ft encosed "Lite" trailers weighing in between 3,900lbs and 4,700lbs.

So with this does anyone tow with 3:31 gears and is there anything I should worry about after setting things up with Dirtribution hitch and Electric brakes?

Thanks in advance and thanks for your time!

 

[JUST4FUN]

any thing you put in the truck /camper takes away from the tow rateing. ie people,gear,
water (for the tank) also the camper is weighed dry so any options are going to add weight like the A/C. IMHO the camper you are looking at are to big for the short wheel base of the Expedition. yes, i tow a TT with mine i would not tow over 25'. mine is a 21' ' hybred loaded at 4700 lbs. my mpg is 9 at 65 mph 3.55 gear

 

[SourMashII]

I think we are 3.73, and we towed our 1972 Kit Prowler 20' trailer last year, Nampa ID to 'Frisco, and back.

Kept it out of OD, kept it at 55 mph (its a CA thing) and... 9-10 mpg, and.. We sorely regretted not towing it with a "proper" vehicle. (my one ton)

I would look at 18' pop ups, for the best combination of camping AND towing pleasure, less drag, less weight... Bear in mind, this is only a half ton pickup chassis.

 

[Dreamin]

any thing you put in the truck /camper takes away from the tow rateing. ie people,gear,
water (for the tank) also the camper is weighed dry so any options are going to add weight like the A/C. IMHO the camper you are looking at are to big for the short wheel base of the Expedition. yes, i tow a TT with mine i would not tow over 25'. mine is a 21' ' hybred loaded at 4700 lbs. my mpg is 9 at 65 mph 3.55 gear

Aww your no fun! Yeah I would like to get something smaller but it hard to find a fully inclosed trailer with room inside.

Thanks for the update!

I think we are 3.73, and we towed our 1972 Kit Prowler 20' trailer last year, Nampa ID to 'Frisco, and back.

Kept it out of OD, kept it at 55 mph (its a CA thing) and... 9-10 mpg, and.. We sorely regretted not towing it with a "proper" vehicle. (my one ton)

I would look at 18' pop ups, for the best combination of camping AND towing pleasure, less drag, less weight... Bear in mind, this is only a half ton pickup chassis.

We decided against popups and are looking for a fully enclosed trailer.

I just need to keep looking harder for something smaller and lighter!!!

 

[Dreamin]

Well after a ton of looking we settled on a used but still sweet 25 1/2' long travel trailer with a side and rear slide that gives us the interior room we wanted. 4511lbs Dry weight but looking at the brochure from that model it looks like the original owners got it with every option available so I will have to take it to a CAT scale and have it weighed so I have a true starting point for weight.

Now I just wish FORD had pulled its head out its rear and made the 7pin upgrade a plug and play option. Oh well I have the electric brakes connected to the hopkins 7-pin and will run the reverse (trailer doesn't have reverse lights anyway) and the charge line when I get back.

I also have to find a FORD dealership that is actually knowledgable about the vehicles they are selling and can find how to hook up the Reverse and charge line so they still use the factory relays and fuse. Nothing more frustraiting then having to visit every area of the dealership looking for towing specs (found them online afterwards) with the worse being 2 sales men that told me 10,000 to 11,000lbs like the F150. When I said they were wrong and that the Expeditions WITH the HD towing package could only tow 9,200lbs they told me I could always trade it in on a new model with the towing package installed.

Their parts department said they didn't have any listing for a 7pin upgrade either so I'll either have to find a different dealership, find a shop that can run the two lines nicely, or just do it myself. I'm soo frustraited with that dealership right now!

 

[mtondreo]

Here is some info i picked up either from this forum or another on the 7-pin conversion. This is for an 04 and I still have not done it on my 06, but hopefully it is similar and may give you some guidance. The brake wire was deifinitely back there for mine. Hope it helps, remember it comes via someone else and I do not remember who to credit, Mike.

A little more detail:
What I did to convert 4-pin to 7-pin trailer connector on a 2004 Expedition:
• Removed 4-pin connector from hitch (just slides out)
• Cutoff 4-pin connector bracket from hitch (ground down two small welds)
• Welded 7-pin connector bracket to hitch
• Painted entire hitch black
• Attached 7-pin connector to bracket on hitch
• Cut and strip wire feeding 4-pin connector (Note: This step could be avoided as some 7-pin connectors have a 4-pin connector input) Just plug in, I preferred to splice the wires together.
• Splice or attach the five wires to the 7-pin connector to the proper pins (Green, Yellow, White, Brown & Blue) Note: you may want to upgrade the white ground wire to 10 gauge (just like factory 7-pin)
• Look under the drivers side rear door, you will find two wiring harnesses there
• The smaller harness has an Orange wire going in one end of the harness but does not continue after.(pin12) This is the 12v lead
• Splice into the wiring harness orange wire and wire back to the 7-pin connector. I used 12 Gauge wire and protected it with wire loom.
• Note: The larger harness has a black/light green wire going in one end of the harness but does not continue after.(pin8) This is the reverse backup light wire if you want it. I did not so I did not wire.
• I then tye wrapped all the wires up and out of the way being careful that the wire does not get caught up in the rear suspension or spare tire movement.
• Remove fuse panel cover from front passenger foot area
• Install standard automotive type 30-amp relay into slot R05
• Install 30-amp maxi fuse into slot 106. I found a spare in slot 105
• Replace fuse panel cover.
• Connect brake controller wiring harness under the dash to your brake controller
• Checked all 7-pins with a meter to be sure I wired all correctly.
That’s all I did and everything works great. I have got trailer brakes and switched 12volt power in my travel trailer now.

Parts list:
• 7 pin connector (I got one with both 7 pin and 4 pin connections)
• 7 pin mounting bracket
• 30amp standard automotive relay
• 30amp maxi fuse (there was a spare in my fuse block that I used)
• 12 gauge wire from pass floor connector to 7 pin (12v lead)
• Wire loom to protect wire
• Trailer brake controller adapter for Ford Vehicles
All parts are available from just about any automotive store.

I don’t recommend trying this unless you are familiar with wiring.
__________________
2004 Expy Eddie Bauer 4x4 5.4L
1995 Jeep YJ 4x4 4.0L

 

[Dreamin]

The Expedition towed the Travel trailer just fine other then dropping the mileage from 20.7 all the way down to 7.4mpg with the trailer on the way back. It wasn't a stalion off the line but I already expected that. Still, not bad though!


mtondreo -

The waring harnes is different on the 07 and newer expeditions. Looks like the 12v power and backup end in the engine compartment.

I was a bit upset to hear the only plug and play would be to spend $200 in parts alone, to replace the wiring harnes from the left rear engine compartment back! Ford really burned us here! This is pretty asinine if you ask me. Then again the already showed me they can't built a seat worth a crap with the newer headrests being angled too far forward and no longer able to pull and reverse them as of 2010 without taking the seat apart. I almost walked away from the Expedition at this point due to the seats alone! I'll just wire it in seperate and leave it be!

Other than that I do love the anti trailer sway! We had one of those large refrigeration trucks pass us and the wind deflecting off that huge flat surface area into the side of my trailer caused it to sway. I reached down to hit the manual trailer brake and the Expedition engaged it a split second before I did.

 

[Ray Jr.]

You can add 2 pins to the existing plug on the drivers inner fender, then run the 2 wires to the rear. That is what I am doing on my 09 this weekend, I am picking up the pins tommorow (found a ford dealer with a good parts man) the pins are under $2.50 each with 3 inches of wire already crimped on. add them to cavity 2 and 5 on the 34 cavity plug (remove the blue plugs in these 2 spots) cavity 2 is the 12 v aux wire and cavity 5 is the reverse light wire.
the fuse box on ours already had the relay and fuses installed. even tho it only had the 4 flat plug.

 

[Dreamin]

You can add 2 pins to the existing plug on the drivers inner fender, then run the 2 wires to the rear. That is what I am doing on my 09 this weekend, I am picking up the pins tommorow (found a ford dealer with a good parts man) the pins are under $2.50 each with 3 inches of wire already crimped on. add them to cavity 2 and 5 on the 34 cavity plug (remove the blue plugs in these 2 spots) cavity 2 is the 12 v aux wire and cavity 5 is the reverse light wire.
the fuse box on ours already had the relay and fuses installed. even tho it only had the 4 flat plug.

Hey Ray Jr,

How did everything work out with your wiring? I haven't checked back till today and just read your reply. I had decided to wait and make this a winter project and like your info. Any chance you have part numbers? The FORD parts people near me do not seam to dig into things as much as yours so anything will help!