Travel Trailers

[J_82]

Well before I bought the expedition I looked into the F250 or a GM 2500. Honestly for the ocassional recreational towing I wanted to do a 3/4 ton pick up was not a fit for me and my family. I couldn’t get my wife out of a family grocery getter and into a pick up and I did not want to have two different car payments. So I traded in a GMC Acadia for the expedition. Another reason was that I already have a paid pick up truck for the work around the house but it just wasn’t big enough for a long family trip.
Now all I have to do is find the right size travel trailer for our family of 5. Something that I can tow safely with the 16 expedition.

 

[JExpedition07]

You guys are a riot. Yall are talking about getting bigger trucks and here I went and downsized. I traded this in for my 17 EL and don't have any regrets. Well one, the 250 was paid for lol! The Expedition pulls my trailer just as well. Maybe not as much grunt from a stop as the Superduty but once its up and going it pulls it fine and IMO better because the ride is better. I would have liked to keep the F250 but my family was growing and I needed more room especially with 3 kids. We take a lot of road trips and a lifted 250 just wasn't gonna cut it in the comfort department.

Totally agree driving both, the Expedition is more comfortable as a daily. The SD doesn’t need to be because it’s a workhorse, but the Expedition is a better choice for those not hauling and working it like crazy. More practical for that.

 

[shane_th_ee]

I bought a 16 expedition so I can tow around a travel trailer to camp

What kind of "camp" are we talking here? The kind one does in a KOA/Walmart parking lot easily accessible by 40' semi-trucks? Or the kind one does in service-free forest service campgrounds accessed via poorly maintained logging roads? Because if it's the latter,every foot of trailer is a bunch more campsites you won't fit in and roads you won't fit down. In which case, you'll run out of length long before you'll run out of weight.

 

[J_82]

Yes I’m thinking more like KOA and Texas state parks, Colorado and Louisiana. Campsites that are travel trailer friendly.

 

[07xln]

I RV travel full time towing a Lance 2385 (24') travel trailer with my 2007 Ford Expedition 4WD XLT Short WB. The Lance 2385 weighs 4,700 lbs empty, rated 6,300 lbs max. If I towed the trailer at the max weight of 6,300 lbs (which I don't) + 6,000 lbs max weight of the 2007 Ford Expedition = 12,300 lbs total combined weight which is almost 20% less than the total truck and trailer combined weight rating of 15,000 lbs.

In order to control the trailer and track straight and smooth, I made the following mods to my 2007 Ford Expedition:

• Blue Ox WD Hitch with 10,000 lb tow bars
• Rancho Quicklift Coil Over Shocks with 7 point adjustment. Eliminates the front end rake, levels the truck and straightens the truck - hitch - trailer level. No hitch sag.
• Gibson Side Swept exhaust to increase HP
• K & N cold air filter to increase HP
• Tekonsha Brake Controller
• Toyo LT265/70R17 Open Country AT II 10ply
• Aero Force Enforcer Gauge for constant Transmission Temp and Coolant Temp Monitoring
• Hellwig Anti-Sway bars front and back on the Ford Expedition
• 3.73 Gears

I would not tow a travel trailer longer than 24' with a short WB Ford Expedition. I drive conservatively when I am towing not exceeding 60mph. Recently completed a 8,000 mile trip through the Pacific Northwest with no problems. Even drove with 35mph cross winds and the truck and trailer tracked straight.

If you would like more details on my traveling experience towing a travel trailer, please visit my travel BLOG at TomOrd.com. Best of luck with your decision.

I don't know how I missed this but in that picture are those the spring bars pointing towards the ground? If so then your hitch is setup all wrong. Since you say your a full timer I can only assume you know what youre doing when it comes to towing but judging from that pic you need to go back and adjust your setup. Your front tires are damn near coming off the ground. The spring bars should be almost level or pointing slightly up.

 

[chuck s]

Perhaps just to get the trailer out of the barn? Hopefully. The WDH in the photo is not connected. Trailer is on the ball but that's it.

-- Chuck

 

[07xln]

Perhaps just to get the trailer out of the barn? Hopefully. The WDH in the photo is not connected. Trailer is on the ball but that's it.

-- Chuck

I guess the chains on the end of the bars are just defying gravity then

 

[chuck s]

They're connected but not doing anything other than not letting the bars drag on the pavement.

-- Chuck

 

[Bedrck47]

I guess the chains on the end of the bars are just defying gravity then

Doesn't take much to see that the chains are connected to the snap brackets.

If you look at his blog he has a better picture of the trailer set up and you can see the expy is sitting level

 

[chuck s]

I was only looking at the photo showing the WDH bars almost dragging on the pavement and the front suspension severely unloaded.

-- Chuck

 

[Knox GSL]

Looking at all these rigs from a professional standpoint and I wouldn't want to pull anything over 20ft with a swb exp, maybe 24 with an EL. I travel a lot driving tractor trailers and I'm assuming that the camp grounds are a similar rodeo as the truck stops are in the evening with rookie driver's. I see all kinds of questionable things on the road that should never leave the driveway but the DOT doesn't care because there's no money in giving them citations like the big trucks. Another thing is if a rig isn't safe to run 70+ on the highway it really shouldn't be there. I'm not really into the travel trailer thing as my idea of vacation is not keeping up with a truck and trailer. I was reading through this as I'm thinking of getting a 20ish ft boat that's under 6k lbs on the trailer.

 

[B-McD]

Knox - Can you point to any doc where it states the differences between the SWB and EL versions? The difference is miniscule at best and would be clearly published by Ford and others if there were issues. No one with a travel trailer should be running 70+ mph. Not only is it over the speed limit in almost all states for trailers as you obviously know, it is also over the rating of most of the tires on the trailers. Not to mention the exponential drop in MPG at that speed. My 30' trailer pulls great with my SWB and a good WDH, even in cross winds. Now a careless driver with a case of overconfidence, that's another story.

 

[07xln]

Knox - Can you point to any doc where it states the differences between the SWB and EL versions? The difference is miniscule at best and would be clearly published by Ford and others if there were issues. No one with a travel trailer should be running 70+ mph. Not only is it over the speed limit in almost all states for trailers as you obviously know, it is also over the rating of most of the tires on the trailers. Not to mention the exponential drop in MPG at that speed. My 30' trailer pulls great with my SWB and a good WDH, even in cross winds. Now a careless driver with a case of overconfidence, that's another story.

The difference between the two is a foot of wheelbase. I’d hardly call that difference minuscule. The EL just tows things better period.

 

[Knox GSL]

Knox - Can you point to any doc where it states the differences between the SWB and EL versions? The difference is miniscule at best and would be clearly published by Ford and others if there were issues. No one with a travel trailer should be running 70+ mph. Not only is it over the speed limit in almost all states for trailers as you obviously know, it is also over the rating of most of the tires on the trailers. Not to mention the exponential drop in MPG at that speed. My 30' trailer pulls great with my SWB and a good WDH, even in cross winds. Now a careless driver with a case of overconfidence, that's another story.

I think the difference is 17" and the reason I didn't get one as it wouldn't fit inside my garage. I'm not saying you should run 70 just that if it's not smooth at 70 then it shouldn't be on the Rd. I rarely drive over 70 without a trailer because of fuel issues. For the most part people with motorhomes and travel trailers scare the crap out of me. The general group here not so much as most that post here seem to be the type of guys that are safety minded and go a little overboard with "doing it the right way" but most people don't.

 

[B-McD]

The difference between the two is a foot of wheelbase. I’d hardly call that difference minuscule. The EL just tows things better period.

07 - Sorry I wasn't clear - I meant the towing differences between the two wheelbases is not that great. I towed with a F150 Supercrew for the first year I had the trailer and the past two years with the Expedition. Both felt about the same towing with the EcoBoost getting up and rolling faster than the V8. For some reason the Expy just seems to be easier to deal with when backing up the trailer. Just a personal observation.

And as Knox says, most of us have some experience and are careful but I also get passed by guys with trailers and I give them plenty of leeway!!

 

[07xln]

Have to use this trailer

To get my toys over to this trailer

 

[J_82]

That toy hauler is huge. Awesome

 

[ynpmoose]

27' 1999 Sunline Solaris (approx 4500# dry)

 

[J_82]

That’s nice how many does it sleep?

 

[chuck s]

Travel trailers like this typically have one (1) small queen size bed and, perhaps, some very narrow beds for children. In theory the dinettes convert to beds but they're unsatisfactory -- good for guests you don't want back!

If you prefer or are willing to sleep under tentage there are hybrid travel trailers with queen beds on each end like we have. Still have the lil' bathroom, galley, dinette,etc. but the beds are on the ends. My wife insists on this type and claims she sleeps better camping than at home. My 23 foot hybrid opens to about 30 feet once the beds are deployed.

-- Chuck