Gigantapithicus

Hey,

New to the forum, left the Ford Expedition forums after selling my 05 Eddie Bauer Expediton.

Just picked up this truck on the weekend. Next weekending starting the TT shopping. Was looking at Expy's, Yukons, and Suburbans and finally gave up trying to find the right SUV for the right price and all the add-ins for towing at a decent price. Decided to go the truck route for ease of towing. Also saved about $10k over the SUV and got a nicely finished interior and the truck has 70,000 kms on it.


Anyway, here's the specs on the truck, how much can I tow with this?

smurfs_of_war

I will just toss a couple numbers out since some vital info is missing, and I am basing this on my 2010 I had which is essentially the same driveline except I had a 3.55 gearing, not 3.73- which will work to your benefit. First and foremost though, look in your owners manual. It has a chart that will list all of this information based on your trim level, wheel base, etc. GCWR and maximum towing capacity (which requires a class IV receiver, weight distribution hitch, and trailer brake control) which your options show you have, as well as the transmission and upgraded engine cooling. Although it makes no mention of a towing package there? That almost looks like max tow, but I didn't think you could get that with the FX4? Somebody may be able to clarify that for me.

Look for something in the 5-6000 lbs range. This is only a guess based on the trim level. Higher trim= heavier truck= less available tow capacity. IIRC- some of the FX4's had a pretty dismal tow capacity based on the trim level. My XTR (an XLT trim with chrome goodies) was 6180lbs with a full 36G tank but without any passengers- but I had added some options to it- heavy sub, huge skid plates, extra leaf spring, heavier rubber, roll up cover. With my family fully loaded with another 400lbs of junk in the bed, I was at or over the 7200lbs GVWR for the tow vehicle- didn't even have the tongue weight factored in, so we were "overloaded"- technically, and my TT was 5600lbs loaded for the road- a far cry from the 9600lbs tow rating of the truck.

So, easiest place to start- look at the placard inside your door. It will state "maximum weight of cargo and occupants" or something similar. Once you have that, figure out how much you weigh plus anything else you will have in your truck before you hitch a trailer. Once you have a rough estimate of that, then you can tell what size to start looking at based on tongue weight- and don't use the dry weights of the trailer. Some call them optimistic. I call them flat out BS.

So, if you have 1200lbs total (on that sticker) and you subtract what you think you, and any other cargo you carry will weight (say 600lbs total) then you have a remainder of 600lbs. If you then divide that 600lbs by .15 (maximum tongue weight for a travel trailer) you will come up with the approximate GCWR of the trailer to look for

So, in this example- it would be a 4000lbs GVWR (fully loaded) trailer.

Length- it has some grey rules. I was comfortable with 26', and tried some larger ones- and 26' was as high as I was comfortable with on the back of that truck. Try this: wheel base divided by 5= trailer length in feet. So, a 145" wheel base divided by 5 equals 29'. That is the longest you should look at for stability.

The numbers above are completely fictional and based on the likely 7200lbs GVWR on a 4x4. Just a guess, but the theory is the same across the board. This is all to show you how to start your estimating- but nothing will beat an actual trip over the scales to see what your rig weighs ready to roll before you hitch the trailer on- full tank of fuel, passengers, pets, kids, tools, chairs, whatever you would carry on the truck.

On a side note- watch your axle ratings. It's easy to overload those.

After you get the estimating done, the fun part starts

sargetom203

Smurfs sure coverd the subject well, above. As he mentioned there is some info missing. If you look up the F150 towing capabilities on the internet, it will help you alot. You need to know which tow pkg you have.....regular or the heavy duty. With the size tires you have, it would sure sound to me like the heavy duty tow package. You should have to tow mirrors as well........they are among the best made.
I drive a 2010 XLT with some of the same equipment, tow a 25' trailer, about 6,000# fully loaded and it is a great combination. One slight difference, is that mine has the 3.55 gears, but still does the job very well!!!
Good Luck!!!! We'd love to hear what you do next. Keep us informed.

Gigantapithicus

Thanks for the great replies guys. I'll check out the door and stuff when I get home, go through the manual etc. Apologies as I thought that list showed it had the trailer tow package. For some reason it doesn't, however here's the window sticker

smurfs_of_war

Nicely optioned truck

Just a heads up- it looks like you have some pretty weighty options on that guy. Might cut into your trailer sizing a bit, but don't let it spook you- max tow is definitely a good option to offset a bit of that.

tcp2

11,200lbs of trailer weight according to my 2009 owner's manual. Check your door sticker for its cargo weight rating though and follow smurf's true trailering weights, rather than the manual's theoretical maximums.
Mine was just the XTR with regular trailer tow.

ecobeest

Smurfs has given you a fantastic explanation of your next steps. $8520 in options! Wow someone went for all bling, bling. Those 3.77 will be a friend when you start hauling.

Welcome to the board!

Gigantapithicus

Thanks guys - you're all so nice :

Yeah, pretty happy with it, and excited about picking up this afternoon. Paid $23k before taxes, thinking it was a decent deal. Took all day for the bartering to complete.

I'll follow everything smurfs said and figure it out.

I did run the numbers myself prior and thought it was the 11,200 but when it comes to something like this I'd like a double, triple and quadruple check. I read through that other thread about Dealers sometimes not knowing what they're selling which is what I found a lot of with the earlier SUV shopping. I was spending too much time running VINs and spec sheets that I wasn't paying attention to the actaul vehicles/prices and whether they looked good. It can really be an overwhelming process if you're trying to cover all your bases.

Thanks!

SteelToe

That looks like my '09 sticker, with the exception, mine's a Lariat. I just bought an '10 GulfStream(29fks); 34' long; 6400lbs. dry; "?" I'm taking it to a scale when the weather breaks, just be sure. But, I didn't have a problem towing from a dealer in OH. to my home in MD. Maybe a little sluggish going up some mountains, but not bad. NOW.. after ready almost every towpage in the forums here, I have installed a K/N air intake; SI/DO flow40 exhaust; & soon, before the season is here, a SCT livewire tuner. Only reason we went with a TT 'cause I have a P.E. bed cover. Before this TT (back in the day), our first camper was a 5'r. with an '04 5.4 (4spd) 3:73r.. 8k lbs. dry Towed it great. Make sure you look at the data sticker (inside cabinet door&outside near hitch) weighting options. Only carry about 5gals. of water while traveling for emerg. bthrm. breaks... especially for the wife/kids. Watch over packing! You don't need a crap load of stuff, just for a few days or a week. You'll be fine. And the best part.. Shopping for the TT. It's all about the floor plan. Wifey is a realtor. Buying a TT. is like buying a house. Think about what you want in a floor plan. Look online at several diff. bands. Most of them have about the same plans, with only slight changes. Kit. in the front/mid/back? Sleeps 4-8? Oh yea, one Thing.. If you go too small, or no slide, etc., you'll be thinking upgrade next season! Along the same reasons as buying a boat. Too small, you'll want to go bigger next yr. Buyer's remorse? Everybody denies it, unfortunately it's true! Don't worry-Be a happy camper! Fun for the whole family. Especially for the kids! Ours loved it. They still do it, even now that they're married.

SteelToe

Oopps.. Forgot to tell you, check your door panel sticker for the GVWR. That is the most important number to me/ and the max. load on your tires.