9000+ lbs tow rating my a**

[bojans]

Went up to our house in the UP this weekend to tidy things up for the winter. My buddy that has a home near us hit a dear on his way up with his truck and blew out the radiator. He needed to get his rather large boat to the storage shed 50 miles away. Total weight of the boat plus trailer is roughly 9000 lbs, it is under the tow rating for my Ex with the 4.6 so I offered to tow it there for him. Long story short I never got out of 3rd gear unless we were going down hill, on some long shallow hills it was all I could do to maintain 20 mph and for the 50 mile trip I averaged a bit over 3 mpg. Although it did feel like a sports car on the ride back.

 

[bentley]

Actually the tow rating for a 06 explorer is just over 7,000lbs. You were way over.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/suvs/explorer/features/specs/

 

[IAmTodd]

Oops.

 

[Hartman]

Is it me, or is the expectation of a mid size SUV pulling a 9000lbs boat with ease and getting good milage a little absurd?

Let's be a little smarter about this, shall we.

 

[dogfriend]

Just a ton over. :

 

[96ExplorerXL4x4]

Is it me, or is the expectation of a mid size SUV pulling a 9000lbs boat with ease and getting good milage a little absurd?

Let's be a little smarter about this, shall we.

I agree!

 

[everythintech]

you actually thought you would get outa 3rd? pulling, even with your 9000lb thought of a tow rating, you were at what you thought to be your max. Lets think about this, even an f350 at its tow capacity, will be strained and most likely will have the same result, just a lot more weight.

 

[j602]

Use more throttle.

 

[Bigkondor]

I thought it was 7200 lbs with 4.6 and towing pkg.

 

[techieman33]

If it was me I would just be glad the ex didn't explode from that big of a load.

 

[LBarr2002]

Consider yourself lucky... when I pull my 19' boat around the yard I use low range (without the hubs locked). I wouldn't consider pulling it out of the yard. When I want to put it in the water I borrow my dad's truck.

 

[bojans]

Let me pull my foot out of my mouth. Wow... could have sworn the rating was 9000, guess that explains a lot. As dog friend said I was only a ton over...

 

[everythintech]

i erased that, i apologize. i mistook your thread, and when i reread i saw that my comment wasnt necessary, i erased that before your post, how you still saw i dont know

 

[Stic-o]

I wish the explorer pulled 9k. I would have bought a new one for my my wife instead of the volvo. But now I'll have to buy myself a new truck....poor me. :

 

[JDraper]

F-150 SCrew with the 5.4 is good for 9900lbs with load distribution

 

[Stic-o]

F-150 SCrew with the 5.4 is good for 9900lbs with load distribution

Trust me I know.... That will be my next truck

 

[JDraper]

Trust me I know.... That will be my next truck

My wife's daily driver...

 

[mnealuf]

I want to help defend him, I bet if you hooked the 7??? lbs up it would still tow like crap. My 2000 is rated for like 5250lbs I think and when I tow my 3750lb boat in Florida it is crap. I know I am way under the max, rating and it is near unsafe. The tow ratings are outta hand, as much as I hate government in our lives where they are not required, they should have to prove some type of handling, starting/stopping criteria to have the rating. I have been towing large things my whole life I know you can't expect anything heavy to be a sports car, I am talking about basic handling here. As a side note be happy you didn't have an accident, that is the 1st thing insurance companies do now, if you tow over the rated max. amount you are 100% uninsured if something terrible happens.

 

[LBarr2002]

And braking should be more of a concern than acceleration. I've pulled a few heavy loads with my dad's '95 Chevy 1500. It pulls just fine, but can't stop.

 

[groovyone]

I pulled almost 6K lbs with a 2006 V8 4x4. It did great. I was towing a 2001 Mustang GT Vert on a full car trailer (heavy one at that) from Houston to Pueblo, CO through a mountain pass and managed just over 12 MPG and about 75 MPH. It didn't have any problems in the pass.

As for the braking, I snagged my buddy's trailer brake controller. That also worked great.