The beginning... Long story shot I had a v6 explorer before the one that I have now. It was a beast, had the tow package, 3.73's, oversize tires, and more importantly I had tons of fun in it sliding sideways in the fields and just doing whatever. It never let me down even after doing things like towing 7k pounds with it (in the city) and off roading a lot.
But then I totalled it.
I wanted another third gen, im habitual I guess, so I decided to look for one. I found the one that I have now, but it has the 3.55's no tow package and was basically not quite as capable as the old one that I had. Being the fanatic that I am I could not stand to have a vehicle that was a "downgrade" from what I had before.
So I set out to change that.
Step 1: The trailer hitch. I had to get rid of the girly little 1.25" receiver and get a real 2 inch unit on there. This took some calling of the local junkyards and some looking, but eventually I found one only a few miles from me. As I proudly walked out with the hitch and only 50 dollars less rich, I threw it in the truck and finally knew that the process could begin as the hardest part to find had been found. I got it home, tore off the bumper and installed the hitch in no time at all. It was a quick swap and even the plug for the 7 pin worked with the stock harness. The hitch was in great condition too I didn't even need to paint it. All I needed were some 10.9 x M14x2.0 bolts to finish it off as the little hitch used 4 less bolts.
Step 2: Keeping things cool. The transmission needed a trans cooler. So after much research, I decided to go with a Hayden 10k lb towing rated unit. This allowed me to put it behind the ac condensor and still have an overkill cooler. The only caveat here is because of the overkill size I like to cover it in the winter to ensure that the trans gets warmer faster.
Step 3: Gearing. the 3.55s vs 3.73s worried me at first. After a long time of typing numbers into a gearing calculator I realized that the difference in the gears is pretty nominal, only about 300rpm at redline. Plus, having a 5 speed meant that the trans could just downshift more without redlining it a lot. For pulling off the line the 3.73's would make the least difference, because at 1k rpm-3k rpms the difference in them is less than 100 rpm...
So with that concern alleviated and the rest of the stuff up to snuff I had to add a brake controller
I had the one from my old explorer so the install was pretty easy, and the stock wiring is all there right to the passengers side of the dashboard so virtually no wiring needs to be done for all of this except what you need to do to adapt the brake controller to the stock harness...dazzit
Step 4: the tow.
I did all of this stuff honestly not even expecting to tow, just for posterity sake and because it only cost me 100 bucks and added a HELL of a lot of functionality to the vehicle plus looks (the hitch) that i like.
But why stop there? My friend blew the driveshaft in his jeep and we needed to get it to my house to work on it it was 20 miles away. So of course I could have borrowed my dads silverado to tow it or my moms lincoln navigator....but nahh. Dora was ready for the task.
I planned on 6k pounds. 3k pound heavy duty equipment trailer and 3 for the Wrangler on it.
Well.....
Realistically we were pushing 6750 not including tow 200lb guys
Before I get to the results let me explain the roads and how I thought this would go.
My expectation was that we would have to pull at around 50 in the 55mph zones and that the hills would slow me down to 45 or so. I also thought the trailer would sqat the truck more (No weight distributing hitch) and that hte trailer would be fairly unsteady feeling behind me.
Now, keep in mind I have pulled quite a lot of loads in my time with all very capable tow vehicles. the navigator (which is a beast) my dads 2013 silverado (again beast) and back when my dad had a tuned up 6.0L f350 diesel (monster!)
I am quite spoiled in this regard by the power and the torque of big old American V8 engines that I was sure my little 6 banger would be inadequate...
The verdict: Holy crap was I wrong!!! First off, I didn't have a hitch that was quite low enough for the trailer. This meant that on the way there it was bouncing around on the hitch a little. The trailer is a 20' Equipment trailer that is 3150lbs and has an 8950lb capacity. Once I got there and we loaded the jeep I was quite pleased with the relative lack of squat.
Challenge one.
Merging onto the highway. The spot that I had to merge into is uphill and a place where a lot of traffic all meets from 3 directions and there is an exit off the entrance ramp. It is weird. This had me worried but, without breaking 4k RPM I had us up to 60mph no problem up the hill and I was a little surpised.
Challenge 2. Bumps
The section of highway that I was on is SUPER bumpy. It is in need of a repave big time. The stability issues that I thought the combo would exibit did not exist. the truck handled the weight fine really, no issues through the bumps and no swaying WHATSOEVER.
On the next miles on the highway I was sustaining a very comfortable 3k rpms and the motor was really not straining bad at all even on the hills. I BARELY had to downshift that trans really knew what the heck it was doing.
The big challenge. The hill
I live around a valley so tons of my driving is on steep hills. There is a road that I decided to take (my usual route) that climbs about 500 feet in about 2-3 miles or so is is VERY steep. Though I don't know the grade of the road I can tell you that it is one of the steepest roads I know about and it is well over 7% grade in areas. As I climbed the hill I held 25mph and about 4k rpms with about 50-70 percent throttle. This honestly shocked the hell out of me. I think foot to the floor I could have held 30 or maybe 35 which if you were on the hill you would have been impressed believe me. Nothing overheated or moved at all she just chugged up the hill perfectly.
Conclusion: I must say that I am very pleased with the performance towing of this thing. FOR WHAT IT IS it is a great tow vehicle....FOR WHAT IT IS. It isn't a pickup truck or a full size SUV but it will hold its own and get you there safely. As for the v6 having a tow capacity of 5300 and the v8 6900 I think that the numbers are crap. the v6 is 20hp/tq less than the v8. EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE SAME. I don't see any reason that the v6 can't pull 6k no problem and even the 7k that I did I would do again without thinking twice about it. I would aoid really hilly areas but that being said in a drag race with 7k pounds behind both I think the v8 would only perform a little better to be honest.
That being said I would NEVER tow over the 7k mark with this thing. At that point you are going over what the vehicle is rated for. It is one thing to sacrifice a little power being that again, the rest is virtually the same, but if you go over that 6900 mark you are endangering yourself and others so don't do it.
Lastly, I know that towing something once and for limited time is not a great test to make all of these claims on, but, considering the road types and conditions I feel that I can make an honest assumption on the performance of the vehicle here..so I did.
Double lastly, I do have some slight intake modifications to the intake but thats it. Otherwise she is bone stock.
Drive safe everyone and I hope that this helped someone out.
But then I totalled it.
I wanted another third gen, im habitual I guess, so I decided to look for one. I found the one that I have now, but it has the 3.55's no tow package and was basically not quite as capable as the old one that I had. Being the fanatic that I am I could not stand to have a vehicle that was a "downgrade" from what I had before.
So I set out to change that.
Step 1: The trailer hitch. I had to get rid of the girly little 1.25" receiver and get a real 2 inch unit on there. This took some calling of the local junkyards and some looking, but eventually I found one only a few miles from me. As I proudly walked out with the hitch and only 50 dollars less rich, I threw it in the truck and finally knew that the process could begin as the hardest part to find had been found. I got it home, tore off the bumper and installed the hitch in no time at all. It was a quick swap and even the plug for the 7 pin worked with the stock harness. The hitch was in great condition too I didn't even need to paint it. All I needed were some 10.9 x M14x2.0 bolts to finish it off as the little hitch used 4 less bolts.
Step 2: Keeping things cool. The transmission needed a trans cooler. So after much research, I decided to go with a Hayden 10k lb towing rated unit. This allowed me to put it behind the ac condensor and still have an overkill cooler. The only caveat here is because of the overkill size I like to cover it in the winter to ensure that the trans gets warmer faster.
Step 3: Gearing. the 3.55s vs 3.73s worried me at first. After a long time of typing numbers into a gearing calculator I realized that the difference in the gears is pretty nominal, only about 300rpm at redline. Plus, having a 5 speed meant that the trans could just downshift more without redlining it a lot. For pulling off the line the 3.73's would make the least difference, because at 1k rpm-3k rpms the difference in them is less than 100 rpm...
So with that concern alleviated and the rest of the stuff up to snuff I had to add a brake controller
I had the one from my old explorer so the install was pretty easy, and the stock wiring is all there right to the passengers side of the dashboard so virtually no wiring needs to be done for all of this except what you need to do to adapt the brake controller to the stock harness...dazzit
Step 4: the tow.
I did all of this stuff honestly not even expecting to tow, just for posterity sake and because it only cost me 100 bucks and added a HELL of a lot of functionality to the vehicle plus looks (the hitch) that i like.
But why stop there? My friend blew the driveshaft in his jeep and we needed to get it to my house to work on it it was 20 miles away. So of course I could have borrowed my dads silverado to tow it or my moms lincoln navigator....but nahh. Dora was ready for the task.
I planned on 6k pounds. 3k pound heavy duty equipment trailer and 3 for the Wrangler on it.
Well.....
Realistically we were pushing 6750 not including tow 200lb guys
Before I get to the results let me explain the roads and how I thought this would go.
My expectation was that we would have to pull at around 50 in the 55mph zones and that the hills would slow me down to 45 or so. I also thought the trailer would sqat the truck more (No weight distributing hitch) and that hte trailer would be fairly unsteady feeling behind me.
Now, keep in mind I have pulled quite a lot of loads in my time with all very capable tow vehicles. the navigator (which is a beast) my dads 2013 silverado (again beast) and back when my dad had a tuned up 6.0L f350 diesel (monster!)
I am quite spoiled in this regard by the power and the torque of big old American V8 engines that I was sure my little 6 banger would be inadequate...
The verdict: Holy crap was I wrong!!! First off, I didn't have a hitch that was quite low enough for the trailer. This meant that on the way there it was bouncing around on the hitch a little. The trailer is a 20' Equipment trailer that is 3150lbs and has an 8950lb capacity. Once I got there and we loaded the jeep I was quite pleased with the relative lack of squat.
Challenge one.
Merging onto the highway. The spot that I had to merge into is uphill and a place where a lot of traffic all meets from 3 directions and there is an exit off the entrance ramp. It is weird. This had me worried but, without breaking 4k RPM I had us up to 60mph no problem up the hill and I was a little surpised.
Challenge 2. Bumps
The section of highway that I was on is SUPER bumpy. It is in need of a repave big time. The stability issues that I thought the combo would exibit did not exist. the truck handled the weight fine really, no issues through the bumps and no swaying WHATSOEVER.
On the next miles on the highway I was sustaining a very comfortable 3k rpms and the motor was really not straining bad at all even on the hills. I BARELY had to downshift that trans really knew what the heck it was doing.
The big challenge. The hill
I live around a valley so tons of my driving is on steep hills. There is a road that I decided to take (my usual route) that climbs about 500 feet in about 2-3 miles or so is is VERY steep. Though I don't know the grade of the road I can tell you that it is one of the steepest roads I know about and it is well over 7% grade in areas. As I climbed the hill I held 25mph and about 4k rpms with about 50-70 percent throttle. This honestly shocked the hell out of me. I think foot to the floor I could have held 30 or maybe 35 which if you were on the hill you would have been impressed believe me. Nothing overheated or moved at all she just chugged up the hill perfectly.
Conclusion: I must say that I am very pleased with the performance towing of this thing. FOR WHAT IT IS it is a great tow vehicle....FOR WHAT IT IS. It isn't a pickup truck or a full size SUV but it will hold its own and get you there safely. As for the v6 having a tow capacity of 5300 and the v8 6900 I think that the numbers are crap. the v6 is 20hp/tq less than the v8. EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE SAME. I don't see any reason that the v6 can't pull 6k no problem and even the 7k that I did I would do again without thinking twice about it. I would aoid really hilly areas but that being said in a drag race with 7k pounds behind both I think the v8 would only perform a little better to be honest.
That being said I would NEVER tow over the 7k mark with this thing. At that point you are going over what the vehicle is rated for. It is one thing to sacrifice a little power being that again, the rest is virtually the same, but if you go over that 6900 mark you are endangering yourself and others so don't do it.
Lastly, I know that towing something once and for limited time is not a great test to make all of these claims on, but, considering the road types and conditions I feel that I can make an honest assumption on the performance of the vehicle here..so I did.
Double lastly, I do have some slight intake modifications to the intake but thats it. Otherwise she is bone stock.
Drive safe everyone and I hope that this helped someone out.
