need a little education about towing w/ sport-trac

[am1]

My wife & I currently own a '03 Sport-Trac with 80,000 miles. We have been talking about perhaps purchasing a camper in the future & I just want to be sure I know what my vehicle can handle. On the driver's door, it has the designation 'R' (rear end gear?) with a K under it. next to that is the heading 'Axle' with a 42 under that. What do these mean, & when I begin shopping for a camper, what size should I be shopping for? I certainly don't want to over-tax the vehicle. I'm thinking between 18 & 24'. BTW, we have 2 kids, age 10& 3. Any help from you guys?

 

[Gus Gorilla]

Get a reciever style, frame mounted hitch. The bumper is only good for 500lbs. Your Axle code of 42 means it is a 4.10 non-limited slip. Your available towing comes in depending upon the vehicle's load without the trailer. The GCVW is 9600 lbs. That's trailer and truck. With an empty truck your looking at a trailer weight of 5080 lbs. P.S. this is all available in your owners manual. With these trucks the limiting factor is braking ability, not pulling ability. But everybody knows which one is more important.

 

[Jerettmorton]

Love to tow!

My 2002 Sporttrac with 93000 miles on it tows like a work horse. It has a frame mounted hitch... just be carefull of the weight of the trailer anything over 4000lbs has a tendency to put strain on the transmission and brakes. so just be carefull your hitch should be rated for 500lbs at the hitch and 3500lbs trailer weight this should be more than okay on your truck.

 

[brianjwilson]

Get a bigger transmission cooler before you do anything else. Then buy a scangauge 2 to monitor transmission temps. Get a frame mounted hitch and a good brake controller (prodigy), and some good shocks (such as bilsteins).

But I wouldn't want to tow a camper with the sport trac unless it is a small pop-up type or narrow and lightweight camper. The frontal area is way too much for the sport trac, and the manual even rates a max frontal area for a trailer. I pulled a loaded up 6x14 enclosed trailer from Oregon to Kentucky with my 05 sport trac with 4.88 gears, 33" tires, programmer, big tranny cooler and prodigy. Everything worked pretty well really, even up to 8600 ft in Wyoming. Stopping was great with the prodigy brake controller, and the transmission temp stayed in a reasonable range. It even pulled okay up long grades, but when I had a bit of head wind it hurt my speed and semi trucks would pass me on level ground, lol.

Since you're in GA you would probably be alright because you won't be at high elevations, but just so you know on the freeway with a headwind you'll be moving slower. A programmer helps quite a bit too, with more power and better shifting. I bought an xcal 2 from James Henson and he did an awesome job. Get a 93 octane tow tune and it will help with power a good amount. But definitely get a bigger transmission cooler. My transmission ran 180+ without towing, just driving around town. The bigger cooler dropped the temperatures a solid 20 degrees.

 

[sickwilly]

Tow with the overdrive off, except on long flat roads.

 

[cade]

I also have a 2002 with 4.0 and I use it for my landscape buisnenss, I have hauled 4960 lbs in material frequently. Pulled and stoped awsome, however the front end gets really light and has a tendancy to wander. I wouldnt want to do a lot of hills on factory tranny.

 

[JohnnyO]

A Gen 1 Sport Trac is good for towing up to 5000 lb. Listed weights for trailers are empty, so you need to add the weight of a full water tank, beer, full LP tank, ice, food, beer, ice, whatever other stuff you're going to take, and beer. Ergo, I wouldn't get a trailer weighing more than 3500 lb and you can find nice ones that'll fit 2 to 4 people at that or less. Frame-mounted hitch is a must, as are electric trailer brakes. Equalizing hitch and sway control is good unless you're getting a small pop-up. I had a Hidden Hitch on my old '05 Trac that I liked real well. Tucks close to the bumper instead of hanging real low and looking like crap.

You might think I'm kidding about the beer and food, but we take my bud's 32' motorhome to a couple of NASCAR races a year and get noticeably better gas mileage on the way home because we drank all the beer and ate all the food.

 

[cade]

hahaha, I love it , I go to NASCAR too and I was wondering why the gas mileage was better, My favorite combo , beer and food. My 02 has 107k on it and only about 50k on the tranny, I am looking for a 24 foot light travel trailer possibly a antique canned ham or simmilar. Prob weighing in arround 4k un-loaded. We usally fill with water and yes beer when we get to where we are going. I have the frame reciever, looking at trans cooler and trailer brakes. My boat is arround 3500 lbs and it tows better then my hemi durango ever did. Quick question; has anyone ever towed a small light weight fifth wheel <24' is it something that may be possible?

 

[JohnnyO]

Quick question; has anyone ever towed a small light weight fifth wheel <24' is it something that may be possible?

Never seen it on a Trac. The bed is plastic so I don't think it would hold up to a 5th wheel mount.

 

[cade]

could the hitch be mounted thru the bed to the frame? I only ask because I have never seen it before either and I think I could have more trailer with a fifth wheel.

 

[JohnnyO]

There isn't much there in the way of crossmembers there. I wouldn't try it. Besides, you are limited to 5000 lb anyway. Although there are some small 5th wheels designed to be towed by a half-ton pickup, they have V8's and bigger brakes.

I wanted a twin-axle Zoom trailer in the worst way when the RV dealer near my office had a going out of business sale last year, but my business hasn't been so hot either.

http://www.zoom-rv.com/

They seem like real nice units though.

 

[cade]

Thanks Johnny, yea biz has been way off, Hence the trailer as plan "B" if you know what I mean. I suspected as much about the crossmembers. I think I will stick with the plan of buying a cheap used travel trailer that I can work some magic on.

 

[sportrac03]

Yes you can up to 5080 lbs with a class 3 trailer hitch which has a tongue weight of 500lbs anf the hitch is rated at 5000 lbs. I own a 03 Sport Trac 4x4 with a 4.10 and I tow a pop up camper that ways about 4000 lbs loaded plus the weight in the truck. I had a sway bar installed for the trailer and electric brakes. Beware of the states you go in because electric or surge breaks are required and each state is different. Some states require it if you are towing 1500 lbs and some are more. I also installed air lift air bags in the back to only to help with weight of the trailer. Those bags can handle 2000lbs. It will help level out the trailer and keeps the weight on the front end. It does raise the backend about 1 inch to 2 inches but does take a toll on the ball joints because it lowers the front end.

 

[cruser761]

Nice looking ride! I pulled my 20 foot chapparrell boat for several years. It did well but kep the od off most of time. never had any issues. did have a differential replaced with 140,000 miles and looking at trans at 150,000. Truck has been solid so far but gas milegage is not good.

 

[Gse Brent]

Get a reciever style, frame mounted hitch. The bumper is only good for 500lbs. Your Axle code of 42 means it is a 4.10 non-limited slip. Your available towing comes in depending upon the vehicle's load without the trailer. The GCVW is 9600 lbs. That's trailer and truck. With an empty truck your looking at a trailer weight of 5080 lbs. P.S. this is all available in your owners manual. With these trucks the limiting factor is braking ability, not pulling ability. But everybody knows which one is more important.

So do you think i'd need a frame mounted hitch to haul a sportbike on a trailer?

 

[clarkgriswold]

So do you think i'd need a frame mounted hitch to haul a sportbike on a trailer?

Do you know the approximate weight of bike and trailer? Also, do you know hitch weight of loaded trailer. Honestly, if it's what I have pictured in my head (and without numbers) I think you're ok.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Dead post over a year now but thanks for the reply.... :wavey: