2011 Explorer and 4000# travel trailer-4th gear?

[dooger54]

My wife and I are getting ready to buy a 3800# dry weight travel trailer. Loaded up we will probably have around 4500#. I have the towing option on my 4WD unit so realize that will be under the 5000# limit. My question is how the engine will handle this load.

We will be pulling it from Illinois to Arizona regularly. That is a 1700 mile trip. It is mostly flat, except for rolling hills in Missouri and some smaller mountain passes around Albuquerque NM. I have read some posts on this forum saying how this engine will run in 4th gear a lot, which runs at about 4000rpm. I know the engine can handle that, but it may drive me nuts having it revving that much over that many miles.

What have those who have this size trailer experienced? Thanks in advance.

Doug

 

[blwnsmoke]

I have only towed half of that weight and couldn't stand the constant downshifting and high rpm on the highway. Living in NH, we have a lot of hills everywhere you look.

IMO, the N/A 3.5 just doesn't have enough torque for pulling the weight. Yes it will do it but not comfortably where you can just cruise along.

 

[Tuscany]

My wife and I are getting ready to buy a 3800# dry weight travel trailer. Loaded up we will probably have around 4500#. I have the towing option on my 4WD unit so realize that will be under the 5000# limit. My question is how the engine will handle this load.

We will be pulling it from Illinois to Arizona regularly. That is a 1700 mile trip. It is mostly flat, except for rolling hills in Missouri and some smaller mountain passes around Albuquerque NM. I have read some posts on this forum saying how this engine will run in 4th gear a lot, which runs at about 4000rpm. I know the engine can handle that, but it may drive me nuts having it revving that much over that many miles.

What have those who have this size trailer experienced? Thanks in advance.

Doug

Good luck.
Personally, I wouldn't tow with anything less than V-8 or V-6 EB power. It's not about the weight, which is a big factor, but rather the wind resistance that you will be fighting. It takes power to combat wind, as well as weight. Combine the two, and you will be trading in your Explorer somewhere along the way.

To assume a small torque producing engine will tow a trailer that heavy without many issues will be setting yourself up for major disappointment.

A strong headwind may be enough to make you park for the day. No kidding.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

My wife and I are getting ready to buy a 3800# dry weight travel trailer. Loaded up we will probably have around 4500#. I have the towing option on my 4WD unit so realize that will be under the 5000# limit. My question is how the engine will handle this load.

We will be pulling it from Illinois to Arizona regularly. That is a 1700 mile trip. It is mostly flat, except for rolling hills in Missouri and some smaller mountain passes around Albuquerque NM. I have read some posts on this forum saying how this engine will run in 4th gear a lot, which runs at about 4000rpm. I know the engine can handle that, but it may drive me nuts having it revving that much over that many miles.

What have those who have this size trailer experienced? Thanks in advance.

Doug

Redflags...I would never do it that scenario.

 

[dooger54]

Wow- 3 for 3 say don't do it. Geez guys- not what I wanted to hear. But I wanted honest opinions and experienced info. So I got it. Thinking seriously now about not going ahead with that trailer.

 

[dooger54]

What about short trips of 200-300 miles?

 

[Tuscany]

What about short trips of 200-300 miles?

No chance IMHO.
The wind resistance alone will kill it..

 

[1995E]

Idk guys, I towed my friend's 2002 Ford Taurus on a dolly with like 5 or 6 guys of around 150 - 200 pounds each in the car and I was able to be at 6th gear and the altitude is somewhere between 50ft - 300 ft along i95 from Baltimore to DC. I was traveling around 60 or 70 though. I didn't really push it.

Then again, a Taurus is more aerodynamic than a travel trailer. At what speeds were you planning on traveling? I guess if you're traveling far, you would want to speed around 70 - 85 MPH as most do out in the west (especially since your speed limits are higher).

I honestly would have done it myself. It's within the weight limit. You'll probably be going to around 4 - 5 thousand RPM when accelerating but that's accelerating. I had to do that when I was towing with that many people in the car. My car's fine at 54K miles after 3 road trips to Florida (1100 miles one way), 1 to Canada (550 miles one way), and 2 to New York city (210 miles one way) a week before a Florida road trip I might add. Only issue I ever had with the drivetrain is PTU leak which is just a common issue and I thought my rear axle was weeping oil but it wasn't.

At altitude though, I'm not sure, but the wind resistance would be less up at higher altitudes anyway. I doubt you'll be cruising at 4K RPMs unless if you're at higher altitudes. If you cruise at 55 or 60 MPH, I wouldn't worry too much about the wind resistance.

By the way, you probably have the selectshift so you could just put it into manual mode and shift up if it's holding the gear for no reason.

Warning though, I'm a person who likes to push my cars to the limit. All those road trips I had, I have like 4 plugs in the tires, not patches. I probably ran 100 pounds or so overweight last road trip I did so... If you care about your Explorer, you probably shouldn't take my advice lol. But despite the abuse, the Explorer still runs like new, except for the suspension being a little bouncy now.

 

[dooger54]

Speed limit out west is mostly 75 and it wouldn't go that fast, but its somewhat dangerous to go too slow also. I can't see going less than maybe 65 or so. Prefer 70 but that may not be realistic.

 

[Josh P]

Speed limit out west is mostly 75 and it wouldn't go that fast, but its somewhat dangerous to go too slow also. I can't see going less than maybe 65 or so. Prefer 70 but that may not be realistic.

Where you going in Arizona? Flagstaff wouldn't be bad but anything west of there or south of I40 would be a long miserable slow ride on on the return trip.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

Wow- 3 for 3 say don't do it. Geez guys- not what I wanted to hear. But I wanted honest opinions and experienced info. So I got it. Thinking seriously now about not going ahead with that trailer.

Got a buddy with a trailer about the same size or maybe ask the dealer for a test tug? Maybe rent one for a weekend? Give it try. See how it goes.

What's your towing experience?

 

[dooger54]

Where you going in Arizona? Flagstaff wouldn't be bad but anything west of there or south of I40 would be a long miserable slow ride on on the return trip.

Winter home in Tucson. Going between here and central Illinois.

 

[dooger54]

Got a buddy with a trailer about the same size or maybe ask the dealer for a test tug? Maybe rent one for a weekend? Give it try. See how it goes.

What's your towing experience?

Yea, thought about asking dealer for test tow. I have long experience with towing. I have a 26' car hauler at home in Illinois that I haul classic cars in, been doing it for 15 years.

I have a Navigator in Illinois to use once I get there. Just getting unit from AZ that I wanted to use Explorer. When using the trailer out of IL I would use the Navi.

 

[Josh P]

Yea, thought about asking dealer for test tow. I have long experience with towing. I have a 26' car hauler at home in Illinois that I haul classic cars in, been doing it for 15 years.

I have a Navigator in Illinois to use once I get there. Just getting unit from AZ that I wanted to use Explorer. When using the trailer out of IL I would use the Navi.

I would tow with it. My Aerostar van is rated to tow as much as your explorer, with a motor that makes less power. I was a truck driver and ran AZ to IL weekly for years. I'd keep the speed down to reduce the drag and run a nice scenic route like US 54 so I wouldn't get run over.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

I'd probably tow it too...once... at least to see how it goes but regularly, not so sure. IMO, there aren't many 1/2 ton (ish) suv's that I would want to tow with regularly. Even Navigators, suburbans, yukons, etc. are really more suited for every weekend type duty rather than daily, i.e. 3-4 days across 1700 miles on a road trip and back on a regular basis.

OP - push for the dealer to let you try a test pull. You should know by now what to look for. I'm sure you'll learn a quite a bit from the test.

 

[BMan5150]

Regular basis? Not recommended. Twice per year? Maybe. EB v6 will even need to muscle up in some circumstances with a tall travel trailer. I regularly tow my 3500lb boat and it handles this aerodynamic load very, very well. Braking, handling and acceleration are all excellent.

 

[fyrfyter612]

Regular basis? Not recommended. Twice per year? Maybe. EB v6 will even need to muscle up in some circumstances with a tall travel trailer. I regularly tow my 3500lb boat and it handles this aerodynamic load very, very well. Braking, handling and acceleration are all excellent.

Is that with 3.5 NA or 3.5 ECO? I just purchased 2013 XLT with 3.5 NA and tow a 19 ft. fish/ski boat. It does have tow package. BTW...from Ohio also.

 

[Lewisra]

I've been towing travel trailers for nearly 30 years. You'll do it once, unless you are in no hurry. You might want to search on rv.net to get a better insight on towing with your explorer. Please be sure to use a weight distributing hitch and sway control. Be prepared to stop every couple of hours for gas. At 70mph you'll be lucky to get much over 10mpg.

 

[BMan5150]

Is that with 3.5 NA or 3.5 ECO? I just purchased 2013 XLT with 3.5 NA and tow a 19 ft. fish/ski boat. It does have tow package. BTW...from Ohio also.

Ecoboost. I have an explorer sport. I think the NA 3.5L would pull my boat OK but the extra torque from the ecoboost really makes it easy towing. The other thing I tell people when discussing towing is I had two previous Honda pilots that had 3.5L NA v6 motors. My ex sport gets the same overall mileage and slightly better towing mileage as both pilots. And the transmission never hunts for years even when towing in hilly areas of Kentucky and Tennessee.

 

[Tuscany]

I regularly tow my 3500lb boat and it handles this aerodynamic load very, very well. Braking, handling and acceleration are all excellent.

:scratch:There is no aerodynamic load with a boat...