towing with a tow dolly

[pmcsr1]

will a 2004 explorer "eddie bauer "tow a 2002 sebring convertable safely ? u-haul will not let me

 

[Donystoy]

I have never towed with a tow dolly but wouldn't hesitate to try it if the need came up. I occasionally tow a 5 x 12 tandem trailer with a 3000 lb. backhoe in it without any issues with my 4.6 liter Explorer. I also have a 25 foot house trailer that I tow sometimes. Just never tow more weight than the tow vehicle. Do tow dolly's come with electric brakes?

 

[fordysenior]

ahhh, the lovely "u-haul" -- last I heard from a few years ago, they will not rent to anyone using a Ford Explorer as a tow vehicle. It stems from a recall and some instances from around the year 2000 where apparently Explorers towing Uhauls would crash. And the "recall" was for Explorers using certain brands of tires, such as Firestone was one of them. I wasn't an Explorer owner at the time, but I have tried renting from Uhaul since then and was told "no", even though my year of Explorer is newer than the recalled vehicles. . So I use their competitors and ignore them. But a "recall" only if you're using certain brands of tires doesn't sound like much of an appropriate recall to me.
Here's a link -- Firestone and Ford tire controversy - Wikipedia
And before posting this, I called Udonthaul and asked them about my 2002 as a tow vehicle. On the phone, they were difficult to talk to and get any information -- very unintelligent conversation. And in the end, they said they would not rent a trailer to me.

 

[pmcsr1]

I have never towed with a tow dolly but wouldn't hesitate to try it if the need came up. I occasionally tow a 5 x 12 tandem trailer with a 3000 lb. backhoe in it without any issues with my 4.6 liter Explorer. I also have a 25 foot house trailer that I tow sometimes. Just never tow more weight than the tow vehicle. Do tow dolly's come with electric brakes?

some do ,from what i have read when looking to buy one,not sure about rentals

ahhh, the lovely "u-haul" -- last I heard from a few years ago, they will not rent to anyone using a Ford Explorer as a tow vehicle. It stems from a recall and some instances from around the year 2000 where apparently Explorers towing Uhauls would crash. And the "recall" was for Explorers using certain brands of tires, such as Firestone was one of them. I wasn't an Explorer owner at the time, but I have tried renting from Uhaul since then and was told "no", even though my year of Explorer is newer than the recalled vehicles. . So I use their competitors and ignore them. But a "recall" only if you're using certain brands of tires doesn't sound like much of an appropriate recall to me.
Here's a link -- Firestone and Ford tire controversy - Wikipedia
And before posting this, I called Udonthaul and asked them about my 2002 as a tow vehicle. On the phone, they were difficult to talk to and get any information -- very unintelligent conversation. And in the end, they said they would not rent a trailer to me.

thanks,i have read you can with a 2011 or newer explorer,they claim too many lawsuits with rollovers on earlier years

 

[Donystoy]

I remember those days of the controversy of the Explorer roll overs and Firestone. It was all prior to 2002 and the vehicle was changed radically because of all the media hype. The 2002 - 2010 is a full frame truck like chassis which is considerably more capable of towing than the 2011 and newer in my opinion. In fact I have been looking for a 2010 low mileage Explorer for that very reason. Unfortunately everything I have seen is in worse condition than mine.

 

[pmcsr1]

I remember those days of the controversy of the Explorer roll overs and Firestone. It was all prior to 2002 and the vehicle was changed radically because of all the media hype. The 2002 - 2010 is a full frame truck like chassis which is considerably more capable of towing than the 2011 and newer in my opinion. In fact I have been looking for a 2010 low mileage Explorer for that very reason. Unfortunately everything I have seen is in worse condition.

thanks for the info .

 

[Mbrooks420]

Just tell them you have a Mountaineer when you make the reservation. Or, make the reservation online and pick it up with the app.

Which motor do you have? What’s your actually tow rating? You can get different spring rates and gear ratios that sometimes effect the rating significantly.

 

[pmcsr1]

Just tell them you have a Mountaineer when you make the reservation. Or, make the reservation online and pick it up with the app.

Which motor do you have? What’s your actually tow rating? You can get different spring rates and gear ratios that sometimes effect the rating significantly.

do not have one ,was researching before buying .i will look for a newer one, i discoverad the problem was with Firestone tires as they said to lower the tire pressure to 28 psi,also due to to poor driving habita ,,as i was told

 

[Mbrooks420]

It was actually 26. It wasn’t Firestone’s idea. Any mountaineer can rent trailers. I’d look for a 4.6.

 

[pmcsr1]

It was actually 26. It wasn’t Firestone’s idea. Any mountaineer can rent trailers. I’d look for a 4.6.

thanks......

 

[Mbrooks420]

Research the 4.0 and you’ll see why I recommend the V8..........

 

[pmcsr1]

Research the 4.0 and you’ll see why I recommend the V8..........

ok,,,

 

[mountaineer2004]

Ford was foolish to recommend 26 PSI.
It's just too close to the tire failure point.
All for the sake of a smoother ride.

 

[Joe in NY]

Cause ever since the mid 90s Ford has sucked at making a decent riding vehicle. Our 94 Explorer smooth, 98 Mountaineer like a truck unless towing, my 02 Explorer like a truck unless towing, grandmothers 14 edge like a truck no matter what, aunts edge, focus, and focus hatch all like trucks. Don't know what happened but fords suck to ride in now.

To help cover it Ford set the tire pressure extremely low even though Firestone protested. Don't know how the hell ford won that case...

Even still some Firestone dealers will NOT put their tires on explorers from 90s and early 2000s. Thankfully my local Firestone has no problem putting oversized A/Ts on mine.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Cause ever since the mid 90s Ford has sucked at making a decent riding vehicle. Our 94 Explorer smooth, 98 Mountaineer like a truck unless towing, my 02 Explorer like a truck unless towing, grandmothers 14 edge like a truck no matter what, aunts edge, focus, and focus hatch all like trucks. Don't know what happened but fords suck to ride in now.

To help cover it Ford set the tire pressure extremely low even though Firestone protested. Don't know how the hell ford won that case...

Even still some Firestone dealers will NOT put their tires on explorers from 90s and early 2000s. Thankfully my local Firestone has no problem putting oversized A/Ts on mine.

Firestone was also to blame. It wasn’t STRICTLY the PSI issue. There were faults in the tires due to employee dissatisfaction, union breakdowns, non union labor being brought in, and using questionable materials. Ford didn’t “win”. They both paid out tons of money over the issue.

Second gens ride is poor due to the t-bar suspension. I’ve driven in several newer Fords that had very good ride quality, including the Edge, Focus, F150s, Fusions, and Escapes.

I loved my Escape ride and traction wise. I pushed that thing way too hard, and it mostly took it. Granted, I *did* roll it over.

 

[TechGuru]

I've towed 5000lbs just fine (with electric trailer brakes).