What do you tow with your 5th gen. Explorer? | Page 7 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

What do you tow with your 5th gen. Explorer?

Brake controller

Guys, quick question for you...My Explorer Sport will arrive on May 20th and I will use it with a 4,500lbs trailer with electric brake. Do the Explorer support electric brake or not? Do I have to buy a brake controller? If yes, is it pre-wired?

Thanks in advance

If you have a tow package, it is prewired. On my 2014 Limited, the plug is on the left side just above the parking brake. I got a Tekonsha P3 controller w/the Ford wiring adapter from etrailer.com. Took me 10 minutes to install and it works great.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





No one's towing travel trailers? We've since changed our minds and looking at the Roo 17 or 19 but would still like to know about anyone experiences pulling trailers.
 






I am towing a Jayco Jayfeather X17Z Hybrid travel Trailer. Max weight: 3500, tow it at about 3200 pounds. Haven't taken it on a long trip yet, only towed it to the dealer for spring maintenance but the Explorer has plenty of power to tow it and had no issues on my short trip on the interstate (I used to tow it with a 2010 Escape)
 






Here's what i tow. I think wet weight is around 3200 lbs
(dead links)
 






20140412_111833_zps9bd1c9fd.jpg
 






We tow a 3300lb (dry) 19' Hybrid Travel Trailer with ours.

It has electronic brakes so I have a Tekonsha brake controller (simple install if you have the tow package - just need a tekonsha --> ford harness cable).

As other say it takes a little bit to get up to speed, certainly not the same as driving without it, but we did about 2500kms total of towing last year.

Keep in mind with a travel trailer your gas consumption will go WAY up because of the weight and the wind resistance (this happens in Trucks too). And you'll want to use a weight distributing hitch for anything close to 3500 lbs.

The only thing you can really tow "like it's not even there" is a tent trailer as it's lighter and doesn't have the wind resistance.

Overall I've been very happy with ours when it comes to towing - just remember it's not a truck and don't get something too big. 3500lbs dry is probably about your max for a 5000lb capable vehicle since every pound of weight in the vehicle other than the driver comes off of the towing capacity spec - so if you load up 4 people and stuff in the car you're now down to 4500lbs say because GVWR comes into play.

If you want to know the ins and outs of towing and capacities though there's other places for that. :)
 






I am pulling a Starcraft ar-one 19fb hybrid. 3,200 lbs dry. Haven't gone far but will be taking it 10 hrs down to Georgia.

For those of you with brake controllers where do u have them mounted. Where I have mine i occasionally bump it when I go from the brake to the gas so I need to relocate it
 












Pulls 2 yds of mulch pretty well

(dead links)
 






I tow my motorcycle race trailer. It is a 10x12 V nose with 2 bikes and my gear for the weekend. Between the trailer, bikes, and gear I am around 3500K pounds. Thankfully I got the sport so getting up to speed is no issue. Thankfully I also got navigation so I can plot the next gas station. HA HA.

I go from around 18-19 combined to around 11 when towing. Not that bad of a drop off considering my grand Cherokee went from 22 combined to 12 for towing. Even with the v nose it is still like pulling an air brake behind me.
 






Hail To The King!

WP_20141002_002_zpsbb2d95a3.jpg


Trailer Tare weight: 700KGS (1543LBS) Towed Explorer Tare weight 1874KGS (4131LBS)

Total Towed Weight: (2574KGS) 5675LBS.

Total Transfer distance: 160 Kilometres or 100 Miles of mostly flat highway with some moderate to steep inclines.

Fuel consumed: 1/2 tank 98 octane premium unleaded.

Fun had: Much!

If you're going to try this I suggest you watch your Auto Trans temp particularly if you're doing a lot of stopping/starting.
 






Nothing, I don't have a tow package.
 






Bumping this thread as I'm curious of any new stuff people have to share. I'm looking to get a travel trailer. I have the tow package on my 2013 XLT, so I'm good up to 5000lbs.

Almost completely new to towing, so looking through all of this stuff closely.

Thanks
 






I have posted mostly disapoint on the forum due to issues shortly after my purchase. I want to share a positive note about my explorer. I purchased a '19 bunk house travel trailer #3600lbs. Dry a coule of months ago and the Explorer is a charm to drive on trips. The vehicle asks for more on the hwy and is easy to manuver the trailer around camp grounds. I purchased the sport package for the towing and so far I am extremly pleased with this aspect of my purchase. Also, have weight distribution hitch and brake controller.

JK
 












I have posted mostly disapoint on the forum due to issues shortly after my purchase. I want to share a positive note about my explorer. I purchased a '19 bunk house travel trailer #3600lbs. Dry a coule of months ago and the Explorer is a charm to drive on trips. The vehicle asks for more on the hwy and is easy to manuver the trailer around camp grounds. I purchased the sport package for the towing and so far I am extremly pleased with this aspect of my purchase. Also, have weight distribution hitch and brake controller.

JK

This is great to hear. We've been considering buying something like you describe, but I have next to 0 towing experience. I have a2013 xlt with towing package.

Which camper do you have?
 












New here. But long-time researcher. I have a 2012 Ex Limited AWD with NO tow package (no BLIS). Had the Dealer body shop install the OEM Class III hitch along with the 7pin/4pin wire harness (with BLIS, more on that later). I installed the Tow button next to the power lift-gate button and installed the P3 Tekonsha Brake controller. Looks like the non-tow-package Limited was pre-wired for the brake controller. My last mod is to install a additional transmission cooler. But I have a trans temp monitor to validate if I'll even need that.

I'm looking to purchase a TT but still working out which one.

About the wire-harness. That was the toughest part to find. My model for whatever reason doesn't have a listed wire harness that has 7/4 pin connectors but without BLIS. I took a chance and can confirm that my key fob still opens tailgate and the added unused BLIS connectors don't affect the remainder of the system.

Wire harness P/N I used is BB5Z-15K868-M. The Tow button part I used was BB5Z-13D730-CA.

I am very pleased with all the work done as it looks very clean.
-Chris
 






Just keep in mind Chris that the legal tow rating is still 2000 lbs.

Peter
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





You definitely want a trans + oil cooler if towing anywhere near 5000lbs

I only saw a few guys mention towing travel trailers.. I was looking at possibly towing a small one but they all seem to have a tongue weight of 500lbs which is the max the X can handle. Plus most trailers easy creep up on the 5000lb max weight. On a side note, I did buy an 80" air mattress that fits perfectly with the 2nd and 3rd rows down haha
 






Back
Top