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Towing 2500 lbs

C5 Pewter Coupe

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City, State
Cascadia, OR
Year, Model & Trim Level
01 Sport 4x4
The wife and I towed with our 01 XLT 4.0 SOHC and 4.10 geared towing package equipped Explorer about 2500 lbs from Seattle to Durham NC in the middle of Jan.. absolutely no problems with the Ex, plenty of power going over the Montana Rockies. It would shift from OD to 4th then the torque converter would lock back up and we'd continute up the steeper hills at 70 mph..

anyone that says you need a V8 to tow with, hasn't towed with the towing package equipped 4.0 SOHC's...
 



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Amen. We tow my son'd Jeep on a flat bed trailer behind my SOHC quite often with no problems.

Just curious: what mileage did you get? Mine goes South when towing.
 






mileage was horrid, between 12 to 15 mpg. U Haul said it was a 4 door Taurus that towed it(in reality we used my brothers Ranger to rent the trailer then hooked it to my Ex for the trip across the country) it was a 5x8 single axle that was completely filled, and the back of the Ex was full with about 1.5" of rear suspension travel available with the tongue weight of the trailer on it..
 












Well my dad has to have the 5.0 to tow 5400 lbs of boat + trailer. He gets like 11 mpg pulling it.

Isn't the V6 max around 3500 lbs?
 






I pull just under 6000 with the trailer and B2 and always average about 11 MPG. Never had a problem except for those long gradual grades. The most mph I have ever lost on a hill is 15. Its the tranny you have to worry about, not the HP.;)
 

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The 4.10 axle makes all the difference towing. However, there is not much air drag/frontal area with a U-Haul. The 4.10 is a great towing axle!

Hook up to a square frontal travel trailer and it will be like dragging a large heavy piece of plywood down the road. Then you will see a big difference in gas milage, regarding of tow vehicle.- Mike
 






Originally posted by C5 Pewter Coupe
It would shift from OD to 4th then the torque converter would lock back up and we'd continute up the steeper hills at 70 mph

My understanding, limited that it is, is that OD is supposed to be locked out when towing. Apparently you had no problems towing in OD?

T113
 












Originally posted by MikeTEC
The 4.10 axle makes all the difference towing. However, there is not much air drag/frontal area with a U-Haul. The 4.10 is a great towing axle!

Hook up to a square frontal travel trailer and it will be like dragging a large heavy piece of plywood down the road. Then you will see a big difference in gas milage, regarding of tow vehicle.- Mike


Ha, Ha I tow this thing in the summer time which approximates your heavy piece of plywood. It weighs approx 1800 empty, 2200 - 2500 loaded with camping gear and water in the 30 gal tank. I have gotten 10mpg on two different trips while traveling 60 -65 on slight uphill grades. The climb from Sac to this site at Ice House Reservoir is about 5200 feet elevation change in about 60 miles. When the "Check Gage" light comes on to indicate that the fuel is low, I take it seriously. ;)
 

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Dogfriend: And the trailer in your pic has more of a rounded front, which facilitates air drag.

My wife and I have been towing travel trailers 35 plus years. Hook up a typical 18'-23' travel trailer that has a square front which weights 4k-5k lbs, loaded, plus gear in your explorer and you will REALLY notice your gas gausge in "free fall".

Mike
 












Well since everyone is posting pics.....

ready+to+tow.jpg
 






Re: Re: Towing 2500 lbs

Originally posted by trooper113
My understanding, limited that it is, is that OD is supposed to be locked out when towing. Apparently you had no problems towing in OD?

T113

Didn't have any problems in OD.. when I had to slow down to under 60(not too often) I'd take it out of OD, but normally just left it in..
 






Originally posted by JL 3x12 Xplorer
Well since everyone is posting pics.....

holysnikes...that boat makes your explorer look like a toy car
 






MAN how well does that X pull the boat out of the water? The ramps around me are steep as hell
 






LOL...I am king of towing with explorers...I once had to tow a double car hauler, with 2 cars on it, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000 + lbs, with the 91...it towed it okay, but was definatly stressing it a little...I didnt take any pics tho :( Luckily I only had to tow that rig about 30 miles, and I think I got somewhere around 7-8mpg doing it. Most I have towed with the '97 was my Corvair project car on a fairly light trailer, probably somewhere around 4000 lbs. Averaged about 14mpg with this. And I have a pic so ill post it...
 

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Originally posted by TheRookie
MAN how well does that X pull the boat out of the water? The ramps around me are steep as hell

It does alright, its AWD and has the 3.73 LS rear end.
 



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Why the &*() are you guys pulling a trailor in OD. That is the quickest way to burn the transmissoin up even if you are geared at 4.10.
 






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