97, 4 door, AT, 4WD, 3.73, 4.0V6-want to tow a horse

New to towing and have a horse we want to tow in a single horse trailer. Do not have a frame mounted trailer hitch, but am starting to look for one--any leads on what to look for? This rig does have the auxiliary tranny cooler.

What do I need to do?

 

[jmden]

frame mounted hitch...

Looks like the DrawTite hitch 75096 would be the way to go for a good heavy duty hitch:

http://www.draw-tite.com/content/products.aspx?lvl=3&parentid=0&catID=1040&part=75096

 

[thebrakeman]

Looking around, it seems a 1-horse trailer is going to be at least 2000 lbs empty. The nice ones I saw (Equispirit?) were 2800, but there were really 2-horse units with 1 bay designed as a tack/dressing area. I don't know horses, but these units said that the typical loaded trailer (1 horse plus equipment) would be around 4500. Even if you had a smaller/lighter trailer, and put more equipment in the Explorer, that simply reduces your available tow rating.

So, figuring on 4000+ lbs of trailer, horse, and equipment, You should be sure you have the 5500 lb tow limit on that Explorer. I suspect you needed the 4.10 gearing back then to get that rating.

Speaking of rating, have you looked at your owners manual to determine what your actual tow rating is with the 3.73 axles?

 

[thebrakeman]

Be sure this trailer has proper brakes, and that you have the Explorer outfitted with an electric brake controller. You'll also need a WDH kit to handle the tongue weight. If the WDH does not have integrated sway control, you'll want friction sway controller so the horse doesn't barf in his feed bag.

 

[jmden]

Looking around, it seems a 1-horse trailer is going to be at least 2000 lbs empty. The nice ones I saw (Equispirit?) were 2800, but there were really 2-horse units with 1 bay designed as a tack/dressing area. I don't know horses, but these units said that the typical loaded trailer (1 horse plus equipment) would be around 4500. Even if you had a smaller/lighter trailer, and put more equipment in the Explorer, that simply reduces your available tow rating.

So, figuring on 4000+ lbs of trailer, horse, and equipment, You should be sure you have the 5500 lb tow limit on that Explorer. I suspect you needed the 4.10 gearing back then to get that rating.

Speaking of rating, have you looked at your owners manual to determine what your actual tow rating is with the 3.73 axles?

It's a D4 axle, which I understand to be a 3.73. In my owner's manual the 3.73 and the 4.10 have the same towing capacity--5600lbs. (manual says 5600, not 5500). Horse towing sites put most single horse trailers in the 1200-1800lb weight...

 

[jmden]

Be sure this trailer has proper brakes, and that you have the Explorer outfitted with an electric brake controller. You'll also need a WDH kit to handle the tongue weight. If the WDH does not have integrated sway control, you'll want friction sway controller so the horse doesn't barf in his feed bag.

Will keep that in mind. Anything that much combined weight on this vehicle will definitely need trailer brakes with proper controller.

Are these electric controllers pretty universal or are they 'tuned' to a particular trailer weight with certain axle configuration, etc.?

I still have a tough time visualizing how a WDH helps with the tongue weight...

 

[jmden]

Am looking at the Rancho RS9000XL adjustable shocks for the rear of my vehicle to help when towing. Anyone used these in this application or other towing applications?

 

[jmden]

What about helper springs or airbags for towing? Any suggestions of one over the other? I like the idea of the adjustability of airbags. Is there a known airbag kit that will work well on a 97 Explorer?

 

[429CJ-3X2]

I don't have any experience with 1-horse trailers, but 2-horse trailers with tandem axles are pretty stable. The tandem axles are situated such that the trailer is pretty well balanced, loaded or empty. Tandem axle horse trailers generally come with electric brakes. I would think a no frills, 1-horse single axle trailer would weigh 1500-2000 lbs, but that's just a guess. My single axle 6x12 enclosed cargo trailer weighs around 1300. A horse trailer would no doubt weigh more.
The average horse is probably 800 to 1000 pounds. If your horse weighs more than 1100-1200 lbs, you probably need a bigger than average trailer. A large western saddle is well under 50 lbs.

Figuring on the heavy side, 2500 lb trailer + 1000 lb horse + 100 lb of tack = 3600 lbs. Add hay/feed and you're still likely well under 4000 lbs. But like Brakeman always says, weigh everything to be sure. Don't just guess and assume like I just did. And definitely get a trailer that has electric brakes! Even an empty light weight open trailer adds to your stopping distance.

 

[jmden]

Air Lift air bags for 97 Explorer...

http://www.airliftcompany.com/vehicles/ford/explorer/1997/

Looks like this might be the way to go. Anyone know of any good deals on this kit? Anyone just used a bicycle tire pump with guage on it to adjust these? Just throw the pump in the trailer to adjust as needed--airbags are very small so, it shouldn't take much air to adjust em.

 

[jmden]

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index...currency=USD&gclid=CNG2_baqyLwCFY17fgodeAYA8w

These are much cheaper and have less suspension issues (air bags limit suspension travel--if you off road much, this could be and issue) while being much easier to install.

 

[thebrakeman]

No, no, no.
Once you reach a certain weight trailer and/or tongue weight you need a WDH, not suspension mods like helper springs, air bags, etc.
Suspension mods only level out the load, compensating for payload mostly over the rear axle. But tongue weight is applied roughly 4 feet or more behind the rear axle. This means weight is being removed from the front wheels, leading to potential stability problems. The suspension modes can do nothing to regain these loses.

That's what the WDH kit does....transfer lost weight back onto the front wheels, for proper stability/steering/etc.

 

[jmden]

No, no, no.
Once you reach a certain weight trailer and/or tongue weight you need a WDH, not suspension mods like helper springs, air bags, etc.
Suspension mods only level out the load, compensating for payload mostly over the rear axle. But tongue weight is applied roughly 4 feet or more behind the rear axle. This means weight is being removed from the front wheels, leading to potential stability problems. The suspension modes can do nothing to regain these loses.

That's what the WDH kit does....transfer lost weight back onto the front wheels, for proper stability/steering/etc.

Yep, understand all that and will be doing it. The helper spring just helps with cargo weight and some of the tongue weight. This old '97 starts to sag in the back pretty quick with much weight, cargo and/or tongue weight. Definietly will be using a weight distribution hitch.

 

[thebrakeman]

Ah, yes. Many old things start to sag, don't they (tongue-in-cheek).