98 5.0 AWD.... what can I safely tow

[bs46488]

Any opinions on receiver hitches?

I'm looking at the Hidden Hitch Class III Round tube or the Reese Class III-IV "Professional." About the same price.

They both claim to tow the same, I guess the only difference would be look?

Any preferences?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

If in doubt, go with the heavier III/VI hitch, it wont hurt to have the extra strength.

 

[Lloyd10977]

Reese Hitch

I just purchased and installed a Reese MULTIFIT Hitch, model #37051HD. It is the tound tube class III and I LOVE the look. Even though my '95 Limited has the squarish appearance, the round-tube really looks sharp and does not have the appearance of an add-on. In fact, it is almost invisible. Hooked up my camping trailer and and towed it for a 300mile roundtrip. Best way for me to describe this experience is SWEET! I've towed ths trailer on the bumper hitch before and the difference was quite a surprise.

 

[smiley1]

how big and how heavy is your trailer?

 

[Lloyd10977]

how big and how heavy is your trailer?

My trailer is a COLEMAN WILLIAMSBURG. It is the top of the line pop up and when fully loaded (water amd the usual gear) total weight comes to 3225# with a 200# tongue weight.

 

[smiley1]

Thanks for the info.

If I thought I could have pulled our trailer safely, I would still have our X.

 

[joecrna]

We went to Crater Lake this spring. The Explorer did fine, the tranny never gets hot and power is adequate. I don't know why, several Explorers seem to struggle on grades more. Ours doesn't perform any better than most when empty. It's a 98 SOHC with 3.73 gears and 31x10.5 tires. We off-road it and are in the middle of a build-up to tow significantly more. This trip the trailer was 5000lbs even, GCVW 11,100 by a Caltrans referee scale. The scale operater about choked when the numbers came in. I know there are all kinds of reasons not to tow more but Im addressing all except weight and wheelbase of coarse. MPG was horrible 7.7-7.8 running 65mph. The trailer is a 22ft Hi-Lo. You trade profile for weight. Next up, Airstream with slides and triple axles.