Boat Towing

[feetwet]

I'm considering a used '06 or '07 V8 explorer as a better tow vehicle than my jeep liberty v6.

Are you happy with the Explorer for towing your boat? Do you really feel the boat back there or not so much? If you had to do it all over again, would you still buy the explorer to tow your boat or consider a full-size SUV (1/2 ton) or pickup?

My liberty is a little bumpy when towing and has to be driven with the overdrive off when towing, so it gets noisy on the highway.

Any key problems with explorers of this category I should be aware of?

Thanks!

 

[heathmo]

Works well

Granted I've got a 99 Sport with a 3.27 gear ratio but it does well towing both my stepbrother's boat and his dad's Crappie Boat. I'm limited to less than 3200lbs payload though. With the V8 and hopefully better gear ratios you can tow plenty, I believe up to the maximum capacity of a Class III hitch. How much does your boat weigh? That's a big factor, I'm guessing not much since you had a Liberty towing it. Bigger boats need bigger trucks, but the Explorer does very well for its size. And I've got the 4.0L SOHC V6.

 

[dothedeww]

Well I have an 06 V6..and I was hauling a trailer full of stumps...probably around 4000lbs...and couldnt even feel it back there. I little bumpy up hills...but other than that it pulled fine. Acceleration was great and braking was amazing...and I dont have the brake controller, just the little 1 1/4" hitch.

4000 prolly wasnt good for my X...but it did it, no problem. I imagine the V8 would do even better.

 

[feetwet]

My 17' fish-n-ski boat is under 3000# (the liberty is rated for up to 5000#).. but the short wheel base and hihg-revving highway towing are not to my liking.

There's a good chance I'd move up to a 19-21' boat in the future and I'd like to be able to handle that.

 

[dothedeww]

Ya. When towing my 4000lbs of wood....I felt like i was crusing on the highway...RPM's stayed stable and didnt rev very high...that 5 spd in the v6 is great for towing....the 6 speed in the v8 must be amazing..as long as you have the "bump" issue takin care of.

 

[bojans]

I am comfortable towing around 5,000 with my 06 V8, after that I am wishing for more power. My experience has been with anything over about 1,000 lbs (depending on the terrain and the profile of your trailer) you need to take the vehicle out of OD. My one complaint is that when you de-activate the OD it pulls you down to 4th gear, running the engine at a higher R than needed, 5th would probably work for anything under 3k-4k, again depending on the profile of the trailer. You will be happy with the towing of a 3k boat, if you are going to start pushing into the 5k range later you may want to look at an Expedition or Tahoe sized vehicle with a larger engine.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I pulled my 2003 Four Winns Horizon 180 with my 2003 Explorer V6, and didn't even know it was back there when driving. I had no issues whatsoever, it was a 2,400 lbs. boat plus the trailer...

 

[LVmounty]

The explorer/Mountaineer V8 w/ tow package can tow up to 7000lbs. If I was in your position I would look at a bigger vehicle. I would go for either the Tahoe or expedition, that way if you get a bigger boat in the future you dont have to worry about towing at your limit. It is always better to have more vehicle than you need for safety purposes.

 

[LouZ]

What's the total weight of the boat and trailer? I tow my 3000# car on a 1900# trailer to racetracks up and down the East coast using my '06 V6 with the towing package. On the highway, 85 - 90 MPH is just fine. In the hills, it will downshift and run @ 5000 RPM, but I don't slow down!

 

[JohnnyO]

Even a V6 Explorer would handle that. I tow a jetski, admittedly not as heavy (about 1000# full of gas) with my V6 Sport Trac but I borrowed my BIL's enclosed motorcycle trailer last year to move my kids back to PA with me, loaded and I do mean packed, it was probably close to 3000# and I didn't have any issues.

 

[mithesaint]

What's the total weight of the boat and trailer? I tow my 3000# car on a 1900# trailer to racetracks up and down the East coast using my '06 V6 with the towing package. On the highway, 85 - 90 MPH is just fine. In the hills, it will downshift and run @ 5000 RPM, but I don't slow down!

Maybe I'm just old and grumpy, but somehow a 4500 lb SUV towing almost 5000 lbs behind it at "85-90 mph" doesn't seem "just fine". Slow down dude!

Sure it pulls just fine, but just wait till you have to try to stop that much weight going that fast. Hope you have your legal affairs in order.