Camp trailer weight towing question!

Hello all! Ok, I have a 1998 Mountaineer with a 5.0 V-8 AWD. Has 252,000 on the clock & doing great. I'd like to buy a 18 to 20 ft camping trailer & tow it out to some property. I wouldnt be going more than maybe 50 miles, and I don't need to have the trailer loaded up with stuff for the tow. I don't want to tax the "Mounty" any more than I have to! I had U-Haul outfit it last year with a hitch that I used to tow a full on car hauler (not a dolly) with a Fiat X1/9 about 360 miles & had no problems with that tow. Total weight of car and trailer was just under 4,000 lbs if I remember right, and the car hauler had no trailer brakes on it. What's the most trailer weight I should tow? Think I'm ok for this tow? If need be I'll install an electric brake system, and the Mounty does have a trans cooler. I'd love some feedback to make sure I'm not out of my mind for doing this! Thanks everybody!

 

[wifes2011xlt]

This sticky might help.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176988

Charts are for Explorers so someone will have to chime in on whether the charts also apply to Mounties.

Keep in mind though that there is much more to towing than asking "how much can I pull".

 

[thebrakeman]

This sticky might help.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176988

Charts are for Explorers so someone will have to chime in on whether the charts also apply to Mounties.

Keep in mind though that there is much more to towing than asking "how much can I pull".

x2
You need to pull out the owner's manual, or otherwise, find out what your tow rating is. V8 Explorers/Mountaineers were notorious for not having HD towing package, and therefore being limited to 3500 lbs. That vintage (2nd gen) saw more optional gearing, up to 4.10 IIRC, but not likely in the Mercury version.

3rd and 4th gen could easily tell I you had the HD tow package by the size of the integrated receiver hitch. But 1st & 2nd gen models didn't have that.

Outside of getting a published number, I would say you are OK with a popup camper up to 3000lbs loaded. If you can convince yourself that you have adequate cooling and/or gearing, then 4000 lbs might be OK.

But again, please try to find your owner's manual, and find out for sure.

PS - 4000lbs of car and trailer should NOT have been towed behind your Mounty without functioning trailer brakes. I'm a braking engineer, and I promise you that your brakes were not designed to handle that much combined weight. They were only designed to handle up to the truck's GVWR, which is around 6200lbs, I believe (my '06 is 6400). You were probably moving 9000+ combined!

 

[wifes2011xlt]

In my state, brakes are required for trailers weighing over 3500lbs. Check your state laws.

 

[mounty1998]

U-haul let me do it!

Thanks for the input everybody! As far as my last towing venture, U-haul set me up with the car hauling trailer and also installed the reciever hitch as the one on the bumper wasn't going to cut it! Honestly, I was surprised they let it fly! On the side, the towing went fine and I had no issues! But once again thanks for the input everybody!

 

[wifes2011xlt]

If you rented a car hauler from Uhaul, it probably had surge brakes.

 

[mounty1998]

Surge brakes

Ok, I did my homework and the car hauler did have surge brakes. The hauler itself weighed 2210 lbs & the car I had on it weighed 1940 lbs. Total weight would be...4150 lbs. I'm thinking trailer brakes are a good thing! I thought this whole show handled pretty well for being as heavy as it was! My intent is to pull this camp trailer to some property and park it. No big road trip or anything like that. I've seen some people tow some fairly large looking camping trailers with Explorers and wondered how they managed it safely! Thanks everybody!

 

[thebrakeman]

Explorers have a strong structure, and they got stronger as the year went on thru 2010. It's the powertrain (engine, trans, gearing, cooling) that makes the difference in towing ability.