Max Weight to Tow

[3car]

Sorry for the crappy pics.

This is me cruising down the highway at 75mph...

And this is what I'm towing. A 2000 Mustang GT that weighs 3200lbs + a flatbed trailor.


Everybody told me I couldn't do it, she handled it just fine. I'm willing to bet this was just a little more than 5000lbs. Not bad for "Just a V6" explorer eh?

By the way, I towed it a total of 500 miles.

my guess is that you have that mustang backwards on the trailer because loaded correctly theres too much tounge weight. right?

tail waggin' the dog.

 

[yosh18981898]

Haha that's great Kook!

What gears do you have?

With my 3.27s getting even 4000 lbs of trailer going is real interesting. I'm wanting to swap 3.73 or 4.10 as soon as I get the cash....

I towed a 2-door J**p XJ behind my X once. It would cruise just fine in the right gear, it was just getting going from a stop that was the problem.

Haha it's a good thing you don't have that crappy A4LD, it would have been real toasty by the end of that trip!*


*Assumingthe A4LD was in stock form

 

[spdy0001]

I have a sport with 3.73 gears and 5 speed and I towed a utiltity trailer with a large motorcycle on it once. I will try not to tow too often with this truck. The clutch was not a problem, but because of how the 5speed is geared if I shifted where I felt comfortable when I hit the next gear the truck fell on it face. The only way to keep it moving smooth was to take the RPM's higher than I felt comfortable with. I would say I only had about 1200LBS behind be, but the troubles were on hills, flat ground was fine.

 

[KooK]

my guess is that you have that mustang backwards on the trailer because loaded correctly theres too much tounge weight. right?

tail waggin' the dog.

Actually, the trailor was big enough that I could load it up either way and still have penty of room to position the weight in the center of the 4 trailor tires. I was actually just too damn lazy to turn it around because the car didn't run at the time. It was funny as crap because I passed a LINE of F-Bodies (Camaros) that musta been in a club or something, the stares I was getting pulling this thing with the explorer...

Haha that's great Kook!

What gears do you have?

With my 3.27s getting even 4000 lbs of trailer going is real interesting. I'm wanting to swap 3.73 or 4.10 as soon as I get the cash....

I towed a 2-door J**p XJ behind my X once. It would cruise just fine in the right gear, it was just getting going from a stop that was the problem.

Haha it's a good thing you don't have that crappy A4LD, it would have been real toasty by the end of that trip!*


*Assumingthe A4LD was in stock form

I'm actually running on stock gears, pretty much stock everything minus a cheapo exhaust I welded myself, a homehacked intake and RBF600 DOT 4 Brake fluid (which ALWAYS comes in handy when your towing some stupid amount). I actually had a friend that tried towing his Integra with a A4LD, a headgasket blew up before the transmission did. They were traveling 45 minutes on the highway and he had it floored the whole time because it would only go 65. Not the smartest idea to put that kind of obvious stress on an explorer (Floored for that long).

Acceleration from a stop wasn't a problem on this trip, I just took it easy, slipped the clutch real quick until I got to about 5mph and could lock it all up in 1st gear at low RPMs (So I didn't burn the disc). The real problem was cruising down the highway, and while I'm going 70-75, about half a mile up ahead of me, everybody is at a dead stop. I came close to losing my brakes, the fluid was boiling so hard (this was before the RBF). Everybody kept crawling from 0-10mph, I found low range is perfect for this case if you dont wanna blow up a clutch .

 

[yosh18981898]

Wow, sounds like we have almost the same mod's: home-made intake, home done exhaust and the like.

So do you have 3.27s or 3.73? (both were stock)

Like I said when I towed that jeep (about 4000 lbs with the trailer), it was terrible trying to get going without burning the clutch. But cruising was actually surprisingly easy.

And yes, trying to get the thing to stop was nuts. I think that's why Ford reccomends separate trailer brakes for anything over 1500 lbs.

I have used the low-range trick as well. It helps alot if you have manual lockout hubs so that you can even turn in low range on dry pavement.

 

[KooK]

So do you have 3.27s or 3.73? (both were stock)

Oh... weird... How can I tell which one I have?

 

[410Fortune]

the rear axle tag will tell you what gears you have.

My A4LD again worked just fine for towing, I have a 19' 2001 Bayliner with a 4.3L, together the boat and trailer weigh #3700, loaded (gas and gear) closer to 4250.

I have towed this boat from Denver all over the Midwest, to the Flaming Gorge, to POwell, to So Cal and back, etc. the A4LD does fine as long as you dont over heat it and keep it from hunting from D to OD like stated above.

I killed my 5 speed in a matter of months towing a 14' Bayliner around, 5 speed plus towing alot = sucks. You will kill your OEM clutch if you do it often and have a heavy load.

My BII is alot shorter then a 4 door ex (bad thing for towing) but also about #1000 lighter. I ran a 93 OHV 4.0L and a rebuilt A4LD with 4.10 gears, D35 discs up front and 8.8 discs in the back.
Never had an issue. I also monitor the trans temp and change the fluid yearly.

Now with the 5.0L and 4r70w the truck basically laughs at the boat....

However my 4 door 5.0L Ex will now take over towing duties

 

[yosh18981898]

the rear axle tag will tell you what gears you have.

Or you could look for the axle code on the sticker on the driver's side door jamb. I think the code for 3.27 is 41 but I'm not sure. You'd have to match your code to the codes in the owner's manual to find out for sure...

 

[F14CRAZY]

Yeah it sucks to let out the clutch of my M5OD with the open 3.27 while under load. Got it stuck in sand once in Northern Michigan because of that. I hope to switch to a 3.73 LS with disks someday.

Impress the F body dudes with my emblem.

 

[nak4af]

I used to tow the camper next to my EX in this picture. At the time, I had 33's and 4.56 gears. The loaded weight of the camper was 5000 lbs but with water, full propane, food and gear it surpassed the 5000 mark. I installed a weight distro hitch and it did great with a 5 speed. That was before I installed my hedders.

 

[tgertz77]

Just and FYI for everyone if you think your 5spd is the best thing since sliced bread check again Ford rates it as being able to tow 2000lbs LESS then the time bomb that is the A4LD.

I dont have a 5 spd... I have a A4LD, and I wouldnt comment on its unreliability if I didnt have one.

I think you are misunderstanding me... I simply disagree with the idea that a 1st gen explorer could be possibly made into a TOWING rig.

Can you tow? Sure. 5,000 pounds every once in awhile? Sure... but REGULARLY? NO.


I'm sure its plenty capable to tow 5000 pounds if need be... but when you mention "TOWING RIG" I think of something that regularly has a trailer on it.... and I simply do not see a 1st Gen Explorer withstanding the strain that would put on it.

 

[yosh18981898]

Having the five speed makes all the difference in the world. I have some buddies who drive 1st gens and they all have the auto. They are afraid to drive hard, tow, or go off road because the truck feels weak because of that A4LD. I, on the other hand, drive hard, have drag races across corn fields in winter, and tow stuff every chance I get. The only thing I've broken in 120,000 miles are the auto-braking hubs. I replaced them aftermarket lock-outs and I've had zero problems with the drivetrain or suspension since. Having the 5 spd makes it a completely different truck

 

[Christobal65]

I'm sure its plenty capable to tow 5000 pounds if need be... but when you mention "TOWING RIG" I think of something that regularly has a trailer on it.... and I simply do not see a 1st Gen Explorer withstanding the strain that would put on it.

I guess my Explorer is a Freak of nature then