Newbie question about towing

[greg762]

My 2001 XLT V6 4x4 Explorer came with the "Towing Package", which includes a different axle ratio and a little bag of parts. When I bought the truck I never in my life thought I'd need to tow anything, but I've been looking at boats lately and...well, you get the idea. Besides having a hitch installed, what else would I need to do to this vechicle to get it ready for towing? The weight of the boat & trailer would be in the neighborhood of 3000-4000lbs. Do the 2001 Explorers w/towing package have transmission oil coolers, or do I need to have one installed? I saw two little radiator-like devices (aside from the main radiator) when I slid under the front of the truck today but aren't sure what they're for exactly. Any recommendations for type & brand of trailer hitch? I'm new to trucks and 4x4's and I really appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks,

Greg

 

[leenjen]

yeah the towing package includes the aux trans cooler.

i dont have any recommendations for hitches, just get a good class III hitch.

 

[mikeh]

Greg,

Walmart sold me a Reese class III hitch for about 100 bucks. Installed it myself easily in about an hour. (Tip) lower the spare tire to install the hitch. You should have got an electrical pigtail with the truck when you bought it. plug in the electric and you are ready to go. If you go to get the same hitch installed it's about 200 bucks.

Good Luck,
Mike

 

[thegoon543]

if you're going to tow anything less than 3000 lbs, the rear bumper with just a ball on it works good. ive used the rear bumper for my 2000 lb Sea Pro. if you're gonna get something like this, save yourself the $$ by not buying a hitch and get you some good fishing rods.

 

[mikeh]

No offence to thegoon but I towed my 1000 pound trailer on my toyota 4x4 bumper for a couple of years and it ruined my bumper. The chrome peeled and then it started to rust. A new bumper was like $350 so I ended up out a lot of money and then bought a hitch on top of that. I would call that a lesson learned never tow on a bumper if you can help it.

Mike

 

[nyisles_99]

make sure you get a hitch...its safer any way. The boat will be further away from the truck and not so much weight is placed directly onto your bumber.

Remember always to make sure that the tongue of the trailer is locked onto the ball and put a pad lock through it so the trailer does not bounce of the ball.


Use your emergency safety chains from the trailer as well.

make sure the boat is properly chained down to the trailer

make sure you have a tie down for the rear of the boat as well

just my 2 cents..I owned a boat a pulled it. Its sort of a pain the ass but fun once its in the water.

Hope this helps

 

[Dannyboy]

Welcome to the world of towing. Nobody probably uses an Explorer to tow a ski boat as much as I do, but maybe. I have a 17.5 ft searay that could weigh as much as 2500-3000 loaded. I did pull it on the bumper but got a great deal on a hitch. I wish I never would have used the bumper because it didn't have a scratch on it when I bought the truck but now is beat up all around from mounting. The hitch is a great acessory for many things including a towpoint that is not only an offroad thing, but great in an emergency, or a bike rack, etc. In my opinion the rounded "hidden" hitches look way better.