Question about towing with the 4.0...

[0uTkAsT]

Hey guys, I need a couple opinions.

I'm thinking about selling my fun, but aging, Dakota. I love that truck, and it's been doubling for some time now as my parts hauler and tow vehicle, but I'm just out of space, and I'm tired of paying to store cars.

So, if I were to sell the Dakota, I would have nothing but my V6 Sport Trac to tow my race cars to-and-from the track. The 4.0 2WD ST is rated to 5,250 lb. Do you think it would be A) safe for the truck and B) simply worth it to swap a Class III hitch on to the Ford? The cars I would be towing are all 2,250-3,300 lbs or lighter, plus gear and the trailer.

I think I would be pushing the limits of the truck, but I'm looking for second (and third, fourth, fifth... ) opinions.

Thanks!

 

[JoeCool6972]

Should be. Mine with the stock class III hitch is rated to 5250. With a weight distributing hitch you can tow 7500. As long as you aren't pulling the slightly overweight trailer daily, it should be fine.

 

[0uTkAsT]

I'm thinkin' that's what I'm going to do then... I'll put a tranny cooler on it just to be safe, but I think if I go with a light (~650 lb) car dolly instead of a full size trailer I should be fine. I don't want my ST with 1,300 miles on it to **** its transmission, but my towing speeds would never be above ~65mph and I don't have to deal with any big hills or anything to speak of. Well, now I'm going to begin trimming down my 'fleet' a bit, starting with the Dakota and two Equinox, and hopefully make a little money in the process.

Thanks again Joe.

 

[JohnnyO]

The factory Class II hitch is only rated to 3500 lb and you can't (AFAIK) put an equalizer on it. The hitch itself is pretty stout but I'd have my reservations about the hitch ball itself.
Replacing the factory Class II with the factory Class III is expensive.
If you find someone who can weld really well, it is possible to weld a Class III receiver to the Class II hitch.
Hidden Hitch makes a Class III that bolts on to the frame and fits under the Class II but it looks kinda stupid IMHO. Saw a regular Explorer with one once.

 

[0uTkAsT]

The factory Class II hitch is only rated to 3500 lb and you can't (AFAIK) put an equalizer on it. The hitch itself is pretty stout but I'd have my reservations about the hitch ball itself.
Replacing the factory Class II with the factory Class III is expensive.
If you find someone who can weld really well, it is possible to weld a Class III receiver to the Class II hitch.
Hidden Hitch makes a Class III that bolts on to the frame and fits under the Class II but it looks kinda stupid IMHO. Saw a regular Explorer with one once.

Thanks for the input! I had no idea it would be that pricey to do the swap. I can get a buddy of mine to see about converting the receivers. I noticed the hitch is welded to the frame itself... I've never seen anything like it before!

Hmph... Anyways, this is totally off-subject, but do you have any sound clips of your Gibson exhaust on your ST? That's the system I was thinking about putting on mine but I haven't heard a Gibson on a V6 before, so I'd love to hear yours if it isn't too much trouble.

Thanks!

 

[JohnnyO]

Thanks for the input! I had no idea it would be that pricey to do the swap. I can get a buddy of mine to see about converting the receivers. I noticed the hitch is welded to the frame itself... I've never seen anything like it before!

Exactly. To swap to the factory Class III requires cutting out the rear crossmember and replacing it with the Class III crossmember. A dude at www.mysporttrac.com got the dealer to do it for free because the salesman told him it was a Class III when it was really a Class II. He said the bill would have been over $1000. Another guy there came up with the idea of just welding on a new receiver.

Hmph... Anyways, this is totally off-subject, but do you have any sound clips of your Gibson exhaust on your ST? That's the system I was thinking about putting on mine but I haven't heard a Gibson on a V6 before, so I'd love to hear yours if it isn't too much trouble.

No, I'm not the handiest person with recording and uploading stuff although I could try to do it with my cell phone. It has a nice rumble at idle. Not real loud but if I'm outside and my son takes the truck, I can definitely hear it. Picked up a solid 3 mpg on the highway, which is really why I got it. It does make more noise on the inside, which I can live with but the wife hates it.

 

[0uTkAsT]

Oh that's fine, I just thought I'd ask since a lot of guys already have sound clips laying around. Sounds like exactly what I want though so I'm probably going to go ahead and get it. And thanks again for all the help and advice! I really appreciate it!