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Ford Explorer Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
recentyly bought an explorer 2000 xlt and thought got a good car to tow my caravan (weighing only 1470 kgs and known as a steady caravan), but oh no, the car started to wag from side to side like a drunken sailor. Anyone had a similar experience. Could the reason to this be the tires (Cooper) or the suspension of the car. Without the caravan the car feels quite normal to drive. The weather was sunny and the higway was dry. It cannot be the caravan, as I have towed it before with a Ford Transit and they have behaved beautyfully together.
If you upgraded to a thicker rear anti-sway bar and put poly bushings on your front bar you would be much better off. Also, replace your shocks as they have known to go bad within 15k miles in some cases.
Usually when you are towing something and the "something starts to swagger like a "drunken sailor," it is because the item you are towing is trying to move faster than the vehicle that is doing the towing.
The way to cure this: speed up! Make the tow vehicle go faster than the "something" being towed.
I have seen a really nasty accident because of this. It flipped both vehicles over.
Was the Caravan on a trailer? If so move it closer to the front. If you don't have the trailer weighted properly (too much on the rear) it will cause a very scary wagging when you get to the right speed. If you are flat towing it, try towing it in reverse..
Hello, thank for your answers - Jason had a reasonable explanation - I am suspecting the tires (Cooper) and the shocks as well. I`ll check them after the holidays. My speed was max, 50 miles/h and the caravan is well balanced. All the other answers are well known to us, so it really was a surprise see the car wagging like a duck or a drunken sailor. You often see the caravans off the road when the trailer speeds the car, but I am an experienced driver so I am well aware of these problems. I just bought the Explorer as it seemed to be a nice car to have on holidays and driving to car shows.
What size and model of COOPER tire are you running. Also,what's the air pressure set at in the tires? A soft tire(s) on the towing or towed vehicle will also cause the swaying. I know that running the P255/70R16 size tires are more stable than running the P235/75R15's.
as answer the size and model of the cooper tires: cooper discoverer A/T 255/70R16 - the air pressure was 2.5 kg as we checked it afterwards. In the instruction book for the explorer they say 2.1 and the cooper representant said 3.0. We have only had Michelin before and have had 4 different cars to tow this caravan. No complaints before.
A weight distributing hitch might be the answer to your problem. It is designed to reduce sway.
The other thing to look out for is a sagging rear end. If your tail is dragging it could mean that the weight of the caravan is not properly distributed. The weight of the tongue should be at least 10% and not more than 15% of the Caravan. Your Explorer should have a rating of 300-350lbs max on the ball mount bumper. So, do you have a receiver hitch or a ball-mounted hitch? If your rear end is sagging you can also try airsprings which are manufactured by Air Lift and others.
You may need more tounge weight to press the rear end down more. I believe that you want the tounge weight ( I run) enough to where a good sized man has a hard time lifting it onto the hitch.
I have even moved the axle on the trailer around before by loosening the u-bolts and moving it fore and aft and testing it to get the sway down.
Overcorrecting also makes a big difference. I know that between drivers on some trips the trailer sways more or less based on the driver.
I live in Sweden and the Caravan is a Solifer 6102i with double axle. We never had problems before with this caravan and we both are experienced drivers (had a trip round whole Scandinavia about 3000 kms last summer with no troubles at all) I live in Sweden and the Explorer is not so common here (last year they only registered abt 21 new Explorers - the total being abt 270) That is why I try to get your experience as I guess it is more common in the States. The most popular SUV vehicles here are Toyota, Huyndai and Mitsubishi, but they I do not find that nice. The earlier owner had the van to tow horse trailers, but I do not know how heavy weight they had on the ball - the instructions tell the max weight to be abt 100 kgs. The Solifer is not that heavy as the US caravans (the total weight 1470 kgs) and the Explorer is allowed to tow 2700 kgs!
recentyly bought an explorer 2000 xlt and thought got a good car to tow my caravan (weighing only 1470 kgs and known as a steady caravan), but oh no, the car started to wag from side to side like a drunken sailor. Anyone had a similar experience. Could the reason to this be the tires (Cooper) or the suspension of the car. Without the caravan the car feels quite normal to drive. The weather was sunny and the higway was dry. It cannot be the caravan, as I have towed it before with a Ford Transit and they have behaved beautyfully together.
