Towing almost 6,000 lbs

[Explorer_PL]

Just for your entertainment

Last weekend I had to get lots of top soil. Since I could not wait for a dump truck delivery from a nursery, I just went to home depot, and bought the whole skid and some more.

Total of 80 bags, 40 lbs each, plus some junk in the trailer, ramps, lumber. The trailer itself is 2200

I was close to 6k.

Mine is v8 with tow package, but I would not do it too often. Driving it for a short distance, the truck did OK, but I would not go more than 6k, even though it's rated for 7100 or something like that.

 

[thebrakeman]

As long as you didn't have a bunch of people and junk in the truck (besides yourself/driver), you were at least 1000 lbs under max capacity.

 

[Explorer_PL]

It was just me.

PS: You can see my "creative" work how I built this trailer .

Most of it is built from Home Depot lumber, axles from internet, and the tarp from some online tarp warehouse, lights from Walmart.

The frame I made from 6" channels, with the tongue that I got from an old trailer.

 

[willied]

You made the trailer? Very cool. It's always good to see a 4th Gen Explorer getting some good use of its stout towing abilities.

 

[colintrax]

A v8 4th gen with the towing package and you think 6,000 is ok for only a short distance? That's what I say but with my v6 2nd gen....
I've pulled 10,000lbs and it does fine at <30mph. More than that gets a little sketchy and no way I'd take that on the freeway.
You should be fine with 3 tons on the freeway though, maybe not cross country but still

 

[paulyjsob]

I tow my 6000lb boat about 800 miles per year. Two 300 mile trips from CT to northern VT (through some serious hills). The Mountaineer does great. The trailer has disk brakes on both axles so stopping isn't an issue. Two years I ago I was in a hairy situation when an 18-wheeler locked his brakes in front of me. The truck/trailer did great (although my wife briefly passed out). Before some of the looong steep hills, I'll slow down to 50-55 right before the hill and put transmission in second gear and just maintain 50mph. Worse thing is slowing down and downshifting on a steep hill.
These are very capable vehicles..

 

[thebrakeman]

Ahh, brakes! That's a sweet homemade trailer. But if it doesn't have brakes, I wouldn't take it more than 35mph with that much load.
What axles did you put in? Do they have electric brakes? Do you have a brake controller installed?

 

[Explorer_PL]

It has 2 x 3500# axles, one of them has electric drum brakes, and I have the controller in the truck. Works great, no problem with braking, I actually use it to slow down without using the truck brakes.

The problems are when you are stopped on red light or stop sign going uphill, and you have to move all that weight from 0 speed.

Also, on turns, I just can feel the stress in rear bearings when the trailer is pushing straight, and the wheels are at the angle, the IRS is nice but not the best in these situations.

 

[thebrakeman]

Anyone towing RVs regularly would have a WDH for that much weight. You could do the same. The other option (as long as you don't tow more than about 40mph) would be to balance the load to minimize the tongue weight. At higher speeds, you really want 10-15% of total trailer weight on the ball. 600-900 lbs TW without a WDH is a lot for an Explorer. In fact, I think the limit is 500 lbs without a WDH.

Next time you load up, move the weight back a bit more. But 500/6000 is only about 8%. Without any sway controller, that's a recipe for sway-induced disaster as speed increases.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I was thinking about WDH, but for the limited trips to HD or to haul something occasionally, it would not pay off. I am loading staff over the axles or slightly to the back to somewhat unload the hitch, but not too much. You still want some weight there.