towing boat with 2 door explorer sport

I have an 01 explorer sport and I am in the market for a larger boat. Currently I have only used the tongue hitch on the explorer to pull my jetskis which it has pulled very well. For awhile my buddie and I have been looking into buying a 20 -22 foot wake boat. This boat would probably weight about 3000-3500# plus trailer, gear, ext. I estimate total towing weight would be between 4500-5000#. I know the explorer sport with 4x4 is rated to tow 5000lbs. I was wondering if I would be able to install a hitch and be able to pull the boat to lakes near by. My buddie has a large work truck and he would primarily tow the boat which is why I would be hesitant to buy a newer, larger tow vehicle.

Every boat we have looked at has a trailer with brake assist so stopping shouldn't be an issue. I just don't want to buy a new vehicle just to tow a hand full of times a year to nearby lakes if I don't absolutely need to.

 

[Anime]

It depends on the gearing your Explorer has. With the 4.10 gears and an auto transmission, the Explorer will tow 5000+ lbs, sure. With highway gears and a manual transmission, it won't tow that much.

You can probably tow it with a Class III hitch, but if you find the boat and trailer and gear is close to the load limit of the Explorer, you might want to get a weight distributing hitch.

Definitely get a brake controller as well to take advantage of the brake assist, you don't want to get in a situation where you stop hard and the Explorer stops but the trailer/boat doesn't.

 

[2000StreetRod]

stability?

The owner's guide states that a weight distributing hitch should be used when towing trailers that weigh more than 3,500 lbs. I used to tow a 24 foot travel trailer with a 1997 Tahoe. When loaded the trailer weighed about 4,500 lbs. I also towed an 18 foot inboard/outboard. Boats are more stable than travel trailers in cross winds because of the lower center of gravity and less wind resistance. However, I've seen several rigs laying on their side that had enough power but not enough stability. They were usually located on downhill curves. The brake controller is a key component to safe towing. The ones based on timing are unsafe. That was the first type I tried. The best incorporate an accelerometer/decelerometer. Mine had to be mounted level in the tow vehicle and contained a ball that sensed an incline/decline and acceleration/deceleration with braking adjusted accordingly. Once I got it adjusted properly I safely performed two panic stops (deer jumped out of the woods and a crazed driver) with no issues. The manual control capability is also essential for certain driving situations but is inadequate during a panic stop. In my opinion the wheelbase length and track width of the Sport is not enough to tow a 5,000 lb trailer.

 

[delexploder]

Ok everyone get ready cause I know im gonna catch flack, I have towed with all my explorers ( and the mounty) and IMO the sport towed better, now im talking pre 5.0 swap, I had no stability issues compared to my four doors, it really feels no different to me other than when backing in or tight turning the sport works better, now I do have the Monroe load levelers but other than that all my trucks are stock.

 

[2000StreetRod]

What did you tow?

. . . I have towed with all my explorers ( and the mounty) and IMO the sport towed better, now im talking pre 5.0 swap, I had no stability issues compared to my four doors, it really feels no different to me other than when backing in or tight turning the sport works better, now I do have the Monroe load levelers but other than that all my trucks are stock.

I always value actual experience more than speculation. Did you tow trailers or vehicles with your Sport? There is a significant stability difference in towing a vehicle vs towing a trailer. I towed our Jaguar XJ6 from California to Colorado to North Dakota to Georgia with my 1970 Jeep Wagoneer with only power issues. When I towed our travel trailer from middle Georgia to the beach with the Wagoneer I had stability issues above 45 mph even with an equalizer hitch. That's why I bought the Tahoe.

 

[delexploder]

The two worst things I have towed with my sport have been a 03 cobra clone on a 3700 pound trailer and the same trailer with two pallets of 12"x12" pavers from Lowes, and i have towed an enclosed two axle car trailer, the mustang I could feel the bumps and bouncing ( sprung weight on sprung weight) the pavers, well that was just dead weight no bounce and other than it being way too much for my brakes towed ( tracked ) very smoothly, I had both pallets over the axles, the enclosed trailer was bouncy and I could feel my ass end getting pushed by the wind pushing on the trailer like a sail, my poor sohc lol, now l will say the mounty is the tow vehicle now because what I was doing with the sport was not safe and im not saying do what I did but for what the op is doing I think with a class 3 hitch and just plain being carefull I think short runs would be fine, and maybe some add a leafs or coilovers air bags /shocks anything to help keep it from squatting so he dosnt get light on the steering,

 

[thebrakeman]

IIRC, the Explorer Sport was a shorter wheelbase than the 4-door. That does not help with stability.

But as was said, the answer depends on the actual tow rating of this vehicle. Does it have a towing package for better gearing and cooling? If not, it's probably limited at 3500 lbs.

 

[erikvanden]

This is the door sticker. I don't know what package I have

 

[erikvanden]

Well I looked up the code and it looks like the 01 4x4 sport has the same towing rating regardless of what diff it has. Towing rating is about 5,000#. Funny the 4x2 actually has a higher towing rating.

 

[2000StreetRod]

less vehicle weight

Well I looked up the code and it looks like the 01 4x4 sport has the same towing rating regardless of what diff it has. Towing rating is about 5,000#. Funny the 4x2 actually has a higher towing rating.

The 2WD Sport weighs less than the 4WD Sport so its towing capacity is greater. For my 2000 Sport with the 3.73:1 axle the trailer max weight is 20 pounds greater for the OHV (5160) than the SOHC (5140).