Towing Brakes??

[dieselscout80]

Here's a load of white oak I hauled and yes its heavy.

 

[Number4]

No issues huh? Guess I shouldn't worry much about towing another Explorer with a dolly. Granted I won't have brakes on it.

Did you get any sweat from the police? I'm looking at 70 miles or so. How far did you tow?

 

[dieselscout80]

The oak load was less than three miles, but the hay is about 35 miles.

I'm out in the country though, but unless you are doing something really dangerous the cops aren't going hassle you.

 

[Number4]

S10 Blazer towing a Suburban. Granted, this individual was a true moonshine making/drinking Southern Backwoods Hillbilly. In context to the conversation, I knew what he was saying when I was talking to him, but he certainly wasn't speaking intelligibly. Lots of 'm' sounds. lol. Nice guy though.

I hate to use this example as reason to feel good about towing another Explorer behind mine, but it's perspective.

 

[blue_goose]

Not sure where to start... that S10 Blazer and the Burban.... wow. The 4.3 is stout but that Blazer had to be all over the road.

How much wood would you say that was? 1.5 cords? Any estimate on weight, especially tounge weight? I'm trying to get an accurate picture of how much wood my Ex can tow, mostly concerned about dragging it out of the forest service roads and over a pass. I know the towing capacity but once you leave the highway things change alot.

 

[dieselscout80]

White Oak Load

I towed this about 2.5 miles.

 

[Joe in NY]

No issues huh? Guess I shouldn't worry much about towing another Explorer with a dolly. Granted I won't have brakes on it.

Did you get any sweat from the police? I'm looking at 70 miles or so. How far did you tow?

Police bother you when you tow? I have towed all sorts all over and never had police problems.. Even when crossing states.

 

[01STrunner]

Glad it worked out in a pinch! If you start hauling more with the Ex, I would say look into Monroe Max-Air shocks. I had them in my Sport Trac when I hauled more in high school. They kept everything nice and level, even a 6500 lbs boat.

I've since gotten an 6.4L F350 and now I can haul as much in the bed as I could with the ST and a trailer haha.

 

[TechGuru]

You need this setup:

Anyway, this thread reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask.

Is the wiring already there somewhere for me to swap my 4 pin plug for a 7 pin?

 

[Joe in NY]

You need this setup:

Anyway, this thread reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask.

Is the wiring already there somewhere for me to swap my 4 pin plug for a 7 pin?

ooooooo I Like

 

[anthonymtz]

I hope you have great trailer brakes... The brakes on an explorer are just enough for the explorer alone! I towed our empty tandem car hauler/flatbed with my explorer. Holy crap! It felt like I was in our Suburban, all 5 family members, car full of food and clothes, tools, + the 5,500 lbs of boat behind us that has no brakes of its own! And that was only me and the trailer, nothing else! So while it is equipped with towing wiring and receiver, it is not setup for stopping. (or taking off really, the 4.6 is really gutless)

I wouldn't call the 4.6 gutless, kind of harsh Eh? Now the 4.0 go ahead and bash the hell out of it! It had a little torque from take off but past 3000 rpm it was gutless, heads warped, transmission ate itself.. now my 4.6 is solid as a rock!

 

[Joe in NY]

I wouldn't call the 4.6 gutless, kind of harsh Eh? Now the 4.0 go ahead and bash the hell out of it! It had a little torque from take off but past 3000 rpm it was gutless, heads warped, transmission ate itself.. now my 4.6 is solid as a rock!

Ehhhh, sorry no... It really is gutless. 2007 Suburban with 5.3L beats the living crap out of it.

I think it is a step backwards when the modular 4.6L is BIGGER physically in every way compared to the 351W and yet only displaces 281 CI vs 351 CI...

 

[96firephoenix]

Is the wiring already there somewhere for me to swap my 4 pin plug for a 7 pin?

Yes, it is. Source: I did it to my 2002. Just got the 2" receiver and the 7-pin harness from a Mounty at the Junkyard, pulled mine off, put that one on, plugged and played.

I also spliced the 4-pin back on, with some creative re-working of the bracket and both connectors work for lights (I don't have a brake controller yet, so I wasn't able to check that, or the Accy line)

for good measure, I blasted the rust off and gave it a good paint job in black with UV-resistant clearcoat - did the same painting on the mating surfaces of the frame.

 

[anthonymtz]

Ehhhh, sorry no... It really is gutless. 2007 Suburban with 5.3L beats the living crap out of it.

I think it is a step backwards when the modular 4.6L is BIGGER physically in every way compared to the 351W and yet only displaces 281 CI vs 351 CI...

HAHA Are you delusional pal? I've smoked a 5.3 burban I've even kept up with my buddy's 14' sierra (355hp) I've done a 0-60 in 6 seconds, can't wait to add my Whipple or kenne & bell supercharger and show them chevy 6.2 or (6.0 Vortecmax) maybe yours needed a tune up?

 

[Joe in NY]

I have 75,000 miles on mine. 63,000 southern miles and 30,000 of those by an old man and lady in Florida. My car is in great shape. I have done every fluid there is to change, air filter, TB and IAC clean, MAF clean, injector cleaner.. etc.. The works. My whole family agrees that my 4.6L is gutless compared to the suburban. It is so easy to tell when we are towing. We regularly tow in the summer. When you get 5,500+ lbs and a car full of people and luggage, the explorer loses easy.
The explorer has a 5 speed trans with with the first 3 gears being quite small. While the suburban has a wide spread 4 speed. (It can do 80+ on the highway in second gear with 3.73s...) So yes you can beat them off the line, but not in towing.

Don't even start on brakes either.. Like I said, the explorer brakes are joke.

 

[01STrunner]

A 4.6 in stock form really isn't that great. You can't even break 33s loose in a RCSB F150 unless there's losse crap on the road. The 4.6 is better than the 4.0 and I'd love to have one but it really doesn't carry any characteristics of a V8 such as low end torque.

 

[Number4]

The main issue with the 3rd and 4th gen, is that the chassis (brakes, suspension etc..) isn't beefy enough to support its own weight. Probable cause, adding 1k lbs over previous models and trying to stay within government mandated emissions requirements.

The Ex's should have come with a 6 stud hub setup and the chassis to go with it.

Can you imagine having an Expedition with the 4.6l? Barely works in the Explorer. But I do enjoy it far more than my '05 4.0.

 

[Joe in NY]

One thing to note:

The 3rd and 4th gen chassis is completely different from 1st and 2nd. Brand new design for 2002+. Rated for over 7,000 lbs of towing vs the 5,000 lbs of previous. Ford did make major improvements from 2nd to 3rd gen. Wider and longer stance of the wheels, much beefier frame.. etc etc.

But still, it is a sub half ton frame. Not any bit heavy duty. Barely normal duty.

 

[anthonymtz]

Ok ok, the 4 speed in the burban is terrible, I owned a tan 07 lt, first it couldn't burnout even with the fuse to the stability control disconnected, I towed 6,000 pounds empty and that thing would revv to redline, getting on the highway was a struggle and I had the peddle to the floor most of the times, now needless to say it's not ment to tow like that neither is the explorer but IMO it's not gutless, I can roast my rear tires and win against a few 5.3s I haven't lost from a roll I just drop it in 1st and it goes, now it's not a drag racer but the suburban only has 315hp not really a gigantic diffrance from 240, the explorer is lighter also, also my suburban did a 0-60 in 8-9 seconds it was a dog, however the 6.2 was a animal and will eat a 4.6 for lunch unless it's got a blower lol!

 

[96firephoenix]

I wouldn't call the 4.0 "gutless". Maybe it's the manual trans/rear end gears that I have, but it pulls through all the gears if you can get above 2600 RPM. I had to get on it this afternoon, and rode 2nd up to 65, and it was barely breaking 5500 RPM