Towing with Ford Expedition

mkirsch wrote:
If you're looking for a truck for one of those trailers you listed, you will do yourself a huge service by skipping the 1500 altogether and going straight to a 2500.

The 1500 truck won't tow much, if any, better than your Expedition. It will still be pushing your comfort limits.

I've towed TTs with two different Ram trucks in the past, and they've done the job just fine. I'd be towing well under this truck's limit.

If you're looking for a truck for one of those trailers you listed, you will do yourself a huge service by skipping the 1500 altogether and going straight to a 2500.

The 1500 truck won't tow much, if any, better than your Expedition. It will still be pushing your comfort limits.

Ford does still offer 3.73 gears with the 6-spd, I think even with the current 2016 Ecoboost. The tow rating for the 3.31 gear is not 9000 pounds, but the 6-spd should make little difference on the rear axle.

As you shop, please check the as equipped payload per the this sticker on the driver's door or door jam:



2009+ Ram 1500's tend to have lower paylaod than most other half tons. The two trailers you listed should be in the 6000-6500 pounds range when loaded for a long weekend with about 750-850 pounds of tongue weight. Say the family weighs 600 pounds. It makes a difference if the tow vehicle has 1000 pounds of payload or 1500 pounds, which are both in the range of Ethe half ton pickup and SUV market.

DH and I have decided to look for a used truck instead. Tomorrow, we're going to look at a 2013 Ram Hemi 1500 Express Quad Cab with only around 25,000 miles on it - nothing fancy, but it should do the job, I'd think. It has a 3.55 axle with a 8850 lb. tow capacity and HD oil cooler and HD transmission cooler. Payload is 1610 lb., I think. I've had two Rams in the past and was happy with both of them, so I'm hopeful that this one will be good, too.

The attitude that you MUST have a 3.73, 4.10, or 4.30 axle ratio to tow anything is OUTDATED. It comes from the days of 3 and 4 speed transmissions.

A 3.31 with a 6-speed transmission will tow every bit as well as a 3.73 with an old school 4-speed. The 6-speed transmission is geared differently.

Still, I agree that 7000-7500lbs LOADED is really as heavy as you want to want to go with most "half ton" class pickup trucks and SUVs like the Expedition. It's a matter of driver comfort more than anything.

keymastr wrote:
When they went to the 6 speed transmission they no longer offer the 3.73 rear end. I think it may come with a 3.55 but not certain. I would prefer something higher than a 3.31 as I think it is easier on the tranny to have a higher rear end but they all seem to be that way in the people movers these days.

I would guess that a trailer that grosses 7500 pounds is going to be all you will want to tow. My Expy has the same rating and anything over 7000 is pushing it, even when the Expy is empty other than the two of us.

Even in a pick-up the max tow weights are not really applicable in a travel trailer. You might get there towing a flat bed trailer but not a big box.

Thank you - helpful!

you need to post the payload capacity of the Expy, from the yellow sticker on the driver's door.

the 9200 number is meaningless without that.

because SUVs have poor payloads, compared to the towing capacity.

I'm not crazy about the 3.31 either. Our last truck, a Ram 1500, had a 3.92...

lawnspecialties wrote:
What's your typical camping destination? Headed straight to the beach? Or driving north into the mountains?

We would be using this camper mainly in FL and GA. We plan on keeping our Aliner to take on longer trips.

What's your typical camping destination? Headed straight to the beach? Or driving north into the mountains?