Would you give this a go?

shades9323 wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
I looked at a couple of sites on line and they show your tailer with a GVWR of 5,995#. That 3500# might be dry weight and as such is useless, more than likely you will come in around 5,000# normally loaded for a trip and that would be asking a lot of your Explorer particularly given its short wheelbase . Good Luck. :C

Is that 5k counting my bikes and stuff that I listed as being in/on the Explorer? I've heard that an average family of 4 brings 500lbs worth of gear. We tent camp now and I can't imagine outside of a full fridge and some pots and pans and TT accessories we would bring anything that we don't already bring. I am not even sure a full fridge would make that much of a difference if you've seen my wife pack a cooler! But as always, when you have more space you find ways to fill it up. :)

The 5k number I mentioned would be the trailer fully loaded, some water, food, toys, tools etc. You won't be able to load much if anything beyond the family into the Explorer as you will likely be pushing its payload to the max. At 5k you will have 650# of tongue weight + another 100 for the WDH. These weights get subtracted right off of the Explorers payload and that won't leave much for the family. Also keep in mind that the Explorer's relatively short wheelbase makes it a poor choice especially for a trailer that pushes the envelope weight wise.

For the record I tow a 22' TT that weighs between 4600# and 5,000# depending on how we load. I tow with an 06 F-150 SCab that has 300HP/365 pounds of torque and comes with 144" wheelbase. It tows very well but I would not want any more trailer or less truck to get the job done. Your Explorer has no where near the capability of my truck, just something to think about.

Can you do it? Perhaps, but I sincerely doubt it will be any fun and you will find yourself shopping for a new TV in the very near future. As always, Opinions and YMMV. Good Luck. :C