2018 Lincoln Navigator tow reviews

:) Hi, I towed a 25' Airstream with my 2000 Lincoln Navigator for over ten years. Went from Southern California to Alaska and back. This was for 50 days and over 10,000 miles. I thought that the Colorado mountains were going to kill my Lincoln, but they didn't. Many other trips, none of them less that several hundred miles each.

Starting in 2015, I retired my Lincoln from towing and now tow with an F-150 Ecoboost. My Lincoln is still used daily for local driving.

My daughter's family uses an Expedition (twin of the Navigator) for towing primarily because they have 4 kids. You can save a few lbs by purchasing the standard version 8bstead of the long/extended version.

Like most trucks, the towing capacity is a bit "optimistic".

Power should be fantastic, better than your 8.1L/4-spd combo! Suspension will not be as great, so I'd stick to about 6k dry and learn how to adjust the WDH for 100% front axle weight restoration.

Is the Navigator an L model (long wheel base?)

APT wrote:
Power should be fantastic, better than your 8.1L/4-spd combo! Suspension will not be as great, so I'd stick to about 6k dry and learn how to adjust the WDH for 100% front axle weight restoration.

The towing guide calls for 50% weight restoration. They don't say why but I suspect that is has something to do the energy absorbing crumple zone in the frames for the lighter trucks. See page 36 for hitch setup.

3018 Ford Towing guide

My brother had an older Expedition with air suspension and loved it for trailer towing. The air suspension can make setting up a weight distributing hitch a little trickier since the back axle is always going to end up at the same height regardless of tongue load. If you have air suspension you may want to put a pressure gage on the air bags to get a feel for how much weight you have added to the rear axle.

I have a 2019 Expedition MAX that we use to tow our 7000 pound boat. I also had a 2003 2500 Burb with the 8.1.

I never fell in love with the 8.1 for towing the way so many have. IMO, both the 6.2 Yukon Denali and the 3.5 EcoBoost in the Ex are better engines.

Anyway, I think you will really like the power of the engine. And the 10 speed is one of the better transmissions I have driven. Towing MPG isn't very good, but the power is always there. Most of the time, the engine and transmission temps are fine, but towing through the Rockies, they get higher than I would like (I've seen over 240 in both engine and tranny).

The towing package has some nice features. I like how you can adjust for different trailers, and still use the blind spot warnings in the mirrors. I've played around with the back up assist, and while I haven't been patient with it, I also haven't been able to get it to work when showing it to someone. Personally, I wouldn't rely on it.

I don't think that the Ex gives anything up to the 2500 Burb in towing manners. It is way more stable than my Yukon was.

Within it's limits, I think your Navigator will make a very nice tow vehicle.

I would still aim for 100% front axle weight restoration for towing a TT. If not, then the rear axle will likely be overloaded and steering a little oversensitive.