Newbi from Vermont w?question

Greg 110OVI wrote:
Yep, In Vermont I certainly would NOT recommend it. Too much trailer. Maybe on flat ground, but not in hilly.

X2

I am going to be brutally honest on this, you will not like pulling that type of weight around with your present vehicle.

Your dry weights are rather deceiving to start with, typically dry weight does not include important items like battery, propane tanks or propane and any other "optional" items from dealer or factory.

Basically you can add at least 500-1000 lbs to the dry weight and that is where your trailer most likely weighs empty. Then you certainly will not take your camper empty to go camping, add in an additional 800-1000 lbs for your gear and other passengers gear.

I have personally towed into Southern VT using a 97 F250 (Heavy half) with 235 HP 5.4 and 3.73 axle, my camper at the time empty weighed in at 3600 lbs and with the three of us we were running 5.5K lbs towing (truck was RATED for 7K lbs :R . That truck STRUGGLED up the mountains from Bennington on, several LONG grades was running 1st gear with nearly all the pedal on the floor. It was a REALLY slow and LONG trip.

I think your 4.0 V6 is a fine engine but it isn't going to be up to the task once you introduce 5K of trailer to it.

I wouldn't tow with that TV either. I've had 3 Explorers ('00, '02 & '07), all with the V8.

While it did "ok", it wasn't stellar. I was pulling 20', 4200# TT at the time. I could see having issues in the mountains, especially with a V6.

beemerphile1 wrote:
That V6 will have an awful hard time pulling 5,000 pounds.

x2

I used to own both a 2000 4.0 4x4 Explorer and a 1996 GMC Jimmy 4x4 with the 4.3 Vortec V6..

At that time I towed a vintage Shasta that weighed about 2800 loaded, and a vintage Fan that weighed 3200 loaded.

The GMC would tow both with very little drama.. no issues.
The Explorer struggled hard.. Not so much off the line from a stop light to get up to 50mph on a flat road.. but on a long grade?? it was abysmal where the GMC would just chug along.

I traded the Explorer for another Explorer, a 99 with the 5.0 in it.. and that towed both campers just fine.

Now that I've moved on to a larger TT, I have a 2003 Durango with the factory tow option. My camper is 4800 loaded up and there is no way I'd attempt to pull it with a 4.0 Ford..

Yep, In Vermont I certainly would NOT recommend it. Too much trailer. Maybe on flat ground, but not in hilly.

I wouldn't tow anything larger than a pop up.

Ignore the dry weight, it is a totally meaningless number. What is the GVWR of the trailer?

The Explorer has a relatively short wheelbase and has known handling/rollover tendencies.

That V6 will have an awful hard time pulling 5,000 pounds.