Question about towing

Our last TT was 20' weighing 5,000 lbs. Towed by a 2000 F150 with a V6. The truck suspension was fine but the engine was terribly under-powered. On steeper sections of the interstate, we were on the right shoulder with the semi trucks crawling along at 30-35 mph flat out. It had trouble maintaining an even speed in gusting winds. The engine was running flat out most of the time trying to make enough power. On an 1800 mile trip through Oregon and Washington, we had to stop at a Ford dealer 3 times to get engine work done. We had it taken to one dealer on a flatdeck tow truck. That little V6 just wasn't up to the task even though we were well under the max. towing capacity. Never had any engine trouble in the 10 years we had the truck until we started towing that trailer.

The TT was 3500 lbs dry but ended up at 5,000 lbs fully loaded and the GVWR was 5,000. It doesn't seem to take much to get 1500 lbs added to a TT, but it all adds up. If have to check, but the engine put out something like 220 HP as a reference. The F150 would be a heavier TV tho.

I think unless you have something like an ecoboost V6, you will have trouble. JMHO based on personal experience with a similar TT and engine. At 3.0 liters, that's awfully small. Our V6 was 4.6 liter (IIRC) and tow rating was 5800 bs. I don't think I'd want to do 1400 miles with your TV. I have to think you could end up with overheating on longer/steeper hills.

Aha, it looks like you (OP) revised your engine size from 3.0 to 4.0. :) Looks like '01 specs say 210 HP. Not much less than our F150 was and I think you may still find the Explorer struggling up some hills.

Thank you all for the responses!

Steeljag: I wont be camping on the way. The extra 1100lbs is considering my stuff weighs 800lbs (I guess. I'm not really sure) or so plus the awning, propane tanks, battery, and other stuff. I'm not really sure how much it'll weight fully loaded. I plan on draining the water tank and the LP tanks will be empty though.

Thats a real short wheel base. Be sure your hitch is setup well before you hit the highway. Trailer nose down a bit, lots of tonge weight and sway control for sure. Stability trumps power.

I pull similar weights (Chalet Takena1865 3300lbs dry) with a similar small vehicle (Buick Enclave w/5000lb towing capacity) but usually with less cargo... Just keep your speeds down...no more than 60-65 and that only on flat or downhill stretches....take your time and you should be fine...IMO

Slow and steady! Considering approx. 300 lbs for WDH, battery and propane......you state you will be traveling light, where is the additional 1100 lbs coming from?

Will you be camping on your way out to Co? Do you need both bottles of propane full? Minimal amount of water in tank?

The OP's tow vehicle (I don't know what color it is, but a photo is worth a thousand words)



The OP's trailer. Don't know what the actual one looks like, but this is as close as I could get, a 20 foot 2007 model:




I don't have enough information to make an informed comment, so just posted photos. Hope this helps.

If you take interstate 20 to interstate 35 to interstate 70, you should be in good shape.

One never knows when a component could fail in an older vehicle, but beyond that I think you should be ok. Just take it easy, 55-60 mph, and if you are climbing a long grade you'll have to slow down more. You won't win any acceleration races against Corollas ;) , but you should get there.

Consider using a sway bar or anti-sway hitch.

Near Montgomery

What part of Ala. are you in?