Towing question

2012Coleman wrote:
This should be reported to an admin due to the gross misinformation it contains. I hope no one reading this even considers this advice. You sir, have your head in the sand.

Wes Tausend wrote:
Normally I don't go with the "weight police". They do get carried away here sometimes. :B

But I must say in this case you might be better off to go with a Suburban or Expedition EL. Some of the newer ones do get quite good fuel
economy as daily drivers, if that is a concern, so you can have your cake and eat it too. Whoever said you can't is wrong; this is
nearly 2014 and trucks are better all around. And they will tow just fine. It seems its getting so every camper "needs" a thirsty 3/4 ton on
this forum and that is just sad. A little 25+ TT needs a 3/4 ton? Give me a break. ;)

A couple of other things to not worry about too much in my opinion:
Precise payload and towing capacity.

Payload debunked first:
Payload is as much a general prefered guideline as anything. It is not a commandment. Frankly, nothing too terrible will happen if tires are
properly rated and inflated and payload is exceeded by, say, only 25% or so. The frame will not break; the springs will not break; the wheels
will not break off the axles which will not break either. Might not stop as fast. There is no discernable line.

Payload is usually determined by two things, OEM legal departments and limited OEM tire ratings.

Unfortunately OEM SUV tires are normally selected for "magazine test" ride quality which means spongy, soft riding passenger type tires. Then
the otherwise very capable truck payload is severely de-rated to match the lousy tires. If the little truck is worked, it just may need better tires to
handle weights beyond factory payload rating guidelines. That I know of, no warranty has ever been denied because somebody put real truck
tires on their SUV, van or 1/2 ton pick-up.

The reason the factory legal departments got involved is along the lines of the past Ford Explorer vs Firestone ATX tires. Ford marketing set an
inflation pressure purposely too low to produce better "ride quality" and the undersize lightweight passenger tires then suddenly popped off the
rim if they lost any more air at all... which resulted in some crashes. A better load rated tire would have been fine, except it would have cost more,
been inflated higher and rode rougher... and... gasp... affected sales.

Towing capacity debunked second:
Towing capacity doesn't matter at all at any weight. An owner is welcome to try to tow a jumbojet or a locomotive if they like. The factory will not
warranty driveline damage but... there is theoretically no limit to towing capacity otherwise. A smart owner will be aware that the truck will wear out
sooner and parts will get hotter as the weight goes up. As an example, if one tows near capacity, a certain amount of wear and heat occurs. Less
wear, and heat, occurs at half of rated capacity. More wear and heat occurs at twice rated capacity. That's it. A truck can tow grossly overloaded if
one slows down, and wear and heat will diminish accordingly. There is one exception... really big, steep hills. Still, there is no discernable line.

There does get to be the principle of stopping the jumbojet or locomotive, but as long as they have their own brakes, like campers, no
problem. Turning can be a problem though. Or continuing in a straight line when the "trailer" wants to turn on it's own... that is a problem. Which is
why there is a practical limit to towing capacity somewhere above the written "factory" one.

Unfortunately, not to do with weight, all TT's are huge box-kites, so towing a large one in a wind can be unwieldy, or even impossible sometimes.
I know new Expeditions come with "standard Trailer Sway Control. It works in conjunction with AdvanceTrac with RSC (Roll Stability Control), to determine from
the yaw motion of the vehicle if the trailer is swaying and takes measures, such as applying precise braking or reduced engine torque, to help
bring both vehicle and trailer under control." I don't know if the smaller Explorers come with this feature. I know they are better than they used
to be, but I think most folks on this forum do not tow that large of camper with them. Because of the shorter wheelbase, the Explorer is more likely
to jacknife and may not have built-in sway protection.

So, the Explorer would work but not as well as an Expedition. For the difference in price, I would expect the Expy EL to retain it's value a bit better,
making the overall cost difference less. Can you afford an Expedition EL?

Wes
...

Yep, just look at some of his other posts tauting the Expy and his unfounded and outlandish claims and you will see just how far his head and other body parts are buried in the sand.:R Yet he seems to believe the all powerful Expy can tow anything any where and IMO some of his advice like what you quoted borders on being just down right dangerous:E

As several others have mentioned I'm in the full sized VAN camp. I have towed with one since the late 70's and raised two sons towing with one with multiple coast to coast trips and many thousands of miles and too many weekend trips to count and they make great tow vehicles with maximum flexibility to meet a families changing requirements and needs.

Larry