Towing with an Expedition

Chuck&Gail wrote:

krobbe wrote:
According to Ford's 2008 RV & Towing Guide, your max hitch wt on the Expy is 920# on page 29.

The Expy gross wt is 7400#. The curb wt is 5578#. That leaves a total payload capacity of 1822# for passengers, gear, and trailer tongue wt.

After loading 1500Lbs of gear, water and propane into the TT, your tongue wt should be 886Lbs.

What is your Chevies GAWR when loaded and towing?

Sure would be nice IF you were correct and the Exp GAWR could be ignored. Or maybe the 2008 was beefier than the 2010? Bet a beer or three you are incorrect.

My 2010 Expedition Limited with tow package has a measured weight of 6420# with myself, wife, and dog aboard, and drawbar plus bars installed but disconnected from TT. When towing our tongue weight is 900#. The rear GAWR on our 2010 is 4250#. With our Equalizer hitch connec5ed, and 8 washers installed, our Exp rear axle weighs 4180#. I'm close, but in specs.

My Chevy's GAWR is 5500# which is the rating on the door jamb.
The tongue wt of my TT loaded up is 870#.
My actual RGAW loaded and towing is 4003#.
I'm not even close.

But back to your comment about being incorrect. All I did was give the OP some info FROM Ford about his weights based on his stated 9000# tow limit(which would indicate he has a Expy EL 4x2). How could I be incorrect about a GAWR? I only pointed out the 920# max hitch limitation Ford put on it and calculated the max payload. I'd say you owe me 3 Oberons.;)

To the op: You need to look at the most limiting factor when towing. Be it payload rating or GAWR or GVWR. Most times with 1/2 tons it'll be payload. It'll never be the max trailer wt rating. You are right on the edge for towing that trailer. It'll be uncomfortable at best. I used a 20% safety margin when calculating weights when I was looking for a TV. Check out this Travel Trailer Weight Calculator to throw some numbers around to get an idea of what is safe to tow.