To Upgrade TV or Not

[humblerb]

An old friend sent me a message telling me he bought a TT about a month ago. It is his first TT. He is towing with a 2013 Expedition. I think he said it is 5600# Dry and about 6200# loaded.
He asked me if I thought he would notice an appreciable difference in the towing experience by upgrading the TV to a GM 1500 pickup.
He said the Expedition was a little squishy and it wiggles.
He doesn't want to spend the money for a new truck for very little different towing experience.
I told him I didn't think he would notice a large difference, as long as his Expedition is in good mechanical condition.
He is a bit of a car guy, so he takes care of cars.
He put Bilsteins on a year ago.
I pointed him to this forum to check his hitch setup.
He has an Equalizer hitch.
Told him proper set up will alleviate a lot of issues.
If his set up is good, probably won't notice much difference by going to a 1/2 ton pickup would he?

[humblerb]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.
As stated, I pointed him toward proper hitch set up.
Have not heard from him since. With Hurricane Beta here in the Houston area, he probably has not done anything with regard to verifying setup yet.
Lots of interesting thoughts and comments here.

[humblerb]

APT wrote:
Again, before spending even $1000 on tires or even $250 on suspension mods, review the procedure to adjust the WDH.

If OP's friend is looking for an excuse to upgrade without data, just go to 3/4 ton. 😄

I sent him the adjustment procedure you noted.
He doesn't want to spend the money for a new TV only to find little to no difference. Definitely not looking for an excuse to upgrade.

[philh]

tires

[BenK]

Even though this full sized SUV is derived from a F150....the SUV market folks demand even higher levels of ‘ride quality’...typical for all badges...so the OEM normally softens the springs (changes the force rates over travel) and other ‘car’ attributes added...though that is also happening to pickups...folks deciding ride quality over pure truck ride

For this OP, going to higher class tires will help, but first air the ‘P’ class tires to their max sidewall PSI rating before purchasing new shoes

Next would be replacing the shocks with higher dampening rate shocks. Even performance level, but ride quality will suffer

Normally do not recommend higher torsional rate front & rear anti-sway (anti-lean) bars, but in this case another less costly than a new vehicle. Just understand both = #1 the ride quality will be reduced and #2 the ride quality will also be reduced


Of course, the setup needs to be dialed in correctly.

From having the right torsion bar ratings, to the orientation of the whole setup, which should have the TV returned to whatever front/rear weighting/measurement/etc the OEM’s manual recommends.

The final orientation of the setup should be the above for the TV after dialing everything in and the trailer should be level in its pointing or preferred to have it pointing slightly down

Of course, first weigh the whole setup, axle by axle, both hooked up and WD bars not tensioned

Good luck and report back so others might gleen insight for their setup

[Bionic_Man]

Going from that anemic 5.4 V8 to a modern V8 (or turbo V6) would absolutely make a considerable difference.

I think the cooling would be better on the newer vehicles as well.

[APT]

Again, before spending even $1000 on tires or even $250 on suspension mods, review the procedure to adjust the WDH.

If OP's friend is looking for an excuse to upgrade without data, just go to 3/4 ton. 😄

[MikeRP]

Absolutely tires, going to e rated. Adjusting the hitch and even timbrens will help that Ford. I had a 1998 Ford 150 conversion van w a 4.6 or 4.8l v8 that towed way better than a 2005 Chevy Avalanche. 5.3L.

Stock to stock. I really was just freaked out. I had a 2007 Chevy Suburban 2500 w the 6.0 L. That would tow a house. Just not pass up a gas station. The Avalanche was just a modified Suburban.

So that Ford will do the job just equipped right.

[agwill]

Real tires not P rated.

[Tyler0215]

Does he have "P" rated tires currently? An upgrade will make a huge difference.

[mbopp]

Switching to "E" rated tires on my F150 took out the squishy - squirmy feeling.

[Super_Dave]

Or, his problem could possibly be solved with some simple suspension upgrades. If he is not over weight limit for his current TV AND he is okay with the power, have him check out things like air bags and springs.

[APT]

Have him spend $15 at a scale to fine tune the WDH. He may also learn how close to all his ratings which may justify something different and what capacities he would like to increase.

[valhalla360]

1/2 ton pickups come in a huge variety of flavors.

The bottom of the line will likely not be much better.

The top of the line (towing capability) will be a lot better.

As someone else mentioned, it sounds like he is overloaded. Take it to a CAT scale and find out what the real numbers are.

[Grit_dog]

Yeah, a lot of variables here to make a competent recommendation on the info given.
However stiffer rear suspension and stiffer tires generally improves the conditions he’s experiencing.
Don’t need to get a new vehicle to do that though. Within reason.

Also his perception of “how” it should tow comes into play too. Like what’s his basis for comparison?