Towing with 2013 XLT w/Tow Package

[thestrangebrew]

Hey all! New to the forums and doing a bunch of research. I've done a search with people asking if a 2013 explorer can pull xyz TTs and most recommend for this particular TV either a popup or HTT. We're currently looking at a Jayco 16xrb HTT and I just want to check if I'm (roughly) calculating my numbers correctly.

So the Jayco GVWR is 3500lbs and dry weight of 2575 lbs. A lady on the Jayco Forums (I've posted on several different forums in my research) who has this exact trailer bought in Feb. saying her yellow sticker was 2832 lbs. I know this number could vary immensely, but just as a baseline I'll use that number.

Curb weight of TV - 4557lbs (including 150lbs for driver)
Passengers (3 - not including driver) - ~450lbs
No cargo (wife said we will put all our gear in the trailer when towing which I'm totally skeptical about)
tongue (dry hitch?) - 315 lbs (most likely higher from what I've read)


Weight of vehicle + passengers + 0 cargo + tongue = 5322 lbs

So dry weight - 2832 lbs
Trailer has 26gal fresh water capacity, but we don't use a whole lot of water and to keep things light, I fig. we would use about 10 gals over the course of a weekend. I'll go with 15lbs just to be safe.

Water @ 15 gals. = 8.33lbs/gal = 124.95 gals.

Propane & battery = 125 lbs(?)

Cargo (I have no idea what food/clothes will weigh and we generally use paper /plastic products) so I'd guess about 200-300 lbs

Weighted vehicle (dry weight + water +cargo (300lbs to be safe) = 3381 lbs

TV + Weighter Trailer = 8703 lbs.

My TV GCVWR is 9980 so 9980 - 8703 = 1277 or 87% of Max

Does this sound about right as to how I would figure out actual weights etc once we decide to get the trailer? @ 87% would I have a hard time going up some mountains? I will be using a wdh & brake controller and anything else that will enhance safety that you guys would recommend (I've never pulled anything before so this is all new to me). Thanks.

[thestrangebrew]

So I think we've narrowed it down to the Roo 17 or 19. Yellow sticker on the 17 was 2700 which I thought was prob. a typo but that's what it said. The 19 was 3610 but double axle. More weight but double axle seems like the safer way to go, but I'd be maxing out the TV pretty much. The 17 weight if correct is perfect I think. If I could keep cargo at about 600lbs, I'd be ~1000lbs under Max, which from what I understand is a pretty decent # to be under.

[dodge_guy]

ACDNate wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I can tell you from experience you will load at least 1000lbs into a smaller a TT. I wouldn't worry about water because you can fill when you get there.

Yowsa! What all are you bringing with you to get to 1k lbs. If I throw my motorcycle, clothes for the weekend, all my gear, extra tires and parts I'm still not to 1k lbs.

That was our old Award TT. it had a 3800lb dry weight and a 5k lb CCC. I maxed that out quickly. my current TT has a 4100lb CCC and I`m hauling around and extra 2k lbs worth of cr................ `er "stuff"! you can and will load more than you think!

[thestrangebrew]

bikendan wrote:

thestrangebrew wrote:
We went to the dealer to browse and looked at a few TTs. We found a few that I felt Comfortable pulling but we really liked the rockwood 231ikss. My wife loved it. Now she's entertaining the idea if a New TV so that we could get this trailer instead. I'd feel much better with a different TV.

NO WAY will you want to tow the 23IKSS with your Explorer!:E

you'll need a v-8 truck or SUV and a HD factory tow package. the only v-6 that's capable of towing it, would be the Ecoboost F-150 v-6 truck.

LOL I know. There's no way we would do that. I'm actually looking into an F-150, but I really don't think we can swing it right now.

[bikendan]

thestrangebrew wrote:
We went to the dealer to browse and looked at a few TTs. We found a few that I felt Comfortable pulling but we really liked the rockwood 231ikss. My wife loved it. Now she's entertaining the idea if a New TV so that we could get this trailer instead. I'd feel much better with a different TV.

NO WAY will you want to tow the 23IKSS with your Explorer!:E

you'll need a v-8 truck or SUV and a HD factory tow package. the only v-6 that's capable of towing it, would be the Ecoboost F-150 v-6 truck.

[thestrangebrew]

We went to the dealer to browse and looked at a few TTs. We found a few that I felt Comfortable pulling but we really liked the rockwood 231ikss. My wife loved it. Now she's entertaining the idea if a New TV so that we could get this trailer instead. I'd feel much better with a different TV.

[ACDNate]

dodge guy wrote:
I can tell you from experience you will load at least 1000lbs into a smaller a TT. I wouldn't worry about water because you can fill when you get there.

Yowsa! What all are you bringing with you to get to 1k lbs. If I throw my motorcycle, clothes for the weekend, all my gear, extra tires and parts I'm still not to 1k lbs.

[thestrangebrew]

goducks10 wrote:
All TT's made today have brakes so that shouldn't be a concern. Looking for a higher CCC would be #1 on my list. Also where are you going to do most of your camping? If you're only going to places where there's water and elec then carrying water shouldn't be an issue.

Mostly we do our camping in the foothills/mountains @ about 6000' elev. Usually no water/electricity. To note, we're coming straight from tent camping so we're very accustomed to packing light. There's usually a store within 40 mins. where we get supplies etc. Honestly, we're looking for a trailer for the sleeping/elements convenience more than anything. We're used to just using water for dishes/flushing toilets because we've always used our friends trailers, so we're very conscious of water usage. Normally we rinse ourselves off in the creek etc. Obviously if we go somewhere where they have hookups we wouldn't tow full tanks.

[goducks10]

All TT's made today have brakes so that shouldn't be a concern. Looking for a higher CCC would be #1 on my list. Also where are you going to do most of your camping? If you're only going to places where there's water and elec then carrying water shouldn't be an issue.

[thestrangebrew]

I definitely plan on getting a good controller and a trailer with brakes. Also I'll be using a whd and anything else that will make the towing safer. I guess I need to look at something with a little more CCC now.

[e-light]

thestrangebrew wrote:
Yep that's where I found it. After doing all my research I'm pretty comfortable with my TVs capabilities on FLAT terrain lol. I'm mostly concerned with going up/downhill. I've never towed before and just worried about slowing/stopping. I hate to say this when it comes to safety, but I guess the only way to truly learn how the vehicle will work is practice right?

If you get a trailer with trailer brakes and a good controller (Prodigy P3) you should be fine with stopping. As for hills if you can use your transmission to limit the gears you should be fine on the hills. You might not be able to fly up them, but don't be in a hurry and you'll be fine. Also try to use the engine/tranny to slow you going downhill as well. That will help with having to heat up your brakes too much...

[thestrangebrew]

Yep that's where I found it. After doing all my research I'm pretty comfortable with my TVs capabilities on FLAT terrain lol. I'm mostly concerned with going up/downhill. I've never towed before and just worried about slowing/stopping. I hate to say this when it comes to safety, but I guess the only way to truly learn how the vehicle will work is practice right?

[e-light]

thestrangebrew wrote:

e-light wrote:
Payload should be on the pillar inside the drivers door. Every vehicle will be slightly different, since anything added to the vehicle weight will count against payload.

An easy way to estimate would be to check your payload number and towing capacity. So say your payload is 1000 lbs. Subtract your family, gear (anything you add to the truck) and your tongue weight. If you run out of payload the trailer is too much for the vehicle. If you're under payload and the trailer weight is under your towing capacity you should be good.

Yea I found it. 1570 lbs. With ~500 lbs passenger and a little cargo, and a tongue weight max of 500 lbs I'd have a little room to play with. IF there's no cargo in the car, or very lightly loaded.

1570 lbs is nice payload. That's 1/2 truck territory...keep your weights in check and you should be fine with that trailer.

I know it's not safe, but I saw an Explorer pulling a huge 34' Jayco trailer at Myrtle Beach state park last week. It had Mich plates so would have had to pull that trailer through the mountains to get down there. That's just crazy if you ask me...but they made it.

[APT]

Yes looks like you found it. The tire and loading sticker looks like this:



And the receiver should have something like this:



So that's not too bad. 500 pounds of TW will mean about 4000 pounds loaded, or 3000-3500 dry.

[thestrangebrew]

e-light wrote:
Payload should be on the pillar inside the drivers door. Every vehicle will be slightly different, since anything added to the vehicle weight will count against payload.

An easy way to estimate would be to check your payload number and towing capacity. So say your payload is 1000 lbs. Subtract your family, gear (anything you add to the truck) and your tongue weight. If you run out of payload the trailer is too much for the vehicle. If you're under payload and the trailer weight is under your towing capacity you should be good.

Yea I found it. 1570 lbs. With ~500 lbs passenger and a little cargo, and a tongue weight max of 500 lbs I'd have a little room to play with. IF there's no cargo in the car, or very lightly loaded.