1st time TT owner, with questions

dani24 wrote:

We do have the 4x4. Would it be cumbersome mostly from a standpoint of needing to set it up each time? Or is there something else that would make it a pain to have, if we didn't really need it?

Well, if you have the 4x4, you likely have the heavier axle, too, at least according to page 20 at the towing guide link . A quick look at the door panel will confirm that (or not)

If so:

You'll be towing two thousand pounds under the max for the vehicle. Per tongue weight, 10% of your vehicle max is 530 pounds, nearly two hundred pounds over the likely max nose weight of the trailer. The trailer itself weighs far less than the half of tow vehicle gross weight rating commonly considered to be a break point for W/D in this case just seems unnecessary to me unless you've got a TON of people/gear in the Explorer when traveling.

Absent that scenario and assuming the bigger axle, I'd be surprised if the trailer squats the back of the rig at all when sitting on a simple ball.

You might find the following E-trailer discussion of W/D useful Link. Explains all the ins and outs real well, and includes the following simple instructions for determining whether or not one actually needs W/D.

E-Trailer wrote:
When Is Weight Distribution Needed?


You would likely benefit from a weight-distribution system if:

-Your trailer weight (GTW) is more than 50 percent of your vehicle's weight (GVWR)
-The rear of your tow vehicle sags when the trailer is hooked up
- You experience trailer sway
-Your tow vehicle headlights point upward
-You find it difficult to steer or stop your rig
-You want to tow to the highest capacity allowed by your vehicle's trailer hitch setup

Per the above: Again assuming the heavier axle, which increases tug GVWR to 10,000 pounds, the trailer you're getting is far below half that weight.

Francesca Knowles wrote:


From what I can tell, the tow package did come with a seven-pole plug (I erroneously referred to as "pigtail- that's the trailer connection!) But it looks like the only "live" standard connections were lights- no brake controller wiring/charging line. Those are must haves as far as I'm concerned. If they are putting in a charging line, by the way, do make sure they're also installing an isolating solenoid that will prevent the trailer from sucking all the juice out of the tug's battery when the ignition is turned off. That's not always a standard part of a charging line install, though in my opinion it should be!

We do have the seven prong plug on the Explorer.

Per actual towing capacity and need-or-not for W/D:

In your case (4.0L V6), capacity is mostly limited by the size of the rear axle, though there's a small difference by drive type. (Is yours four wheel drive or not?) Specs for axles are on the vehicle door plate....

If you have the 3.55 axle, capacity is 3400lbs tops. That's so close to the trailer's gross weight that you might indeed need W/D.

But if you have the much stiffer 3.73, which all by itself increases tow capacity by over two thousand pounds (5780 tops) , W/D may well be an unnecessary and cumbersome add-on.

We do have the 4x4. Would it be cumbersome mostly from a standpoint of needing to set it up each time? Or is there something else that would make it a pain to have, if we didn't really need it?

You already have the permanently installed part of the hitch: the receiver. As would be true if we were talking about a simple ballmount, there's no real "installation" involved for the W/D. It's a component that simply plugs into your receiver, followed by various things also getting hooked up. You'll have to do that yourself every time you use it. If you're dealing with the folks you're also buying the trailer from, it's surprising to me that they'd be charging you anything at all for what can only amount to showing you how to adjust it-? To me, that's sorta like charging to explain how something in the trailer works...or if you have questions about, say, the dump valves , do they charge for that information, too?

I think by "installation" I just meant installing the ordered components wherever they go. I assume, for instance, that the WD hitch and sway bar have to be installed on the TT's tongue. The sales guy didn't mention anything about a separate cost for installation for those items. Although he just quoted a lump sum for it all.

dani24 wrote:


I had thought we were getting the WD hitch, anti-sway bar and brake control package installed. Yet now it is sounding like they may have pulled a fast one on me. And I'm feeling really stupid for not catching it until now.

I'm going to go back down there and see if they'll pull out our file and the negotiating worksheet (which I saw them put in there). I swear the guy had written the brake controller package on that. And I know at one point towards the end I initialed that page. I'm hoping I can argue to have it included. Or maybe swap out the WD hitch for just a sway bar and brake controller. Although, it looks like a brake controller online is around $100, give or take (correct me if I'm wrong), versus $300 for the WD hitch, and I don't want to leave any money on the table that I don't need to.

Is the "7 pole pigtail" the same thing as the 7 prong plug? Or is that the wiring that hooks up from the trailer to that 7 prong plug?

I just looked at Ford's towing guide for the 2004 models: Link.

From what I can tell, the tow package did come with a seven-pole plug (I erroneously referred to as "pigtail- that's the trailer connection!) But it looks like the only "live" standard connections were lights- no brake controller wiring/charging line. Those are must haves as far as I'm concerned. If they are putting in a charging line, by the way, do make sure they're also installing an isolating solenoid that will prevent the trailer from sucking all the juice out of the tug's battery when the ignition is turned off. That's not always a standard part of a charging line install, though in my opinion it should be!

Per actual towing capacity and need-or-not for W/D:

In your case (4.0L V6), capacity is mostly limited by the size of the rear axle, though there's a small difference by drive type. (Is yours four wheel drive or not?) Specs for axles are on the vehicle door plate....

If you have the 3.55 axle, capacity is 3400lbs tops. That's so close to the trailer's gross weight that you might indeed need W/D.

But if you have the much stiffer 3.73, which all by itself increases tow capacity by over two thousand pounds (5780 tops) , W/D may well be an unnecessary and cumbersome add-on.

And per W/D "installation charges":

You already have the permanently installed part of the hitch: the receiver. As would be true if we were talking about a simple ballmount, there's no real "installation" involved for the W/D. It's a component that simply plugs into your receiver, followed by various things also getting hooked up. You'll have to do that yourself every time you use it. If you're dealing with the folks you're also buying the trailer from, it's surprising to me that they'd be charging you anything at all for what can only amount to showing you how to adjust it-? To me, that's sorta like charging to explain how something in the trailer works. If you have questions about, say, the dump valves , do they charge for that information, too?

Good luck!

You'll need a WDH with the Explorer, your rear suspension isn't that heavy and the WDH will transfer weight of the trailer back onto your front axle that does the steering. Also, the sway bar will be attached to that WDH. I would find out if you have a brake controller already installed with the Explorer, if not the Tekonsha Prodigy is a good choice.

The multi-wire cable that is connected from trailer to tow vehicle has a number of names---umbilical, 7 pole, 7 prong, 7 way, 7 way RV. You will, of course, have to have that 7 way socket on your tow vehicle to operate all the functions the trailer has like brake lights, turn lights, night lights, marker lights, brakes, and electrical charge to the battery. A simple look-see on the back of your vehicle is all that's necessary.

Also remember that the vehicle may have a 5400 lb tow rating but the Class II hitch maxes out at 3500 lbs. with up to 350 lbs. tongue weight which is right at the limit of your trailer rating. Enjoy your new trailer. As with everything in life you will learn from experience after using it a couple times what you will need for it.

I love the idea of camping at home to find out some things you may need as they will be readily available as opposed to when your out camping.but getting to know your trailer is half the fun. As for backing it up you just need to practice, practice, practice and it will eventually get easier and pretty soon you'll be a pro. As a truck driver for 25 years you will learn that shorter trailers can be harder to back than longer because you have less time to correct. Just go easy and before you know it that 1 foot clearance will seem like 10 feet. Happy camping.

Francesca Knowles wrote:

What, exactly, are you paying the dealer to do? If your vehicle came with a "tow package", presumably that at least included a lights connection with a four-flat hookup. I'm shootin' in the dark here, but that's the standard thing. With that as a starting point, the "work" you'd need done would be to install brake controller wiring, a charging line for the trailer battery, and maybe a backup lights connection. Plus a seven pole pigtail if you don't already have one.

And yet your work order doesn't include brake controller wiring, perhaps the most important of the components you need? What the heck ARE they doing???

Also, per the W/D system they already so helpfully ordered you:

Unless the numbers I'm looking at online are completely wrong, your trailer will weigh about 2,000 pounds under your vehicle's capacity. Tongue weight should come in at about 350 lbs....I can't imagine that will drop the rear of the tug more than an inch, if that. W/D may be just a cumbersome and unnecessary extra bit of trouble in your case.

Bottom line: you may not need weight distribution with this setup. The sole purpose of that system is to transfer weight away from the rear axle of the tug. If they're selling it to you as "sway control", you should be aware that many W/D systems provide no such thing, and require the adding of friction-type sway controllers. Which you can use just as effectively on the simple ball setup the tug already has.

If I was in your situation, I wouldn't decide on W/D until I looked at the trailer loaded for the road and hooked up to the tug. That is when you'll know. And W/D is an over-the-counter buy at any RV parts store, so don't let anyone tell you that it's something exotic!

I had thought we were getting the WD hitch, anti-sway bar and brake control package installed. Yet now it is sounding like they may have pulled a fast one on me. And I'm feeling really stupid for not catching it until now.

I'm going to go back down there and see if they'll pull out our file and the negotiating worksheet (which I saw them put in there). I swear the guy had written the brake controller package on that. And I know at one point towards the end I initialed that page. I'm hoping I can argue to have it included. Or maybe swap out the WD hitch for just a sway bar and brake controller. Although, it looks like a brake controller online is around $100, give or take (correct me if I'm wrong), versus $300 for the WD hitch, and I don't want to leave any money on the table that I don't need to.

Is the "7 pole pigtail" the same thing as the 7 prong plug? Or is that the wiring that hooks up from the trailer to that 7 prong plug?

You need an equalizing hitch with anti-sway and you need braking. The hitch's rating is stamped on the hitch.
If you have a hitch that is too small for towing the trailer, the easiest solution is to have a larger hitch installed.

FWIW, I saw an Explorer, today, that had a Class II hitch built into the valance under the bumper. Don't know if they are all coming stock like that or not.

dani24 wrote:
So, I dug into our filing cabinet, where DH still had the window sticker from when he bought the vehicle. The good news is that the Explorer DOES have a Class III hitch (as part of the tow package).

I called down to the dealer, and the WD hitch they ordered for us is the 600 lb Husky WD hitch.

Unfortunately, the service department manager I spoke with said she didn't have anything showing we were to get a brake package. So now I have to figure out what to do about that with the dealer... :(

:h

O.K., now I'm confused. (Good news on the class III, by the way!)

That aside:

What, exactly, are you paying the dealer to do? If your vehicle came with a "tow package", presumably that at least included a lights connection with a four-flat hookup. I'm shootin' in the dark here, but that's the standard thing. With that as a starting point, the "work" you'd need done would be to install brake controller wiring, a charging line for the trailer battery, and maybe a backup lights connection. Plus a seven pole pigtail if you don't already have one.

And yet your work order doesn't include brake controller wiring, perhaps the most important of the components you need? What the heck ARE they doing???

Also, per the W/D system they already so helpfully ordered you:

Unless the numbers I'm looking at online are completely wrong, your trailer will weigh about 2,000 pounds under your vehicle's capacity. Tongue weight should come in at about 350 lbs....I can't imagine that will drop the rear of the tug more than an inch, if that. W/D may be just a cumbersome and unnecessary extra bit of trouble in your case.

Bottom line: you may not need weight distribution with this setup. The sole purpose of that system is to transfer weight away from the rear axle of the tug. If they're selling it to you as "sway control", you should be aware that many W/D systems provide no such thing, and require the adding of friction-type sway controllers. Which you can use just as effectively on the simple ball setup the tug already has.

If I was in your situation, I wouldn't decide on W/D until I looked at the trailer loaded for the road and hooked up to the tug. That is when you'll know. And W/D is an over-the-counter buy at any RV parts store, so don't let anyone tell you that it's something exotic!

So, I dug into our filing cabinet, where DH still had the window sticker from when he bought the vehicle. The good news is that the Explorer DOES have a Class III hitch (as part of the tow package).

I called down to the dealer, and the WD hitch they ordered for us is the 600 lb Husky WD hitch.

Unfortunately, the service department manager I spoke with said she didn't have anything showing we were to get a brake package. So now I have to figure out what to do about that with the dealer... :(

Francesca Knowles wrote:


"Class II" is just an expression of weight limits- 3500 pounds max. Addition of W/D hardware is up to receiver designer. I'd frankly be surprised if someone put such a low load hitch on this vehicle...but you never know! They might have just wanted to tote a bike rack or something.

There should be something on the hitch itself- they always come with labels. What make/model etc.? Or is it at the service shop even as we speak?

I don't know what the make/model of the EQ hitch is. It would still be at the shop, with the TT. We haven't picked it up yet, because they still needed to do the full inspection, and fix a couple of things under warranty (mainly cosmetic) that we requested.

Would there be something on the receiver on the Ford that would indicate if it's a Class II or Class III that we can check for?