2015 ford v6 explorer

[kevinbti]

I am thinking of buying a 19 ft Oliver trailer I am concerned about the sway of the trailer. I had a Casita before with a sway bar which helped a great deal but that was before my current vehicle. My current vehicle has the two package which l believe I should be okay without the sway bar Your thoughts

[Mike_Up]

kevinbti wrote:
I am thinking of buying a 19 ft Oliver trailer I am concerned about the sway of the trailer. I had a Casita before with a sway bar which helped a great deal but that was before my current vehicle. My current vehicle has the two package which l believe I should be okay without the sway bar Your thoughts

I have a 2015 Explorer, it has the tow package. Without it, you're limited to a 2000 lbs tow rating with only a 200 lbs tongue rating. Without it, even the loaded tongue weight of the Casita would overload your hitch. With it, you should be fine as long as your tongue weight doesn't go over 500 lbs and you don't load enough into the Explorer to exceed it's payload. Ours has a payload of 1398 lbs. which is only 30 lbs less than my previous 2010 F150.

So if you have the tow package, it will have the hitch. The hitch has a plastic cover which is part of the rear plastic bumper cover. Pull the cover off and you will see the hitch and round 7 pin trailer harness.

From Ford's website "The Class III Trailer Tow Package, required for towing with the Explorer, includes a Class III frame-mounted hitch, 4- and 7-pin trailer connectors, and engine oil cooler. Enables towing up to 5,000 pounds, when properly equipped."

With the Explorer's short wheel base, I would always use hitch system with sway control. I would use a Reese Strait Line System, Equalizer brand, or maybe even a Blue Ox Sway Pro system. I don't like those "add on" sway bars as they can't be used in the rain without dog tracking.

Good luck

[rexlion]

Oliver didn't go out of business; they just quit building travel trailers for a while and now they've resumed production. The company seems solid and makes some other products.

Sorry to hear that you had a bad time with a Casita. That surprises me, but then anybody can get a lemon from any company.

[Smltown96]

I have always had a sway bar even when I towed my tent trailer and I would never tow without one. On the tow vehicle I would check what the manufacturer's towing limits are and I always believe that there is a rule of 75%. (Your trailer should not be more than 75% of your towing capacity).

[kevinbti]

That's what I ordered is the 19 ft I thought about the escape but driving across the border while still working would be a pain. I hated to lose the old v8 I had with my previous explorer but it is what it is I had to upgrade to get the Sport turbo not sure it was worth the money Anyway, dropping 55k on a trailer is gamble especially since they went out of business once but it is what it is I had a real bad experience with my casita and just hope this works out better. I decided to do what camp n family advised and will get the sway bar just as a piece of mind Thank you for your kind responses

[rexlion]

I'm sure a Ford service writer could tell you what the tow package includes on that vehicle. You might get lucky on this forum, but if not, try the dealer. Not that many on here who tow with the newer Explorer.

The shorter Ollie is 3640 lb dry wt and 375 lb on the hitch, before you add LP or water or anything. Possibly before adding the battery also. You'd want to scale your hitch weight so you know if it's necessary to load selectively in order to keep the hitch under 500. And unless you have the Sport (i.e., turbo version), performance may be somewhat sluggish with about 4k lbs hooked to it. Personally I think the Escape 19 is a better match weight-wise for an Explorer... but of course, they're booked solid for 2016.

[kevinbti]

camp n family good advise I will get the sway bar that's what I was leaning toward anyway Just curious on the tow package as I never had it before

[camp-n-family]

What makes you think your current vehicle won't need a sway bar? Having the tow package will have no bearing on if you need a sway bar or not. A properly loaded trailer should not sway to start with. Wind and turbulence from other vehicles could still cause it though. A sway bar is cheap insurance to prevent it at all.

Don't confuse a proper trailer sway bar with new vehicle "electronic sway control". They are 2 different things. Vehicle sway control will not stop a trailer from swaying and will only engage after the sway has already started, which is too late.

[kevinbti]

thanks for the message but I have no idea what you are talking about In full disclosure I am a high drop out so I guess I am stupid but its not a police vehicle

[cmeade]

I have driven several 2015 Explorers with the v6 and AWD. Instead of tow haul on shift lever it has a first gear function. 6 spd transmission and no control of any of them. Push the button at 35 mph and low gear and 5500 rpms in a heartbeat!! I would never tow with one and downhill driving would be hard on brakes too. (police package might have been different than off the dealer lot??)