97 ford expedition tow a 27' trailer?

[NJRedneck1986]

Hello i have a 1997 ford expedition XLT 4X4 5.4 V8 has tow package. I bought a 27 foot fleetwood mallard. And the guy towed it to my house with a single cab dodge pickup truck. and my uncle keeps telling me im gonna have a hard ass time towing it cus only pickups can tow trailers. i know it depends on the weight etc, im just wondering in gerneral what do you guys and gals think? Any fellow Expy owners here? Me personally i think i can tow it with my truck but want some more opinions. ill post my GVWR from trailer and truck in a few since i have to go out to the truck to make sure. thanks.

[BarneyS]

campigloo wrote:
I may be wrong, but isn't the Expy on a 1 ton chassis? Just looking at what rolls down the road, don't white ones pull better than blue or red ones?LOL

I believe the Expedition was/is built on the 1/2 ton (150)chassis. The Excursion (no longer made) was built on a 3/4 ton (250)chassis and, as far as I know, no SUV was ever made on the 1 ton (350)chassis.
Don't take this as gospel however. 🙂
Barney

[NJRedneck1986]

All the sites i reseach it shows for my 1997 expy its 17 is 3.73C so i beleive its that. 7 sites cant be wrong right 🙂

@Campigloo you may be right but i know the red ones are the fastest out of all the expys 😉 lol

[campigloo]

I may be wrong, but isn't the Expy on a 1 ton chassis? Just looking at what rolls down the road, don't white ones pull better than blue or red ones?LOL

[jerem0621]

NJRedneck1986 wrote:
The axle sticker says 17 so i did some googling and this is what i found
17 (1997)3.73C. Is this right Jerem0621 or is the internet missleding me lol 😛

p.s thanks to everybody on here that helping me this is such a great site im glad i found it and will tell all my cuzins that are getting into the rv scene 🙂

Here are the Expedition codes...

19-3.55 non-limited slip
17-3.31 non-limited slip
H9-3.55 limited slip
H7-3.31 limited slip
H6-3.73 limited slip

I towed my 5500 lb 32 ftr with the 3.31 axle ratio and it seemed that the poor truck lived in second gear at 55 - 60 mph...I think that the chassis is more than capable but you may find a disparity in performance experience and expectations towing that TT with 3.31's and a 4 speed auto.

Good luck either way you decide.

Jeremiah

[lenr]

We towed our 27’ Zinger with our 2004 Expedition XLT 5.4 all over the eastern US on long and short trips with no problems. Our son has a Mallard and I expect your trailer will weigh only slightly more than our Zinger. We used WD with 800 lb. bars and dual friction sway control. Dual cam would be better, but I have no experience with it. You can certainly do it with an Expy. I would suggest setting the WD so that the front bumper hooked up is as close as possible to the unhooked height. This insures that the proper weight has been returned to the front axle after hooking up. This will cause the rear to drop several inches, but the Expy is sprung and designed to drop in the rear under load. With your 4 speed transmission the torque converter will run unlocked in fourth gear quite a bit and that generates a lot of heat, the enemy of transmissions. I ran with OD locked out all the time except for occasional downhill runs where I didn’t need the engine braking. When towing I never found any fuel mileage difference between using OD or not—8.5 MPG all the time, and I was much more concerned about burning up the transmission. Of course you will not pull mountains at 60 MPH with a 5.4 but you can pull them in 3rd or 2nd. This engine torque peaks at 2500 rpm which is good for towing.

[NJRedneck1986]

The axle sticker says 17 so i did some googling and this is what i found
17 (1997)3.73C. Is this right Jerem0621 or is the internet missleding me lol 😛

p.s thanks to everybody on here that helping me this is such a great site im glad i found it and will tell all my cuzins that are getting into the rv scene 🙂

[jerem0621]

OP. Can you open the drivers door again and look at the sticker that told you the GVWR and find the axle code? This will tell us if you have 3:31, 3:55, or 3:73 axle ratio. 3:73 is preferred. 3:31 will feel like whale is on your back and is only rated for like 5000 ish lbs.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[dodge_guy]

The biggest factor will be in setting up the WD hitch, yes you need one. since you need to buy one get the Reese Dual Cam setup it will be money well spent. it will take time to get the hitch dialed in, sometimes a few trips. but when all is said and done you will have a stable setup that handles great!

[DarylSue]

ByTheRvr wrote:

NJRedneck1986 wrote:
Hello i have a 1997 ford expedition XLT 4X4 5.4 V8 has tow package. I bought a 27 foot fleetwood mallard. And the guy towed it to my house with a single cab dodge pickup truck. and my uncle keeps telling me im gonna have a hard ass time towing it cus only pickups can tow trailers. i know it depends on the weight etc, im just wondering in gerneral what do you guys and gals think? Any fellow Expy owners here? Me personally i think i can tow it with my truck but want some more opinions. ill post my GVWR from trailer and truck in a few since i have to go out to the truck to make sure. thanks.

You haven't provided enough information for anyone to provide an informed opinion. The 5.4 V8 strikes me as a small engine for a 27 foot trailer but it really depends on the weight of the trailer and the towing capacity of your truck. Towing capacity will depend on the features your truck has. You most definitely will need a weight distribution hitch and sway controls are a great idea also. I completely disagree with anyone who suggests just hooking up and giving it a go... Wow. If your manual says the truck is rated to tow 6,000 lbs and the gross weight of your loaded trailer is 8,500 lbs. you're on incredibly shaky ground. Not only would you be putting you and your family at risk but other innocent people who happen to be on the road if you lose control and crash. Also, if you have a mishap your insurance may be invalid opening you to huge personal liability. It's better to be safe than sorry. You are doing the right thing by asking questions first and gathering data before actually trying to tow. Good luck with your new trailer.

my 2004 EB Expy with the 5.4 and tow pkg. did ok with our previous TT....a Jayco 25E Hybrid that was 29'11" from tounge to bumper.....5500# dry and 6200# loaded(and she struggled on those hills)....we used a Reese Dual Cam WD/AS....the only concern I ever really had was the wheel base of the Expo being alot shorter than most trucks(obviously) but since most of our trips were short range it wasn't a huge issue....with the Silverado I have no issues and tow 1000# more than with the Expo.....however the Expo did develop a rear main leak just before i traded it in for the Silverado......you should certainly put some form of WD/AS on and just give it a try locally for a short trip.......good luck and enjoy.

[NJRedneck1986]

OK i went out and got the GVWR My Truck is = 7200 And my Trailer is 6400 and 4470 dry weight. Hopes this helps.

[ByTheRvr]

NJRedneck1986 wrote:
Hello i have a 1997 ford expedition XLT 4X4 5.4 V8 has tow package. I bought a 27 foot fleetwood mallard. And the guy towed it to my house with a single cab dodge pickup truck. and my uncle keeps telling me im gonna have a hard ass time towing it cus only pickups can tow trailers. i know it depends on the weight etc, im just wondering in gerneral what do you guys and gals think? Any fellow Expy owners here? Me personally i think i can tow it with my truck but want some more opinions. ill post my GVWR from trailer and truck in a few since i have to go out to the truck to make sure. thanks.

You haven't provided enough information for anyone to provide an informed opinion. The 5.4 V8 strikes me as a small engine for a 27 foot trailer but it really depends on the weight of the trailer and the towing capacity of your truck. Towing capacity will depend on the features your truck has. You most definitely will need a weight distribution hitch and sway controls are a great idea also. I completely disagree with anyone who suggests just hooking up and giving it a go... Wow. If your manual says the truck is rated to tow 6,000 lbs and the gross weight of your loaded trailer is 8,500 lbs. you're on incredibly shaky ground. Not only would you be putting you and your family at risk but other innocent people who happen to be on the road if you lose control and crash. Also, if you have a mishap your insurance may be invalid opening you to huge personal liability. It's better to be safe than sorry. You are doing the right thing by asking questions first and gathering data before actually trying to tow. Good luck with your new trailer.

[NJRedneck1986]

Thanks everybody 🙂 What is the best setup to use? Will it be better for me to buy a weight disabution and sway control setup? and is there any good or bad kits to look for?

[MitchF150]

I tow a 22', #5000 TT with a 97 F150 that just rolled past 250,000 miles about a week ago.. 🙂

Tows great and no issues at all with my setup.. I am over the trucks #6250 GVWR when it's all said and done, but for me, it's fine. Someone else might think it a disaster waiting to happen... (Yes, I've heard it all already folks!).

If you load up your Expy and find that you don't have much payload left, you'll be over GVWR too... How it tows is going to be up to you and what you feel you can deal with..

Basically, since you have both the truck and the trailer, about all you can do is hitch it up and take it for a tow and see how YOU like it... 😉

That's what really matters in the end.

Good luck!

Mitch

[Road_Ruler]

NJRedneck1986 wrote:
and my uncle keeps telling me im gonna have a hard ass time towing it cus only pickups can tow trailers.

LOL, ya there are a few 100,000 uncle Bucks out there that wear suspenders that will tell you the same thing.

Reality..... concentrate on the connection and set up. That is where you will make it or break it.