Anyone towing an Expedition?

[gus]

I remember being shocked when I first read the 5300+ lb weight of an Expedition, but I was even more shocked that the Excursion is 7200 lb!!

What was Ford thinking when they built these things?

My dually one ton Dodge Cummins weighs no more than the Excursion!

[JackConrad]

WOWE! I sure didn't think they weighed that much.  Our Ford F350 dually, diesel, crew cab is only 6550 over the scales with almost full fuel and me sitting in it.

[belfert]

Jack's F-350 must be older as a current model with V10 engine weighs in at 6750 lbs.  The diesel engine pushes it well over 7.000 lbs.

[JackConrad]

OOPS, A typo should have been 6850.  Our truck is a 92' with the 7.3 "International" Ford diesel engine

[Devin & Amy]

Hi all,

""I would disconnect the Vacuum line to the Transfer case and also drop the driveline from the rear U joint ""
Excellent idea.
We tow an Excursion. (It's in that picture up there.)
I have the driveshaft disconnect installed and it has worked well for more than a year.
But,
    When towing across I-90 in South Dakota during our vacation out west we had a catastrophe.
The Auto lockouts locked in at about 70 m.p.h.!
The tranny sits in the parked position while going down the road, and I've never even really felt it back there. We pulled into the Devil's Tower park at around midnight and parked. When I did my walk around the next morning I saw the transfer case front drive gear still connected to the driveshaft. Hanging down and almost touching the ground.(OH Dear ,will you come hear a minute, we might have a problem. )
When the system detonated the driveshaft was driven through the floor under the driver's seat. The transfer case had disintegrated, taking with it the ring and pinion in the front axle as well.
Long story a bit shorter, We traveled 5660 miles on our trip and the towed didn't drive itself even one city block.
Anyway, My bus can and does haul around that big SUV, and I get about 5.5 mpg doing it. It is the vehicle for my work and the family of six.
I would recommend one modification to any vacuum activated lockout system, throw away the autos and put in a set of manual hubs that will grantee you a freewheeling vehicle for sure. For me it was a $3500 decision made a bit too late.
HTH
Devin

[gumpy]

Dang Devin,

Sorry to hear about your catastrophe. That's not the best place in the world to lose your guts, either!

I hope the rest of the trip went better.

craig

[JohnEd]

Gumpery Craig,

This is a rare pleasure.  YES you can tow that puppy with all four down.  Actually, you can tow ANYTHING with all four down.  You still can't back any of them up, however.  Here is how:  Start the engine and shift to neutral.  Full oil pressure and all bearings ar lubed in the transmission.  Tow at an speed for as long as you wish.  My olds toronado got 2,000 miles of tow to a tank of gas.  A friend with a Fiat got more than double my  MPG.  This isn't a theory....I have done this for years and years.  I expanded the system and added a safty feature: Hooked the idiot light sensors for low oil pressure and over temp to a relay that fired of the air horn I installed.  Started the car and switched on the saftey switch and "towed away".  The operating temp of the car went up significantly and this was behind a S&S with a front motor.

When I thought of this I called three trans shops and the GM dealer for their read.  All said it would work and not damage the trans.  Is this cheaper than a dolly? 

A friend installs a drive shaft decoupler that works really well.  Needs a replacement shaft and isn't exactly free but it will cross to your next car also as a selling feature.


Good luck,

John

[gumpy]

Thanks John,

I had not considered that, and while I have heard of it before, and in fact know someone who towed a van that way, it's not for me.

Plus, on this particular vehicle, the manual say not to tow it even by tow truck with any wheels down because of their Control Trac
4x4, which is a system where the computer applys the brakes to a slipping wheel to transfer power to the opposite wheel.
I don't quite understand why it would be a problem as the Control Trac computer should not be working when the engine is off,
but sure could see it being a problem when it's running. I suspect I could put the Remco driveline disconnect on the rear driveline,
and it'd be ok, but Devin's problem scares me a bit.

I think we've decided to pass on the Expedition in favor of another Explorer. The explorer is lighter, and easier to deal with as far as
setup for towing. With the third seat option, we can fit 7 people, though a little uncomfortable, but that's not usual for us, and we
don't go very far in it when traveling anyway, so it works well.

I think I'll sell the Remco disconnect unit I used on the other Explorer.  Remco has a trade in program if you need to upgrade.
You can send in an old one and they give you a discount on the new one. When we got this one, the discount was $250. I
found a guy who had an old one, and he offered to split that, so I saved $125 on the new one and he got $125 for his old
one. Maybe I can find someone who want's to buy a new one and do the same.

craig

[Utahclaimjumper]

Why mess with a Ford at all?? I bought a Jeep liberty, very comfortable vehicle, 210 Horse V-6 and all set up from the factory for 4 down towing.>>>Dan

[gumpy]

I don't know anything about the Liberty, but I'm not a big Jeep fan in general. My Mother-In-Law has had a Cherokee for several years. That thing goes through brakes about every 25K miles! It's had problems from day one.

Interesting that the Liberty would come from the factory set up for 4 down towing. Wish other manufacturers would figure out that RVing is popular!

[Utahclaimjumper]

 Yea, its really neat, evan has two positions for the ignition switch, one for locking the steering wheel in the off mode and one for towing without lock.>>>Dan

[JohnEd]

Craig,

I am certain you can disable that Trac thingy by simply removing the fuse.  No power...no operation.  I know it works that way with a pacemaker.

Good choice on the Jeep.

Good luck,

John

[Sam 4106]

Hi Gumpy,
Maybe your mother-in law drives with one foot on the brake and the other on the gas pedal. Have you ever followed someone with their brake lights on intermittently or full time? My cousin's father-in-law drove that way even going up hill. He never had brakes last long and his MPG was always low too. Next time you ride with her take a discreet look at her feet while she's driving. But, by no means try to change her habit if she does drive that way.
Good luck, Sam 4106

[gumpy]

No, she doesn't left foot brake. It's just cheap materials. The rotors and pads on that model were just crap, and the replacements
aren't any better. Not sure if they got the best they could, but F-I-L doesn't waste money buying cheap crap, so I expect it was the best available. I think that thing is full time four wheel drive, also, though not sure why that would matter on the brakes. Tires, though, would be a different story.

My new Explorer went through it's original brakes in under 45K. They were junk. The new ones I put on were much beefier.

Also put new tires on at about 50K, but I'd towed it 15-20K also, so can't complain about that.

[HB of CJ]

If you want to do it right, also you need to consider the $inconvenient fact$ that legally, you will need some sort of braking ability for the Expedition.  Somebody can steer you to a high quality solution that would be safe and legal.  You have a very nice toad.  Good luck.