# Towing With Expedition



## jcarlson (Jul 24, 2006)

Just bought an 06 Sydney TT 31 footer. Towing with an 04 Expedition rated at 8,650. Anyone else towing with the 04 Expedition?


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

NOt me.......................But Welcome









John


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

I think I'm stalking you.

Did you post earlier on rv.net? Thanks for joining Outbackers. You've come to the right place. You'll get a lot of good information here to form your own opinion. Keep on posting.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

We towed our 31RQS with a 2000 Expedition on and off for a year. The TT is a bit heavy for it. On relatively flat terrain and moderate hills it'll pull it but it is a strain on the 5.4L engine and drive train even with Tranny cooler. Did you perhaps get the TT in NH. Talked to a couple 2 weekends ago that were looking at a 31RQS in Kingston NH and had a 04 Expedition they wanted to tow with.

Eric


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## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

That's alot of trailer. My '03 2WD Expedition has a gross combined weight rating of 14,500 and probably weighs a tad north of 6,000lbs, ready to tow. Keystone lists the 31RQS @ 7260lbs. dry and 9,600 gross. Weight issues aside, the Expedition's 119" wheelbase is short for that much trailer - have you towed much with it?


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

action Hi jcarlson! action 
Congrats on your new Sydney and Welcome to Outbackers!

Post often and happy camping!
Dawn


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## jcarlson (Jul 24, 2006)

egregg57 said:


> We towed our 31RQS with a 2000 Expedition on and off for a year. The TT is a bit heavy for it. On relatively flat terrain and moderate hills it'll pull it but it is a strain on the 5.4L engine and drive train even with Tranny cooler. Did you perhaps get the TT in NH. Talked to a couple 2 weekends ago that were looking at a 31RQS in Kingston NH and had a 04 Expedition they wanted to tow with.
> 
> Eric


Hi might have been us!! bought in MA however

[quote name='campmg' date='Jul 24 2006, 03:03 PM' post='135686']
I think I'm stalking you.

Did you post earlier on rv.net? Thanks for joining Outbackers. You've come to the right place. You'll get a lot of good information here to form your own opinion. Keep on posting.
[/quot

That was me... towing with a Husky weight dist. hitch max gross weight 8,000 to 10,000 lbs with spring bars, the spring bars are rated at 500 to 600 tongue weight. The Sydney 31RQS has a tongue weight of 795. and a dry wt of 7400.

Been towing a 04 Frontier, nice camper too, but lot lighter.


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## NWcamper2 (Mar 28, 2004)

First ... Welcome to Outbackers!

Second... When we bought our TT (25RSS) our only tow rig was our '04 Expy. That was why we went with the 25' We were not comfortable towing too much length per wheelbase ratio. Plus the weight factor maxing out (or exceeding) when loaded. That's A LOT of trailer behiind an Expy... jmho


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

Welcome action

That's alotta camper! 
I tow with an '04 Expedition but 
a Sydney ~ 31 footer...
that's bigger than what I've got.









MaeJae


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

The expedition was a trooper but the 31RQS was a bit much for it. That is why we went and found the F-250 I have now. Great tow. We did short weekend trips with the "expy" and it did okay. Just me, DW, DS, 1 dog and the clothes and food mostly. We were not towing a lot of extra weight but we were at or above the GCWR and that is why we went for the F-250. It was a good move.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

As others have said, that's a long trailer to be pulling behind a fairly short wheelbase vehicle. We have a Toyota Sequoia which is similar in size to the Expedition and has a wheelbase of 118 inches if I remember correctly. Much lower towing capacity though, thank you very much Toyota!!

According to the "recommendations", I shouldn't be pulling anything longer than 22 feet. With our WD hitch and sway control, I think we're at our max of 25 feet with the 23RS.


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## HTQM (May 31, 2006)

Welcome to Outbackers and congrats on your new TT.

We have an '05 Expidition with the tow package, 5.4 three valve and a few mods for improved engine performance. I've learned since buying the 28KRS that this might not be the best TT/TV combination. Don't get me wrong, it does tow the Roo but it's definitely not happy about it. The DW calls it "controlled chaos", she has yet to figure out how I can go down I64 at 65mph and drink coffee with all that action going on with the TT/TV. There's not a bit of sway but you can really tell that neither rig are happy. Sounds like you have tow experience so you'll know the right thing to do at the right time.

The folks on here are truelly experts, when they say your pushing your limits their not kidding or even being conservative. Taking those tow numbers to the max really does turn into an "E" ticket ride. I'm an "offensive" (pc way of saying aggressive) but when hooked to the TV, I switch to a very careful defensive driver.

IMHO

Happy Camping
Dave

PS. The TT/TV has become part of my evil plan







. The DW's parents are flying up for the DD's b-days and we're going to natural bridge. FIL is part owner of a Ford dealership in Texas and swears the TT is with-in the Exp. tow capaicity. He is going to ride with me towing the camper to CG, about 280 miles.... I figure on having a heck of a deal on a F-250 deisel by the following day


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## NWcamper2 (Mar 28, 2004)

HTQM said:


> Happy Camping
> Dave
> 
> PS. The TT/TV has become part of my evil plan
> ...


Hehehe..... Now you are talkin'!

Make sure he gets the "full" experience... Have him ride in the middle row of the expy....


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## freefaller25 (Mar 19, 2006)

Hello and Welcome jcarlson

We tow with a similar machine but with a smaller trailer. As was mentioned in a few past topics, the legal implications of towing over the vehicle spec limits can become a big problem in the worst case. Make a trip to the scales if you can to see exactly where your numbers land.

You can see some of the effects on the vehicle here:
analysis of a stresses tow vehicle

Happy Outbacking,
Tony


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## shake1969 (Sep 21, 2004)

I pull about half of what you do and I feel overloaded.

Hope it works out for you.


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## jcarlson (Jul 24, 2006)

egregg57 said:


> The expedition was a trooper but the 31RQS was a bit much for it. That is why we went and found the F-250 I have now. Great tow. We did short weekend trips with the "expy" and it did okay. Just me, DW, DS, 1 dog and the clothes and food mostly. We were not towing a lot of extra weight but we were at or above the GCWR and that is why we went for the F-250. It was a good move.


What kind of hitch did you have on the Expedition?


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

jcarlson said:


> The expedition was a trooper but the 31RQS was a bit much for it. That is why we went and found the F-250 I have now. Great tow. We did short weekend trips with the "expy" and it did okay. Just me, DW, DS, 1 dog and the clothes and food mostly. We were not towing a lot of extra weight but we were at or above the GCWR and that is why we went for the F-250. It was a good move.


What kind of hitch did you have on the Expedition?
[/quote]

Valley 10K with 1K weight distribution. Still use it. Its a good hitch for us.


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## CrazyDan (May 13, 2006)

jcarlson said:


> Just bought an 06 Sydney TT 31 footer. Towing with an 04 Expedition rated at 8,650. Anyone else towing with the 04 Expedition?


I am but with a 29BHS TT which is 5 feet shorter and about 2000 pounds lighter. I just came back from a 3200 miles trip. That was my second trip with that trailer and I found the Expy was ok but nothing more. Drove 60 mph @ 2500 rpm most of the time. I went through those long hills in Pennsylvania (I-476) with no problem.

Note that I have already booked an appointment with the dealer to upgrade to a Reese Dual Cam HP Sway Control instead of my regular Friction Sway Control. I didn't like the TT sway when those big trucks were passing me. I hope the Dual Cam will reduce that.









Dan.


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## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

Welcome and that's a really nice trailer.

I tow a 26RS with an 03 Expedition (EB 4wd) and it does alright but I'm very close to the GVWR of the Expedition and within 1,000 lbs of the GCWR. I just finished a 3,500 mile trip and the Expedition did better than I expected. I was able to cruise at 65 mph in 3rd gear most of the time and the slowest I got to was 50 mph on the steepest hills. I was using a Superchips Custom Tuner (Troyer Performance) wtih the 91 octane towing program which helped a lot. Even if you pack very lightly and carry no water your trailer must still weigh 2,000 lbs more than mine. You could very easily be over either or both the GVWR and the GCWR for the Expedition. If you stay away from hills you may be alright from a power standpoint but you need to take care with a trailer that long with an Expedition. We would hate to see you have a problem so please take care.


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