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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Explorer / June 2005'(@ Eddie....Can it do it?
I apparently have to make an emergency drive from Nebraska to Florida to pick up my horse. Since I have a '92 EB and it only has the factory bumper hitch, will that be safe enough to pull a two horse trailer 2400 miles? I dragged my old Bronco II behind me farther than that with no problems, but that was using a tow bar, so not tongue weight. I need answers pretty quick guys. Thanks If you weren't a regular poster here I'd think you were a troll. As long as the two horses aren't in it... > I apparently have to make an emergency drive from Nebraska to Florida to > pick up my horse. Since I have a '92 EB and it only has the factory bumper [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Thanks That was kinda what I thought. Why would you think anyone asking such a question was a troll? It's a good question. I personally prefer a class III receiver hitch, but I am still trying to understand ford's thinking on putting only class II hitches on the Explorers. | If you weren't a regular poster here I'd think you were a troll. | [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] | > | > Thanks > That was kinda what I thought. Why would you think anyone asking such a > question was a troll? It's a good question. I personally prefer a class III > receiver hitch, but I am still trying to understand ford's thinking on > putting only class II hitches on the Explorers. Probably because towing anything that requires a class III is beyond the limits for an Explorer. They are not known for being good tow vehicles. Especially when the weight of the trailer and load equal that of the Explorer. I don't envy you this trip. H I'm getting too old top make these trips. I think with the class III it will be a breeze. I've pulled larger, heavier trailers with the Bronco II and it only had the 2.8L motor in it. Of course, it also had the 5 speed manual tranny and not an auto. The Ex has a slightly more powerful engine, but I wonder if it can take all the high revs for extended periods going up mountains like the Bronco II did ( I beat that poor truck to a pulp and it ran perfectly for 12 years before I gave it to my buddy who now drives it daily in a similar manner. Do those things ever die? ) | > That was kinda what I thought. Why would you think anyone asking such | a [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] | Explorer. I don't envy you this trip. | H > That was kinda what I thought. Why would you think anyone asking such a > question was a troll? It's a good question. I personally prefer a class III > receiver hitch, but I am still trying to understand ford's thinking on > putting only class II hitches on the Explorers. It just sounded like the kind of question a troll might post, or right on the verge thereof. But seriously if the trailer is empty then you might be able to get away with it. If you look around you will probably not see any horses being pulled by anything less than a GMC 2500 or F250. I'm no expert on horse trailers but all the one's I've noticed had gooseneck hitches. Are you just trying to move an empty horse trailer or do you plan to have something in it? I have towed a boat on a trailer with a total weight of about 3500 pounds with my Explorer with no problem but that was with a Class III hitch. OTOH I pulled the same boat and trailer with an '82 Toyota 3/4 ton pickup with a bumper hitch (ball installed in the bumper). It was OK but I never tried taking up any mountain roads. The Explorer, of course, has a lot more power. Generally you should distribute your load so you get about ten percent of the weight on your hitch. So if your trailer/load weighs 3000 pounds you should have about 300 pounds on the hitch. That seems like that's probably about at the limit (what does the owner's manual say?) for a bumper hitch. I think it's around 500 pounds for a Class III. > | If you weren't a regular poster here I'd think you were a troll. > | [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > | > > | > Thanks Well, I will be going down with an empty trailer, but I'll be coming back with about 1,000 pounds of horse. What you are telling me is/was my gut feeling, so I figured I could haul it with the bumper hitch, it was the loaded trailer I had queezy feelings about. The class III I installed says it's rated for 500 pounds tongue weight and 5,000 towing weight (6,000 if I were to use a weight distributing hitch which I don't have ). I figure that ought to safely haul it. | > That was kinda what I thought. Why would you think anyone asking such | a [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] | > | > | > | > Thanks > Well, I will be going down with an empty trailer, but I'll be coming > back with about 1,000 pounds of horse. What you are telling me is/was my gut [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > were to use a weight distributing hitch which I don't have ). I figure that > ought to safely haul it. My experience with towing trailers is that just because you can doesn't necessarily mean you should. I was towing a 22 foot travel trailer with an Astro Van. It was well within the limits of the van but my knuckles were always white and I was nervous as hell driving the rig. I bought an old F350 (maybe a little overkill) and from then on it I had to remember that I had a trailer behind me and my adventures became fun again. Towing right at the limit of the tow vehicle can be fine as long as nothing goes wrong, but there's always some bonehead who wants to merge between your tow vehicle and your trailer or some idiot who cuts in front of you and hits the brakes. In your case I would be especially cautious because you will have a living being back there. Before I started towing I used to drive "one car length for every 10 mph" behind the car in front of me. Now, even when I'm not towing, I follow about one quarter mile behind. I usually follow a big truck because most people don't want to be behind trucks so it greatly reduces the number of cars cutting in front of me. One more thing I just want to mention is sometimes a little more than 10% on the hitch can improve handling of the tow vehicle and trailer (assuming you can do this without exceeding the limit of your hitch). I adjusted all the stuff in my boat to get it around 15% and it just felt better driving it. Of course you would need to get your horse to cooperate ;-) Also, is it possible to get one horse in the middle of a two-horse trailer? It may improve handling if you don't have all the weight on one side. > | > That was kinda what I thought. Why would you think anyone asking > such [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > | > | > > | > | > Thanks I used to drive tractor/ trailer rigs for a living, just so you know I know how to drive towing a vehicle. My concern was the limits of the equipment, and the class III brings that safely within my comfort zone and safe handling limits of the vehicle. I was asking because I am making this trip on a shoe string, no other vehicle options available, no funds to play with, nothing. So, being able to make it happen with what I have is the only option. *Now* my biggest concern is gas mileage. I am wondering what it will use. I calculated at 12 MPG, 19 gallons per tank, $2.35 per gallon, ad 11 tanks of fuel. It ought to be darned close. | > Well, I will be going down with an empty trailer, but I'll be coming | > back with about 1,000 pounds of horse. What you are telling me is/was my [quoted text clipped - 97 lines] | > | > | > | > | > | > Thanks I didn't mean to insult your intelligence or anything--just wanted to cover everything just in case. > I used to drive tractor/ trailer rigs for a living, just so you know I > know how to drive towing a vehicle. My concern was the limits of the [quoted text clipped - 124 lines] > | > | > | > > | > | > | > Thanks How do you suppose the mileage will be? Did I get it close, or do you suppose I will get worse mileage. Is 12 MPG just about right for you and others? Too much, too little?. It's going to be my first trip pulling a trailer and not another vehicle. |I didn't mean to insult your intelligence or anything--just wanted to cover | everything just in case. [quoted text clipped - 153 lines] | > | > | > | > | > | > | > | > Thanks > How do you suppose the mileage will be? Did I get it close, or do you > suppose I will get worse mileage. Is 12 MPG just about right for you and > others? Too much, too little?. It's going to be my first trip pulling a > trailer and not another vehicle. I can't help ya there. I never check my gas mileage--too depressing. I'm only sure that it's lower when I use 4WD a lot. :-) Yeah, I know. | > How do you suppose the mileage will be? Did I get it close, or do you | > suppose I will get worse mileage. Is 12 MPG just about right for you and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] | I can't help ya there. I never check my gas mileage--too depressing. I'm | only sure that it's lower when I use 4WD a lot. Just got back on Thursday. Boy, did my mileage suck. I got a maximum of 150 miles to a tank of fuel. Aside from the front seal of the tranny coming loose at 2AM halfway back home ( what's up with the seal coming loose from the transmission? ) the trip went off without a hitch ....so to speak. Considering that the trailer ended up weighing over 4,000 pounds, I'd say it did a damned good job of hauling the load. After the first few miles, I'd never know the trailer was there, except for the sucky mileage and poor acceleration. I was able to make 70 MPH for most of the return trip ad no stability issues. Overall, I was pretty pleased with how it performed. Now I have to ask if later model Explorers would do as well. I wonder if a small diesel would fit in these trucks. | > How do you suppose the mileage will be? Did I get it close, or do you | > suppose I will get worse mileage. Is 12 MPG just about right for you and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] | I can't help ya there. I never check my gas mileage--too depressing. I'm | only sure that it's lower when I use 4WD a lot. > I apparently have to make an emergency drive from Nebraska to Florida to > pick up my horse. Since I have a '92 EB and it only has the factory bumper [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Thanks I used a clean 2 horse trailer to move in '93. Pulled it with my '90 S-10 Blazer 4x4. I was VERY glad I only had to go 30 miles. H So ..... going ahead and putting that Class III hitch on today was a good money spent then. I won't feel so bad. For what it's worth, the horse only weighs a thousand pounds. Arabians aren't heavy horses. | > I apparently have to make an emergency drive from Nebraska to Florida | to [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] | Blazer 4x4. I was VERY glad I only had to go 30 miles. | H |
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