2006 Ford Expedition and 3124KB

We are total newbies at this with lots of questions.....
We just purchased a new 3124KB. We also bought a 2006 Eddie Bauer Ford Expedition with the heavy duty towing package as our TV.

We have 6 people in our family ~ total weight 900 lbs. The tongue weight of the 3124 unloaded is 448lbs, we just discovered the max gross cargo and passenger weight for the TV is 1474lbs. With as many people as we have can we use the Expedition as our TV? Are we too close to the max?? What about when the younger kids get bigger or Grams comes along? We had planned to go camping with this setup in CO, Dakotas, etc-- mountain areas.

Also do we need a WD hitch? The TM dealer said no, but now we are questioning that. How would a WD hitch effect the load on our TV, especially with as many people as we have and the weight in our tow vehicle? Will a WD hitch further reduce how many lbs (people, cargo)we can have in the vehicle?

We are really to the point of panicking and feeling that we have just thrown away a lot of money on a setup that we cannot use. With 6 people the choice for tow vehicles was limited and the Expedition seemed to be the best out there for us, now it looks like even it is not enough for all of us and the trailor we needed to sleep the gang.

Help!!!!!!! Are we overreacting??? Are we doomed???

From what I've read about WDH, I thought the rule (of thumb?) was that if your trailer weighs more then half the weight of your TV...you need a WDH. What I found, says the dry curb weight of the Expedition is 5565 lbs. Your TM is likely over 4000 lbs loaded. I'd say you definitly need a WDH, especially with the safety of a big family at stake. The Ford will handle SOOOOO much better.

We added one to the Highlander and it made a heck of a big difference. I was told i didn't need one either. They were very wrong.

As far as your other questions....I'd find the GCWR rating of the Expedition, and as long as you are not over it, I'd give it a try. That's my very inexperienced opinion though....I'm still learning too.

ffryebird, I have a 2006 Ford towing guide brochure.....picked it up when I bought my 2006 F150.

According to the brochure, both the 4x2 and 4x4s only come with the 5.4L engine and automatic transmission.

If you have a 4x2, with a 3.31 axle ratio, the GCWR is 11,800 lbs., with a maximum loaded trailer weight of 6000 lbs.

If you have a 4x2 with the 3.73 gears and the heavy duty trailer towing package, the GCWR is 14,500 lbs, with a maximum loaded trailer wieght of 8900 lbs.

If you have the 4x4 without the heavy duty trailer towing package, then that has a 3.73 axle ratio with a 11,900 GCWR, and a maximum loaded trailer weight of 6,000 lbs.

If you have the 4x4 with the heavy duty trailer towing package, that also has a 3.73 axle ratio, but with a 14,500 lb. GCWR, with a 8600 maximum loaded trailer weight.

With 900 lbs. of people, and some gear added to the Expy, your main concern might be the GVWR of the Expy. I am near the maximum of my F150 with an 800 lb. tongue weight (non-TM), 400 lbs of people and dog, canoe, bikes, genny, and other stuff loaded in the bed, even though the stats say I have plenty of towing leeway.

Definitely get a WDH, you will have a much more towing experience. And that will lessen the load on your Expy by putting a 100 lbs. or so of the tongue weight back on the TM axle. If you can keep the GVWR of the Expy within stats, you should be great to go.

ffryebird, in thinking more on a WDH, that might not be an option for you.....it might be a necessity for your setup. Since the Expy is built on a F150 frame, I will use my truck hitch setup as an example.

I presume that you got the 448 lb. tongue weight from the stats somewhere. Add 60 lbs. of propane, and a 50 lb. battery on the tongue, and you now have 558 lbs up there. And loading for camping will probably put even more weight up there....and that is not bad, as a heavy tongue makes for better towing. But, my hitch is rated for 500/5000 lbs. (tongue weight/trailer weight) with a weight carrying setup, and 990/9900 lbs. with a weight distributing system. So to keep everything by the book, you will probably need a WDH.

If you crawl under the Expy with a flashlite, there should be sticker somewhere on the hitch that gives all of the rated capacities. These are just hitch capacities, and not vehicle capacities.

[Bill]

Ford puts out a particularly good and complete Towing Manual each ear, and as Dave suggests, you really should get a copy. A quick Google search on "Ford towing" shows that you can download it from https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...06_default.asp. Please do it. I think you will find that you are in very good shape. The rest of us can guess at an answer, but you need to determine the real authoritative answer for yourself by looking at your particular vehicle in the towing guide. You should print it out and have it with you for those "I wonder if ..." moments.

Bill

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Bill

Ford puts out a particularly good and complete Towing Manual each ear, and as Dave suggests, you really should get a copy. A quick Google search on "Ford towing" shows that you can download it from https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...06_default.asp. Please do it. I think you will find that you are in very good shape. The rest of us can guess at an answer, but you need to determine the real authoritative answer for yourself by looking at your particular vehicle in the towing guide. You should print it out and have it with you for those "I wonder if ..." moments.

Bill

That looks like a great reference. However, it is still important to find the GCWR for any particular vehicle. Tow ratings mean little to nothing (on most vehicles) without knowing the GCWR when it comes to towing a camper, camping gear and passengers..

Looking at the info from ford.com link that Bill posted, it looks like if your 2006 Eddie Bauer Ford Expedition with the heavy duty towing package came from the factory with a class III or IV hitch (which it probably did) it may have a GCWR of 14,500# and a tow rating of well over 8,000#. This would put you in very good shape for towing nearly any travel trailer, much less any TM built. However, the payload rating of 1474# is rather limiting for the TV itself. That's a bit confusing based on the GCWR........ I guess that the brakes may be plenty sufficient for a big load but the suspension may not be....not sure about that. Your concern is genuine but I would confirm that # with the sticker on the vehicle (if you haven't already). I think that I would write to Ford and ask them why the payload rating is so low on that vehicle.
This is one of the reasons that it is so important to know ALL of the ratings on any particular vehicle and not exceed any of them. This stuff can be very confusing. I'm glad that you caught that. I think that most people would have ignored it.

Correct information is valuable, incorrect information is dangerous at best. It is better to have an under-rated vehicle and know it than to think that you have a properly rated vehicle and not know the difference. It will change the way that you drive and that is a large percentage of the battle.

The payload on the Expy is so low because it is a heavy vehicle. My F150 came with a weight listed on the Certificate of Origin as close to 5300 lbs. With 1/2 tank of gas, some stuff under the seats, bed rails for a Trak Rac system, a tonneau cover, a toolbox in the bed, a WDH stuck in the reciever, and my 200 lb. butt on the seat, I weighed in at 6000 lbs. on the local quarrly scales. That only leaves me 1200 additional pounds on my 7200 lb. GVWR.

The Expy probably weighs more empty than my truck as it has everything my truck has up to the bed, and from there you have an extra seat, glass, and roof stucture, in addition to a modified bed.

Originally Posted by Bill

Ford puts out a particularly good and complete Towing Manual each ear, and as Dave suggests, you really should get a copy. A quick Google search on "Ford towing" shows that you can download it from https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...06_default.asp. Please do it. I think you will find that you are in very good shape. The rest of us can guess at an answer, but you need to determine the real authoritative answer for yourself by looking at your particular vehicle in the towing guide. You should print it out and have it with you for those "I wonder if ..." moments.

Bill

Thanks for that reference. It looks pretty comprehensive, in combination with the owner's manual.

[Wavery]

With a little further reflection.......the issue is really not that the Expedition has a low payload rating (1474# is nearly 3/4 ton). It is that a family of 6 (and all their gear) put a pretty high demand on any vehicle.