what's the right trailer for an explorer?

Question

HI. I LIVE IN OHIO AND MOVING TO FLORIDA WITHIN THE NEXT TWO MONTHS. I WENT TO UHAUL AND THEY MOLD ME THAT THEY COULDNT RENT ME A TRAILER BECAUSE OF LAWSUITS IN THE PAST. HE SAID THAT EXPLORERS AREN'T MADE FOR TOWING AND THAT IN THE PAST WITH THE FIRESTONE TIRES PEOPLE WHO HOOKED TRAILERS TO THEIR EXPLORER GOT IN RECKS. SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE EXPLORER COMPACITY. SO I'M LOOKING FOR A WAY AND OR A PLACE THAT COULD HOOK UP A CLOSED TRAILER TO MY EXPLORER BECAUSE IM MOVING SOON. ITS TOO MUCH MONEY FOR ME TO RENT A UHAUL TRUCK AND THEN HOOK MY EXPLORER ON THE BACK OF THAT. ITS OVER 2GRAND...SO IF ANYONE KNOWS PLEASE HELP!!!!! THANX

Answer 1

I'm a bit disappointed with the ASE's comments above. He has failed to take into consideration factors that he has no knowledge of.

The towing capacity of any vehicle is stated by the manufacturer but that capacity is often based upon impossible or unlikely situations. The only load that they need to allow for within the tow vehicle is the driver (assumed to be 150 lbs) and a full tank of fuel. When you add more passengers and other gear the max towing capacitiy can drop dramatically.

Another critical factor is the design of the vehicle itself. Depending upon how the vehicle was optioned from the factory, the towing capacity of an Explorer can vary dramatically from one vehicle to the next. A basic stripped down Explorer with a V-6 engine and without any tow package installed at the factory may have a towing capacity of well under 2,000 lbs. And when considering the GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) and GAWR (Gross Axle Weight, stated separately for front and rear) ratings it's entirely possible to have ZERO towing capacity remaining once the vehicle is loaded. The GVW and GAWR (especially the rear axle) ratings include the tongue weight of the trailer and if the vehicle is maxed out on either before the trailer is connected, your legal towing capacity is now ZERO!

Look here for a breakdown of the towning capacities of 2 differently equipped Explorers: http://www.niesens.com/hobbies/cars/2003-ford-explorer/towing-capacity.en.html Note that one is rated at 3,251 lbs and the other is rated at 7,151 lbs but once other loading factors are taken into consideration the actual safe towing capacities are reduced to 1,902 lbs and 5,802 lbs respectively.

U-Haul and other trailer rental firms will use the date plate installed on the vehicle plus the vehicle's rated towing capacity (usually from a VIN database) to determine the safe towing capacity for the vehicle you are driving. If he's really on the ball, he'll check your tires to make sure that their load capacity is at least as much as the original factory tires were.

If your Explorer was similar to the one on the linked site with the 3,251 rated towing capacity, the cargo capacity of a 6 x 12 enclosed U-Haul (which weighs 1,800 lbs empty) would be less than 200 lbs even though the trailer itself is rated to carry 2,600 lbs. The U-Haul dealer would be correct in refusing to rent the trailer to you as it would be virtually impossible for you to not exceed the safe towing capacity of your Explorer. In the scenario given, the largest U-Haul trailer that your Explorer could legally and safely tow woud be the 4 x 6 open top, rated at 1,500 lbs gross. All larger U-Haul trailer exceed the 1,902 lb max safe towning capacity and would be ILLEGAL on the road. (It is ILLEGAL to operate an overweight vehicle on public roads, don't forget!)

The dealer may have been embellishing things a bit with the concerns about the Firestone tires (but kudos to him if he looked at your tires and used their max load capacity in his calculations since many folks have put lower load capacity passenger tires on SUVs) but he was probably correct in his assessment of the towing capacity of your vehicle. No responsible rental firm will rent something to you that would exceed your vehicle's maximum towing capability within the legal load capacity of the trailer.

Your only SAFE option is to rent the truck and the tow dolly and haul your Explorer to FL that way. You DO want to arrive alive, don't you??

Addendum: A bit of research on the U-Haul website indicates that they will not allow ANY trailer behind a Ford Explorer. Nor will they rent a tow dolly or vehicle trailer to haul an Explorer. Your Explorer is also overweight for Penske's tow trailers. Your only viable option may be to drive the Explorer to FL or ship it separately if you don't have 2 drivers, one for the U-Haul truck and one for the Explorer.

Answer 2

Well the problem here is the towing capacity of your Passenger vehicle is 1,000 pounds, and that includes the weight of the trailer. About the only thing most cars were designed to tow are small 4x8 open utility trailers, an enclosed trailer weighs at LEAST 1000 pounds empty, I have a 6x12 open trailer weighs 900 empty.

First it's about the transmission, if your transmission is that of a regular car, even if it has a low gear, then the bands and the gears are not strong enough to pull more, and you'll ruin transmission or engine or both, but that's not U-haul's problem.

But you really need at least a Full size pickup to tow up to 2 thousand pounds, and a 3/4 ton truck (F-250 / D-2500) for up to 5 thousand pounds, to make a point I drive a D-2500 Slt Laramie Roadmaster to pull my 6x12 (BIG V-8, 10 mpg), and it goes up from there...

See, it's not just the bare basics of pulling here but it boils down to the weight... Say I load two thousand pounds worth of stuff on my trailer, now it weighs 3 thousand pounds and I try to tow it with a 2 thousand pound car, what happens if the trailer gets a flat and swerves around a bit is not pretty because now my trailer has the ability to take my car for a spin. So in a technical manner of speaking, the vehicle towing should weigh more than what is being towed, or at least as much, my truck weighs 4 thousand pounds so then if the trailer wants to act stupid the truck keeps going straight, mostly.

What I don't understand is the cost, we moved many years ago from Virginia to Idaho and I only paid $900 for the Uhaul truck, thou I had to sell my car and buy another when I got there, it was a pretty big size truck they just would not let me tow a car (actually they would've but the cost of the dolly was overboard), so I suppose a compromise here might save the day?

Answer 3

OK first an Explorer is the same chassis as an F-150 so it is a full size half ton chassis so it is capable of towing around 2500-3000 pounds no sweat. Secondly the Explorer tire problem was due to 2 things: low air pressure and bad alignments. Running tires low on air increases the friction with the road which in turn increases temperature. And having your alignment off will also increase tire/road friction again raising the internal temperature. All SUV's are prone to rollovers if a front tire blows due to the nature of the vehicle and it's high center of gravity. So to completely answer your question, that Uhaul dealer was B.S.ing you because you could very easily pull a 6x12 enclosed trailer behind you as long as you get a decent class 3 hitch properly installed and make certain that the rest of your vehicle is in good order because you will be putting extra strain on all the systems i.e. cooling, transmission, brakes and tires.