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Another Ford Tow Vehicle Thread


jonredcorn

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As much as I wanted to get an F150, the '16 Exploder won out... The **Land Rover Discover Sport (IMO looks the same as this) only lost due to its limited towing capacity...

Exploderboat_zpska4zidxm.jpg

Long story short - I live in the city, have small underground parking and never take the boat more than 50 miles down the road, (usually 5 miles max) this is more of a daily-driver than a tow vehicle.

But to those who are wondering if these Exploder-Minivan-SUVs can tow a Malibu - not a problem... as long as you get All-Wheel-Drive. I launch at a very steep landing that is mostly gravel, The other FWD Exploder we used has FWD... spun tires and occasionally needed an extra person to sit on the hood. Not a great situation... but the AWD version pulls it around like its not even there. No spinning tires and pulls the boat out EZ.

The Exploders these days have traction control, trailer sway control, an electric tow package and all sorts of fancy electronics to convince the 295HP V6 tow the Bu around... except I still won't be taking this mall crawler on a hunting trip. But for 99% of my life, its great.

Also - I picked a picture that didn't make the Malibu look like a monster. In person, the Exploder looks like its getting eaten. I can't believe what a LSV or the 247's look like in person... in that case its probably time to get an F150.

**Edit - I meant to say "2016 Land Rover Discover Sport"

Edited by jonredcorn
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Here is our Explorer twoing the boat. The Ecoboost tows like mad! Only complaint is the new Explorer is Front wheel drive and reaer wheel assist. Our old Explorer felt more stable but had so much less power.

IMG_20140511_151421.jpg

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Both setups look nice! My wife and I are actually going to test drive a new Explorer tomorrow. Well I'm going to sneak in a Mustang test drive too, LOL.

But are either of you concerned about stability? I know my boat probably weighs more but I can feel it back there when towing it with my F150 and these Explorers have a shorter wheel base and a max towing capacity of 5000lbs, do you ever feel like the tail is wagging the dog? I'm not judging, just curious as I couldn't see myself towing my boat with one and my local lake is ~20miles away on the highway.

Wife loves the new front ends, that's about the only reason we're testing driving one again.

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I don't tow much farhter than the 8 miles to and from the lake. Long distance the boat is behind the motorhome. We have been thinking about a T23 but I am not sure about the Explorer towing. It just seems so much larger.

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Both setups look nice! My wife and I are actually going to test drive a new Explorer tomorrow. Well I'm going to sneak in a Mustang test drive too, LOL.

But are either of you concerned about stability? I know my boat probably weighs more but I can feel it back there when towing it with my F150 and these Explorers have a shorter wheel base and a max towing capacity of 5000lbs, do you ever feel like the tail is wagging the dog? I'm not judging, just curious as I couldn't see myself towing my boat with one and my local lake is ~20miles away on the highway.

Wife loves the new front ends, that's about the only reason we're testing driving one again.

Nah - the Trailer Sway control has the ability to individually brake the back wheels to compensate for that, although I've never actually experienced it. I typically tow on highways or freeways between 55-65mph. I can't say as though I've ever towed my Malibu much faster... sometimes accidently hit 70mph... but that makes me a bit uneasy, even though it doesn't start swaying yet.

I've towed with my dad's 2009 Suburban and another 2001 F150 and it doesn't feel any different when I keep it under 70.

The only weird thing I've noticed is that there is one 2-mile stretch of road that has road patches every 10' or so (looks like a line across both lanes every 10 feet) and it slightly bows the road in-between... I have taken this road a few times (Route is ~50 mile each way) and every time I tow my boat with my Explorer, it bounces almost uncontrollably during that stretch of road. I either avoid the road or go like 30 on it because it bounces so crazy. I'm not sure if that is a resonance frequency thing with the Exploder or if it happens with all towing vehicles here, as I've only driven it with the Exploder. Other than that, no issues ever!

Edited by jonredcorn
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Nah - the Trailer Sway control has the ability to individually brake the back wheels to compensate for that, although I've never actually experienced it. I typically tow on highways or freeways between 55-65mph. I can't say as though I've ever towed my Malibu much faster... sometimes accidently hit 70mph... but that makes me a bit uneasy, even though it doesn't start swaying yet.

I've towed with my dad's 2009 Suburban and another 2001 F150 and it doesn't feel any different when I keep it under 70.

The only weird thing I've noticed is that there is one 2-mile stretch of road that has road patches every 10' or so (looks like a line across both lanes every 10 feet) and it slightly bows the road in-between... I have taken this road a few times (Route is ~50 mile each way) and every time I tow my boat with my Explorer, it bounces almost uncontrollably during that stretch of road. I either avoid the road or go like 30 on it because it bounces so crazy. I'm not sure if that is a resonance frequency thing with the Exploder or if it happens with all towing vehicles here, as I've only driven it with the Exploder. Other than that, no issues ever!

Your trailer doesn't have surge brakes?

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What year Range Rover Sport were you looking at? It says they tow 8k

Whoops - huge typo. "2016 Land Rover Discovery Sport" is what I meant. Max towing of 4500 lbs.

Your trailer doesn't have surge brakes?

The trailer has surge brakes. It is a 2012 McClain trailer and it does provide braking on its own during normal use, so I'm not sure if that qualifies it as also having electric brakes or what...

Edited by jonredcorn
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