Anyone tow with a Ford Escape?? *DELETED*

[biederboat]

Post deleted by biederboat

[SOL]

You would be ok towing around town or on flat ground, but once you encounter some hills/mts, it would be pretty hard on the tranny. It probably doesn't have an oil cooler or big enough radiator to cool the engine down so you might get it pretty hot...The biggest concern I would have, especially if you don't have trailer brakes, is stopping the thing on a steep grade/ or short distance.

But like I said towing in the valley you would be fine, IMO that vehicle is a little undersized for pulling mtn passes.

[justcastn]

I've heard the tranny's arn't to good in those,but heck I've got a Super Duty and I already put a new tranny in that too.

[troybuz]

As a guide, the laden (Loaded) weight of an unbraked trailer should not exceed ¾ of the unladen (Empty) weight of the towing vehicle and then only if the towing vehicle's brakes and tires are in excellent condition. A trailer heavier than this may prevent the vehicle combination from meeting the 20 feet from 50 mph brake performance requirement. To illustrate the increase in stopping distance when towing an unbraked trailer, consider a trailer with a laden weight equal to the weight of the towing vehicle. This combination can be expected to have double the stopping distance of the towing vehicle alone, and even a towing vehicle with good brakes is likely to fail the brake performance requirement of 20 feet from 50 mph. If the trailer is equipped with brakes, it may be possible to safely tow a trailer heavier than ¾ of the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, but the 20 feet from 50 mph brake performance requirement still applies.

[Wyndknot]

Troybuz. if you are refering to braking distance from 50mph
I think you are closer to 220 feet and about 4 seconds. At
50 mph you are traveling a little over 73 feet per sec.

[Phil Layer]

I have an Escape with the V6. I tow my heavy boat around the block and use the Escape as a yard goat when I need to tuck the boat into the corner of my lot. It is great for backing up a boat.

I would not consider towing my boat beyond my block with my Escape. These rigs are light and that weight could do some strange things quick if things weren't going just right. Also, these are front wheel drive rigs when not in 4X4 and I've been told front wheel drives are bad for towing...supposedly very hard on the rig.

Now, if I had a drift boat or a pontooner, I wouldn't worry about it. But anything beyond that, leave it up to a real truck.

Besides the wind noise, the Escapes have really hard seats that can get to you on a long haul. I like mine a lot for running around town and am considering replacing the seats so I can go on long trips with it. Oh, and the stereo really sucks in these.

My $.02. Good luck.

[troybuz]

Wyndknot,
Thanks for the catch. I guess my wife's right....I'm not perfect!

[biederboat]

Thanks everyone, especially Phil, pretty much what I expected so I think I'll look bigger.

Biederboat

[Wyndknot]

Troybuz, my wife has been telling me that for years.
50 mph to 0 mph in 20 feet would really clean everthing
out from under the seat, not to mention really tick the
dog off.

[The Bad Fish]

We tow the driftboat with a Hyundai santa fe. Thats about all I would tow with that or any other vehicle that size.