Anyone tow with an Explorer Sport?

[Cleveland Steamer]

I'm looking for feedback about towing with an Explorer Sport (3.5 EcoBoost).

I normally tow my boat to the local lake which is 20 minutes down the road but I'd like to go exploring this summer and go up to a few hours away. I typically tow my boat with my 2003 F150 (5.4L with 63,000) miles. It does good but seems to struggle at 65 MPH+ on the freeway and always downshifting on even the slightest hill. I'm hesitant to force the old girl to pull like that for a few hours.

The wife has a 2018 Explorer Sport with the EcoBoost. It's rated the pull 5,000 but I'd like some feedback from some of you before I hook it up and try it out. If you guys say it will struggle on the freeway too then I'd rather just beat the crap out of the old truck and save the new Explorer from abuse.

I believe the boat is about 3,800 lbs and I'm guessing another 1,000 for the trailer. So that's within the 5,000 rating of the Explorer.

 

[Bluewater272]

I would not tow a 24' boat with an Explorer Sport (I have one). Your AR loaded and wet is closer to 6,000lbs than it is to 5,000, and thats to say nothing of the payload capacity of the vehicle itself with passengers and stuff.

 

[BlkGS]

My parents have a Explorer Sport. They towed a flatbed trailer with it once. It was pretty light and they ended up getting single digit mpg doing so. They said it got pretty hot doing it too.

After this experience my dad went and bought a big truck for this sort of stuff. Hilariously, his 2500 ram with the 6.4L gets better fuel economy than their explorer sport.

 

[AboveTheBest]

My wife has one and it was ok towing our AR190, but I would not do it with our 242.

 

[Dough]

No. Your numbers are light. F 150 w/ 5.4 was made to pull.

 

[mrtrav]

I use a 2014 Explorer (not the Sport version) to tow our 195. It does well with the hills we have to climb to the lake, but like you said it does struggle downshifting on some hilly areas. It does fine on the paved roads, but we have some gravel roads into our cabin and I wouldn't trust it on those.

 

[Scarabpaul]

i picked up an explorer sport for my wife and occasionally tow my scarab 215. i would not tow a 24ft boat with it if it was me..... the ecoboost engine is great, it has big power and torque but due to its relatively short wheelbase its not as stable as my GMC canyon. even though my canyon is down on torque and HP there is no comparison between the two when it comes to road manners, even my wife notices as a passenger.

 

[Jameson Clark]

We tow our 212x with a 2013 Explorer Sport pretty much every weekend since my truck is used to pull the camper. It does EXTREMELY WELL pulling the 212. Ecoboost is a beast and it does not struggle in the least bit with it. BUT, my 212x is already right there at that 5,000lb mark, I'd be surprised if you weren't a good bit over!

 

[Farmdog267]

A 24' boat is going to man handle that explorer on longer trips (30 minutes plus.) You will want additional weight to have more control of that load going down the road. I wouldn't consider your F150 to be out of shape, that 5.4 is a great engine!

 

[Jameson Clark]

Listen, I'm a Ford guy but that 5.4 is no work horse or "great engine." They are pretty under powered and struggle with any real load. With that said, the 5,000lb towing capacity on the Explorers is largely due to the front wheel drive based 6F50/55 trans in it. Add on the fact that it is a unibody with a short wheel base and that towing capacity makes sense. But, the ecoboosts don't break a sweat pulling 5,000lbs so it makes it really enjoyable to tow with it. I prefer towing the boat with it over my truck.

 

[Matt Phillips]

As mentioned above, your boat weighs 3800lbs, the registration on my Shorlandr trailer lists weight at 990, by the time you add 50 gallons of fuel in it, you're over 5,000 pounds. And that's with NOTHING else in your boat. The old truck may struggle, but at least it's made to haul that kind of weight safely.

 

[Cleveland Steamer]

Thanks for the feedback all. Looks like my F150 is gonna have to step up to the plate. I was looking at HP/TQ and never thought of the wheelbase aspect of it. And THAT'S why I posted here!

 

[props2you]

We have towed with our Explorer Sport with the 3.5 Eco twin turbo, pulls it just fine, but you KNOW it's back there. We have used it twice as a last resort back up. Our primary hauler is a 2014 Lincoln Navigator with a 5.4 Triton V8. The Sport has no problem with the towing and torque, but braking and weight is a concern. As someone else mentioned, short trips every once in a while should suffice, I would not recommend it for a designated tow vehicle for your 24'.

 

[Wisefam22]

My f150 tows our 230 everywhere I have the 5.0 it does great.

My wife has a "smaller" SUV she drives grand Cherokee with 5.7 that does fine pulling it as well but usually only used when I meet her at lake during the week.

 

[Farmdog267]

Listen, I'm a Ford guy but that 5.4 is no work horse or "great engine." They are pretty under powered and struggle with any real load. With that said, the 5,000lb towing capacity on the Explorers is largely due to the front wheel drive based 6F50/55 trans in it. Add on the fact that it is a unibody with a short wheel base and that towing capacity makes sense. But, the ecoboosts don't break a sweat pulling 5,000lbs so it makes it really enjoyable to tow with it. I prefer towing the boat with it over my truck.

I'll agree to disagree on the capacity of the 5.4 v-8. That engine has been a very good engine for Ford once the spark plug thread issues where addressed. The 3 valve motors were better than the 2 valve editions but I know plenty of them working in landscape trucks and dump trucks working year round towing and plowing and doing it for 150-200,000 without too many issues. Maybe not always quite as stout as a GM 6.0 or the newer Ford 6.2 but it was a very capable and reliable platform. The ecoboosts do very well despite a few issues; though still not sure how I feel about them long term as far as reliability is concerned but they should get to 130k easily if normal maintenance is done timely.

 

[Dixie Highway]

I’d look into the gearing of the F150, you might have a 3.31 rear or similar. Even if it’s a 4x4, changing gearing will be cheaper than a truck payment. That being said, my 2018 w/ the 5.0 tows great with the 3.31 and 10 speed. Gearing is the key, especially with old 4 speed autos.

 

[Jameson Clark]

I'll agree to disagree on the capacity of the 5.4 v-8. That engine has been a very good engine for Ford once the spark plug thread issues where addressed. The 3 valve motors were better than the 2 valve editions but I know plenty of them working in landscape trucks and dump trucks working year round towing and plowing and doing it for 150-200,000 without too many issues. Maybe not always quite as stout as a GM 6.0 or the newer Ford 6.2 but it was a very capable and reliable platform. The ecoboosts do very well despite a few issues; though still not sure how I feel about them long term as far as reliability is concerned but they should get to 130k easily if normal maintenance is done timely.

No doubt the 3v is leaps ahead of the 2v. BUT, went from shooting plugs through the coils to breaking half of them coming out when it is time to change them! ? Other than that and cam phasers failing, the 5.4 is a pretty reliable engine. I didn't mean it wasn't reliable when I said it isn't a workhorse, I was more referring to it's lack of power compared to the newer 5.0 and ecoboost offerings from Ford.

As for reliability, so far the Ecoboost has been amazing. Even better than the new 5.0. The only real concern they had was on timing chains on the first gens but yours is way beyond that. Not sure if you have the 2.7 or 3.5 but either one coupled with the new 10 speed is a towing machine for sure! I work my 14 3.5 pretty dang hard and it just takes it!