Anyone towing with a 2013 Ford Escape?

[MCDenny]

Thanks for the link, Steve. The bit I read does sound more authoritative.

I liked the title of the "U" graph: "All the charts and slides here are from FHWA studies or Speed Limit Workshops, and ALL dramatically illustrate the disparity between public policy and widely held myths about the safety effects of speed and the actual research findings on best practice for setting speed limits and relative risk."

Disparity between policy, myths and actual research.... Gee, they could be talking about the safe towing threads here!

BTW, a fact I did pick out was the notion that freeway accidents of any type are extremely rare (regardless of speed) outside of interchange and other transition areas.

[Mike Magee]

As long as Ford's intention in posting frontal area numbers is merely cautionary about expected driving performance (it'll slow ya down) and not a red flag warning about ruining some part of the vehicle (or worse), I guess the Escape 2.0L Ecoboost could prove to be an excellent egg tug. Certainly better performance in tough headwinds and on hills than our stalwart old friends the Subarus, which have done admirably for many folks over the years. I think the challenge with the Egoboost (I couldn't resist throwing in a pun, no offense) might be in trying to keep the foot somewhat out of the accelerator... with all that HP and torque, it will be so very tempting to push it harder than usual and perhaps cause an eventual increase in drive train maintenance. I mean, the fact that they put 30 sq feet on the Escape vs 60 on the F250 could be seen as an indicator of what Ford expects our ultimate personal experiences to reflect, down the road a piece.

[MC1]

I have researched the heck out of the 3.5L Ecoboosts and they seem to working well even when pushed. If the 2.0 is as hearty then there is not much to be concerned about. Guess time will tell but it sure looks promising.

[Steve L.]

I had/have the 3.5L Ecoboost in my last two Flexes and I can attest that it's mighty hard to keep my foot out of the boost juice. 0-60 in 6.3 seconds. Tows the Casita just great too.

[ONEFORD]

Originally Posted by frank_a

Rick, did you need to upgrade to a 7 pin RV plug? If so, where did you route the wires?

I'm still trying to find out how to remove interior panels to run wire from the back to the front, but about all I can find on the web is how to remove door panels, which is of no use to me!

When do you start towing? Or have you already?

Frank

Pull the rubber weather strip up partialy along the bottom of the body side door openings (used to call these rocker panels),Then the interior plastic trim panels all snap in and out.

[frank_a]

Okay Daniel, thanks man! I just went down and looked and at least I can see how to get the rubber weatherstrip up, and it looks like those panels do just snap out.

I wonder how difficult it would be for Ford to install a 7 pin connector out back, and tuck 4 wres up under the dash for a brake controller when they sell one of the vehicles with a tow package? Sheesh!

Frank

[ONEFORD]

Originally Posted by frank_a

Okay Daniel, thanks man! I just went down and looked and at least I can see how to get the rubber weatherstrip up, and it looks like those panels do just snap out.

I wonder how difficult it would be for Ford to install a 7 pin connector out back, and tuck 4 wres up under the dash for a brake controller when they sell one of the vehicles with a tow package? Sheesh!

Frank

Most people just run the wire under the body and zip strip in on. add a hours time for running inside. Some one probobly did a case study for 7-pin conector...I like how the f-150 is all intagrated and comes with built in controll now.

[frank_a]

I'm probably gonna take it up to my buddy's garage, put it on one of his 4 lifts and see how I might run wires underneath. I still think I want to run them inside. I need to get under the driver's side dash and find this violet wire with the brown stripe too!

Frank

[gusmarken]

We have been towing a 17' Casita with a 2013 Ford Escape. Tows great with the Reese ED hitch (4000 lbs capacity) and electric brake controlling the Casita's electric brake. Recommend strongly that towing over 1500 pounds without brakes is courting disaster, especially downhill!

[frank_a]

Hitch capacity and vehicle tow capacity are two different things. If you have the 2 liter ecoboost you have a tow capacity of 3500#s. I think that would be a perfect vehicle for a 17' Casita!

Did you install your 7 pin connector, or have someone else do it?

Good luck!

Frank

Originally Posted by gusmarken

We have been towing a 17' Casita with a 2013 Ford Escape. Tows great with the Reese ED hitch (4000 lbs capacity) and electric brake controlling the Casita's electric brake. Recommend strongly that towing over 1500 pounds without brakes is courting disaster, especially downhill!

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by frank_a

Okay Daniel, thanks man! I just went down and looked and at least I can see how to get the rubber weatherstrip up, and it looks like those panels do just snap out.

I wonder how difficult it would be for Ford to install a 7 pin connector out back, and tuck 4 wres up under the dash for a brake controller when they sell one of the vehicles with a tow package? Sheesh!

Frank

Yeah, but you know, it might cost them $1.68 to do all that....

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by gusmarken

We have been towing a 17' Casita with a 2013 Ford Escape. Tows great with the Reese ED hitch (4000 lbs capacity) and electric brake controlling the Casita's electric brake. Recommend strongly that towing over 1500 pounds without brakes is courting disaster, especially downhill!

Most Casita 17s have a pretty high tongue weight. Does yours have no front bath?

[frank_a]

I see Chevy advertises that their new Equinox with a V6 and tow package will do 3500#s. Guess what kind of plug comes with it? Yup, flat 4!

When I bought my 4 cylinder Canyon, the idiot salesman was trying to tel me it would tow 6000#s, it was right there in a label on the hitch! Nothing like new car salesman when you need a tow package and correct answers!

Frank

[gusmarken]

Had a knowledgeable RV repair shop install the brake controller.

[Mike Magee]

I was just looking at the HP/torque curve graphs for some engines, including the 2L eco. The numbers compare very favorably, up to 3000 rpm. In fact, HP and torque below 2500 rpm both look better for this engine than for my Toyota 3.5L.

But I noticed that they also offer this engine in the Explorer, so I looked at Ford's max tow ratings for that vehicle. Interesting... the 2L eco gets a max tow of 2000 lbs, while the 3.5L (whether eco or not) gets 5000 lbs. I could not find a dyno graph for the normally aspirated Ford 3.5L, but suspect that it would also produce similar numbers to the 2L turbo at rpm below 2500. Yet Ford chose to give the 2L a much lower tow rating. As to the reason, we can only speculate.

One thing I noticed tonight really surprised me. Looking at those dyno graphs at 2000 rpm, the Toyota 3.5L and even the Ford 5L produce less than 100 HP! The 2L eco puts out just about 100 HP, and the 3.5L eco makes about 110 HP, at 2000 rpm. I guess I always imagined that these engines would already be giving something like 70% of their max HP by that point, but instead it's more like 30% or 35%. One must generally get these engines to 3000 rpm before they put out half or more of their peak HP. Well, now I see why it's so helpful to lock out overdrive (besides the torque converter lockup issues, of course).

[MC1]

Thnxs for the good technical info Mike. Understanding this part of it is interesting.

[MCDenny]

Good info - shows why Ford is doing so well with smaller turbocharged engines.

HP is torque times rpm so its, by definition, going to be low at low rpms.

Torque, not HP, is what makes a vehicle 'feel' powerful. That's why a small (3 litre) low horsepower (240) Diesel engine can make a 5000# SUV feel as powerful as a 5.7 litre, 360 hp V8. It's rated to tow just as much too.

[MC1]

There is a lot of truth to that ....

Years ago when we first test drove our 1993 Nissan Quest the salesman said you really have to step on it because they don't have much power. Little did he know that the van towing our 23' was not a problem. The van only has 150HP but 180TQ.

[Eddie Longest]

I stopped by a dealer and looked at the new Ford Escapes. I noticed two nice changes in the 2014. The cargo area in the 14 is flat when the rear seats are folded down. The floor raises up about 3-4" in the 13 where the rear seats fold down. The SE now comes with a power drivers seat std. They also did away with the SEL model. I'm sure there are more changes but I just noticed those.
I wanted to see if the seats were comfortable since they seem to be much narrower than a late model Outback's. With the lumbar support in the power seat it really felt more comfortable than my Outback. When towing up to 12 hours a day comfort is a factor to be considered.
Eddie

[ONEFORD]

Originally Posted by Eddie Longest

I stopped by a dealer and looked at the new Ford Escapes. I noticed two nice changes in the 2014. The cargo area in the 14 is flat when the rear seats are folded down. The floor raises up about 3-4" in the 13 where the rear seats fold down. The SE now comes with a power drivers seat std. They also did away with the SEL model. I'm sure there are more changes but I just noticed those.
I wanted to see if the seats were comfortable since they seem to be much narrower than a late model Outback's. With the lumbar support in the power seat it really felt more comfortable than my Outback. When towing up to 12 hours a day comfort is a factor to be considered.
Eddie

The rear cargo area floor has allways been adjustable for 2013MY, this was not a change. Alot of people dont know it will adjsut unless the see it in the other position. The seats are comfortable, they may feel a little differnt than what you are used to due to this is a global car and had to satisfy the tastes of people in other countrys. They do have excelent lumbar suport.The SEL didnt make sense when you could option a SE almost the same way..just a differnt way to bundle the options. Power seat option standard would have been nice but wonder it it adjusts as low as the manual seat? I am 6'3 and have over 4 inchs above my head when adjusted all the way down. I dont have the vista or sun roof so that would lower the head height a little. Take it for a test ride is the best bet. Also for late 2013 orders of the 2014, the foot activated liftgate will work when ordered with tow package.