Towing Capability

[floyd]

you don't say which escape. What year? 2wd? awd?
I towed my Scamp13D for 9years with my 2008 Escape 2.3L FWD 5spd manual.
My trailer is a deluxe front bath.
I now tow it with a 2.5L Transit Connect .This is an EXCELLENT combo, with great handling, performance and mileage.
I have towed in all conditions and terrains, including mountains on both coasts.

[Glenn Baglo]

I never know if FWD stands for Front Wheel Drive or Four Wheel Drive.

[Jon in AZ]

If FWD means four wheel drive, does TWD mean two wheel drive?

For vehicles that drive only two wheels, I've seen FWD, RWD, 2WD, or 4x2. For vehicles that drive all four wheels, I've seen AWD, 4WD, and 4x4.

FWD means front wheel drive.

On a public forum, of course, all bets are off!

[Glenn Baglo]

Guess it depends whether the TV has AC or A/C.

[sokhapkin]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Guess it depends whether the TV has AC or A/C.

Do TV stands for television or toWED vehicle?

[Brian G.]

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...rld-43010.html


Cilla, this link could help you. It helped me.

[rdickens]

I agree with Floyd. What year Ford Escape? What engine? 2WD? AWD?
4 cyl Ford Escape is not enough information.

Our 2014 Ford Escape 4 cyl 2.0L Ecoboost is rated to pull 3500 lbs.
It easily pulled our previous Scamp13 up and over Donner Pass (I-80
in the Rocky Mountains) with the cruise control set on 60 mph.

The Scamp13 weighed around 1500 pounds and did have electric
brakes installed. We averaged around 22 mpg on the round trip
from the KC metro area to and from California. We did use Sport
Mode to try to keep the transmission/engine operating in the
2250 RPM range.

Ray

[k0wtz]

everyone has different ideas on towing some want huge trucks some want medium some want small. you need to get some experience under your belt towing short trips with your tv and trailer! you can learn a lot doing this.


we use a 2015 ford edge titanium fwd with the 2.0 ecoboost motor 6 speed transmission not that it matters but the motor puts out 245hp. it has no additional towing items added to it I have checked it does have a large transmission cooler the car has sport shifting with paddles.

we lock out of o/d this is the main cause of transmission failures we have driven at least 10k miles towing our basic 13f scamper no brakes. we do not drive 70 or 80mph but 55mph this is max speeds allowed for trailer towing in most states. we are in no hurry to get places we are in no contests and if we slow down climbing a hill no big deal and we allow plenty of time to get back home.

there will be some sharp disagreements on my towing policy but this is what works for me and has worked in the past I have done a lot of towing different things also! you will have to make your own decisions on how to tow and what to tow with. Your tv does worry me if you have had an overhaul done I question your transmission I would be very careful. Have you changed your fluid and filter recently very import with a trailer! If that transmission fluid has the slightest smell to it I would change it out plus your filter to establish a time line!

I believe in using gears going up hills and using gears going down on our latest trip I watched a trucker who didn't follow standard operating procedures of hill work that is the gear you go up in is the gear you come down in and he was along side the road with smoking brakes probably needing a service call for his own stupidity!

whatever you do have fun and good luck!

bob

[k0wtz]

I will also add our 13f scamper weighs 1k loaded with 100lb on the hitch right in line with what the pros say of 10% hitch weight!


bob

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Cillyputty61

I don't have overdrive so I guess I'm all set. Have you towed with a 4 cylinder before?

I've towed light trailers without brakes with sturdy 4 cylinder cars, like old volvos. its doable and safe as long as you're careful. I do prefer towing with a rear wheel drive vehicle that has a live ('solid') axle, as they are inherently sturdier and you'll put far less stress on the tow vehicle suspension.

do you have a manual shift? I'd suggest staying 1 gear lower than you would without the trailer. if its a 5 speed, use 4th on the freeway. downshift to 3rd climbing a grade if you have to floor it to maintain speed in 4th. also use 3rd going down grades on the freeway. yes, your RPM's will be higher but the engine should be fine, in fact, it will be happier than if you were flooring it and barely keeping speed at lower RPMs.

if you have an automatic, I suggest the same thing. stay out of the top gear, downshift a gear or two to go up and down long hills, let the RPMs run higher than they normally would if you were unladen.

my V6 Tacoma has a 6-speed manual, and a tach. cruising on the freeway might be 1500 rpm in 6th gear, I use 5th at about 2000 rpm, and going up/down grades, its probably between 2500 and 3000 rpm. really long freeway speed grades like climbing the Sierra on I80, I might run as high as 3500 RPM. I watch my coolant temp and oil pressure. on an older high mileage engine, this is where engine seals might start leaking, that's a sign those seals needs servicing.

regardless of what the ancient manual might say for your trailer, it would be a very good idea to take the trailer to a truck scale, and while hitched, weigh the front axle only [A], both tow vehicle axles [B], and the tow vehicle + trailer [C]. you can subtract things to find out your tow vehicle rear axle weight [B-A], and the trailer axle weight [C-B]. both cars and trailers almost always turn out to weigh more than the specs say they do.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Guess it depends whether the TV has AC or A/C.

Depends on whether TV means television or Tow Vehicle, or whether Reno means renovation or Reno Nevada.

Makes about as much sense as telling a stranger that "they" will be perfectly safe to tow a trailer with no brakes. Really? And in the mountains too? It has to be assumed that there will be no emergency stops and no trailer sway. Can anyone know that?

[Steve Carlson]

Nothing is perfectly safe.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlson

Nothing is perfectly safe.

Absolutely right. So we need to be prudent and not make obvious mistakes. Not recommend to complete strangers that they do something unsafe just because we think we can get away with it ourselves.

I can probably get away with running a red light now and then if I do it in a certain way, but I would never recommend that you or anyone else just go out and do it as a normal course of business, based on me not getting crashed.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Absolutely right. So we need to be prudent and not make obvious mistakes. Not recommend to complete strangers that they do something unsafe just because we think we can get away with it ourselves.

I can probably get away with running a red light now and then if I do it in a certain way, but I would never recommend that you or anyone else just go out and do it as a normal course of business, based on me not getting crashed.

I for one see the wisdom of your logic and reasoning !!

[Steve L.]

Originally Posted by Cillyputty61

I don't have overdrive so I guess I'm all set. Have you towed with a 4 cylinder before?

I wonder what year Escape you have. For the last 12 years at least, (I arbitrarily started at 2006 model year) every Escape has had overdrive. It's an integral part of the "D" setting. They have a couple of ways of locking out overdrive; a button on the side of the gear shift or an "S" in the shift pattern for "sport" mode which locks out O/D.

As mentioned elsewhere, there are a number of tow ratings ranging from 1500 pounds (very base model) to 3500 pounds. Some of the Boler 13's in Fred's list are very close to 1500 pounds.

It also looks like the tow package is a dealer added option and it is most often a 4 wire connection, which means no brake wire unless you or the previous owner (not knowing your situation) opted for the full 7 pin RV connection.

Too many unknowns here for my comfort but then we're not talking about my comfort.

I try to plan for rainy, dark days when I'm tired and my tow has tires and brakes 1/2 worn, all of which I consider completely reasonable and forseeable. YMMV. YPYMAYTYC.

[k0wtz]

I took our 2015 edge to my mechanic he had everything hooked up in about 15ms. wire I assumed was ground was a turn signal wire after I fooled with it I took it to him.

he put a 6 wire connector to match up to the 13f scamper.

I thought we would need one of those electronic hookup doodads but wasn't needed on the edge!

glad too

bob

[John in Santa Cruz]

ttrailers up to about 1500 lbs gross rarely have brakes. light trailers, like for small boats etc, generally use a flat 4-pin jack, which just has ground, parking lights, left brake/turn, right brake/turn. electric trailer brakes as used on RVs require the trailer have a 12V battery on board (for emergency activation) and use a 7 blade RV connector, where the tow vehicle provides battery charging power, and the proportional electric brake signal for normal operation.

[Raspy]

Just to clarify, an onboard battery is not needed for electric brakes to function. The brakes operate from the TV's 12 volt power that is supplied through the 7 pin plug. The backup battery, if a trailer has one, is only there as an emergency power source for the brakes. If the trailer becomes disconnected while driving along it will apply it's brakes automatically. RVs already have on-board batteries and therefore don't need a dedicated emergency battery.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I'm pretty sure that any trailer that requires brakes has to have a breakaway safety switch, its this what I was referring to as requiring on-board power for electric brakes (I believe surge brakes use some sort of spring/cam emergency brake).

and yeah, the 12V is the camper 'house' battery for this emergency activation... but there are a few camper trailers that don't HAVE any 12V, just 120V campground power.

[floyd]

"I'm pretty sure that any trailer that requires brakes has to have a breakaway safety switch"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Not really, a common example would be IllAnnoy...
I have brakes on my 13, not required (under 3000#)
Brakes are required above 3000#
Breakaway switch required only above 5000#

There are lots of variations from state to state.