New TV required

[BatDude]

Hi all,


My Camco anti-sway bar arrived yesterday here at Jekyll Island. It will not be installed yet as we will need to replace our TV as the Ford Freestyle (2006) appears to be history re tow hitch attachment. The tow bar has continued to pull loose from the frame even though welded two times.

Looks like the metal no longer has a sufficinet integrity to safely tow.
Looks like after a review of the Ford Expedition and Explorer suggests the Expedition is far too large for our needs. Likely may not fit well in our garage once we make it back to Mich. next spring. So the Explorer it will be with a Class III tow package. This gives us options for future FB trailer options, 20' Big Foot? However, as dedicated Scampers we may remain with smaller FG trailer.

With luck, we can have it delivered to the local Brunswick Ford dealer within the time we have here. Oh my all the options, backup camera, heated seats etc. Many decisions to make. Clearly, we do not need electric rear seat fold downs as we will not use the 3rd row and these will be down all the time. No options to not have a 3rd row of seats.

Also looks like I will need a new receiver hitch that has a tab for the anti-sway bar attachment.

[Jon in AZ]

Curious... Is the weakness a result of years of Michigan weather and rust, or a design failure? The failure was not the receiver, but the frame? Is it a factory integrated receiver or aftermarket ? You're towing a Scamp 16, I believe, not exactly a heavy duty application.

There are lots of good tow vehicles out there besides the Explorer and Expedition, but since you appear to be a loyal Ford buyer I will refrain...

Best wishes!

[BatDude]

The frame failure was a combination of hitting the speed table last year with the toungue jack and ripping the after market hitch from the frame. Weakened by years of salt accumulation on the under carriage in Mich.

Loads of options out there Fo Tru... howsomever a family member offered a retired Ford Exec. discount plan that will take >$4K off base price of a new vehicle.

So what's to consider for other brands?

Given my own personal preference for a new set of wheels I would opt for a John Cooper Special Mini with full competition package... but clearly not practical for Scamping. LOL

Unlike the Old Farts who opt for an open top road hog 'Vette with a 20 something in the passenger seat, replete with automatic transmisisons since they do not know how to use a stick correctly...


In my case since I have raced on road circuits for eons (both in Minis and Formula Fords) I would opt for performance over show

Cheers

Bat Dude

[Jon in AZ]

Sounds like you have it figured out! Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. Receiver attachment failures are rare, as should be. When I was rear-ended earlier this year, I got to see how the integrated receiver was set up on my Pilot. It didn't look as substantial as I expected, considering it's rated for up to 4500 pounds. Hope they know their business!

The anti-sway bars I have seen attach to a small ball offset beside the main ball on the draw bar.

[steve dunham]

Salt is a real issue in the Midwest . We remove the hitch from the receiver during the winter and put a coat of grease inside the receiver . If you leave the hitch in place over the winter come Spring you cannot remove it because of rust .
I wash the underside of my truck once a week in the winter to remove the salt.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Salt is a real issue in the Midwest . We remove the hitch from the receiver during the winter and put a coat of grease inside the receiver . If you leave the hitch in place over the winter come Spring you cannot remove it because of rust .
I wash the underside of my truck once a week in the winter to remove the salt.

Here in Illannoy I am told that the state, due to gross incompetence, couldn't pay for road salt this year and had a large quantity repossessed.
I don't know how true this is but if it is so then we may be spared the wretched excess of the past.
The new liquid deicer may well be the largest cause of property damage, short of an all out military assault. Not just to vehicles but to infrastructure as well.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by floyd

Here in Illannoy I am told that the state, due to gross incompetence, couldn't pay for road salt this year and had a large quantity repossessed.
I don't know how true this is but if it is so then we may be spared the wretched excess of the past.
The new liquid deicer may well be the largest cause of property damage, short of an all out military assault. Not just to vehicles but to infrastructure as well.

I did the electrical work for a large salt / road chemical supplier in the Twin Cities . It is remarkable how fast salt attacks metal and the spray de-icers is even worse . I have a friend who is a bridge engineer for the DOT in Minnesota. He claims that the salting of bridge decks cuts the life span of bridges in half.

We had a governor a while back who thought he could save money by not stock piling sand / salt before winter and not plowing roads on the weekends to avoid paying overtime .
The first big winter storm fell on a weekend and on Monday morning the highways were clogged with snow and smashed up vehicles which made plowing impossible . When the state didn't order salt for the winter the local private salt suppliers cut down on there stockpile so when the state needed salt there was little to buy and the cost doubled.
It appears the people in charge of Illinois are on the same level as the idiots in Minnesota

Happy Holidays

[floyd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I did the electrical work for a large salt / road chemical supplier in the Twin Cities . It is remarkable how fast salt attacks metal and the spray de-icers is even worse . I have a friend who is a bridge engineer for the DOT in Minnesota. He claims that the salting of bridge decks cuts the life span of bridges in half.

We had a governor a while back who thought he could save money by not stock piling sand / salt before winter and not plowing roads on the weekends to avoid paying overtime .
The first big winter storm fell on a weekend and on Monday morning the highways were clogged with snow and smashed up vehicles which made plowing impossible . When the state didn't order salt for the winter the local private salt suppliers cut down on there stockpile so when the state needed salt there was little to buy and the cost doubled.
It appears the people in charge of Illinois are on the same level as the idiots in Minnesota

Happy Holidays

Demonstrably!

[BatDude]

Hi all,

Well, a trip to the local Brunswick Ga Ford Dealer Friday afternoon was instructive. The Expedition was horribly HUGE with virtually no difference in cargo space than what we have in the old Freestyle. The Explorer also an SUV initially looked promising but had less cargo space.

Seems all of the Fords have the (for us unnecessary) third row of seats. These could be removed from the Explorer to free up +/- 4 cu. ft. of space. That sales guy kept asking why we would even want to do that as if we ever wanted to travel with family etc. the seats would be very handy.

I explained again that there are only three are only 3 of us, myself, the Mrs. and Esme. Esme has her own Sleepy Pod safe travel unit that is belted to the second seat row.


He mentioned it was not even possible with the Expedition with all the motors and electrics that fold the seats up and down. I have never had an issue pulling a small strap and folding down a seat manually so do not understand why one would add 100 lbs to the back of a vehicle for this automated bug err feature.

We were not impressed with either choice so when we returned to our wonderful Jekyll Island campsite later in the PM. I went back on-line to look at other options. Hmmm looks like a Crossover model, the Flex with a class III tow package can safely (factory specs) pull 4,500 lbs. Well within the range of our 16' Scamp

So using the Ford on-line tools to search w/in 30 miles of our location I found another dealership nearby. The local dealer did not have one on the lot. A quick call informed me that they had 3 of these with factory installed class III tow packages on the lot. So Sat. afternoon we chose to drive 40 minutes north of Brunswick to Darien, Ga. and just look...you understand.

Yes, we initially looked at each other and commented to each other, well these are ugly and boxy.

WOW...

But look at the nice one in dark blue (but had a needless moon roof for $1.6K) and 2 others a red and pearl white one.

However, the Flex would fit the TV bill very well and had nearly the same cargo space specs as the Freestyle. Alas, the Flex also has the third row of useless seats that take up +/- 4-5 cu ft. The sales guy indicated these can be removed and it takes 2 hours of "body shop" time. At $125/hr this would add $250 to the cost.

Given we do need to replace the TV ASAP we made an on the spot decision wrote the check and chose the red one! The sales guy indicated we had just saved $20K over buying the Expedition for about the same cargo space.

Well, this was going to be our new TV and not and entry for a Concours d'Elégance.

As the basic papers were completed he wanted us to drive it away right then. However; we still needed to have the plates and insurance changed that could not be accomplished over the weekend and everything is closed Sunday.

We opted to wait until Monday to return with the Freestyle (taken in trade for $4K Yippeee) after we have removed Honda generator and all our other camping travel stuff. For now we will leave the back row of seats in place.

So a 2016 red Flex is our new TV. What I need to learn ASAP is about the class III tow package. I asked the sales dude about a trailer brake controller and he said it was already part of the package and that he thought the "elec. brake line to the trailer is linked to the Flex's braking system.

Time to read more about that.

The anti-sway bar also arrived from Amazon and will need to be installed.

Any FB folks pulling with a Flex or experience with Ford's Class III tow package?

Cheers,

Bat Dude

[floyd]

Sounds obvious, but read the manual.
Start with dash controls, then go by feature.

Yesterday I was traveling with my son who has an SOB (Toyota) minivan.
The outside mirrors were iced up and we could not find the control for the heated mirrors. Turns out that the mirrors were tied to the rear window defrosters and were activated when the rear defrosters were activated.

There will always be a learning curve with any new vehicle, but read first, then try the feature (in the driveway when possible).

take alook at this video which Explains Ford's ESC sway control which is probably included on your vehicle, check the boxes which apply...

https://owner.ford.com/how-tos/vehic...y-control.html

[Glenn Baglo]

I bought my RAV4 eight years ago and just six months ago, discovered that I had heated mirrors.

[Carl Pa]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I bought my RAV4 eight years ago and just six months ago, discovered that I had heated mirrors.

I have a Rav4 2012 base V6 tow Pkg. Is there something I should look at and do not know about ? Carl

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Carl Pa

I have a Rav4 2012 base V6 tow Pkg. Is there something I should look at and do not know about ? Carl

I donno. I have Sport model. When you press rear defroster switch, it also heats the mirrors. I use it to evaporate rain drops on the mirrors so I can see better.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Carl Pa

I have a Rav4 2012 base V6 tow Pkg. Is there something I should look at and do not know about ? Carl

Look at your outside rearview mirror, if there is a tiny symbol with three wavy lines printed on the glass...

[Mike Magee]

Bat Dude, I'm a bit surprised you did not mention the Escape as a potential tug. Definitely smaller than the Explorer! But I'm glad you found something you can live with. The Flex should tow admirably.

[Carl Pa]

Originally Posted by floyd

Look at your outside rearview mirror, if there is a tiny symbol with three wavy lines printed on the glass...

Nope, guess i will have to keep on struggling. Thanks much. Carl

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I bought my RAV4 eight years ago and just six months ago, discovered that I had heated mirrors.

Know what you're saying. I bought my Ranger new in '02 and never needed to use the cargo light. Last year I did need it and couldn't find any switch. The ONLY mention in the manual was the bulb size. By accident or frustration, I rolled the dash dimmer dial up till it clicked.....bingo, cargo light works .

[Carl Pa]

I did the same thing. could never turn the upper interior lights on to read a map or something. One day I was cleaning the inside of the car and wiped the lens and it pushed on, so easy. Who new. Carl

[mary and bob]

The Flex reminds me of the old International Travelall's, a boxy suburban type vehicle

[floyd]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

The Flex reminds me of the old International Travelall's, a boxy suburban type vehicle

I see your point, but it has one of the most beautiful and comfortable interiors ever. Plus it has available the 3.5 ecoboost engine from the F-150 . 365HP &350FP of torque. AND you can actually find it in the parking lot!
Now if it only had a 6SPD manual transmission!