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I know they haven't been out long, but has anyone towed with the new Explorer with 5,000 lbs weight limit? I'm interested in first impressions.

Post edited 9:59 pm – January 9, 2011 by thebbqguy

Most of the time, we'll be in Florida and maybe a little in south, mid, and east Georgia but you never know where the road will lead. Since Colorado is way to far for us to drive in a day or two, I doubt we'll be in the mountains very often albeit Tennessee and Kentucky does have some pretty good sized hills.

The 2011 Explorer has the 3.5L V6 rated at 290 hp with torque of 255.  That's only 2 hp shy of the old 4.6L V8 but a deficit of 60 lb-ft of torque.  Ford is projecting that the 3.5L will get 20 percent better fuel efficiency than the old V6 and 30 percent better than the V8. But, since there is no free lunch the torque suffers compared to a V-8.

Supposedly the new 2011 Explorer was designed to tow a 20 ft bass boat, but a bass boat is not a travel trailer abeit a lightweight one. I will be on the look out for impressions from those who have one and tow with it.

I also loved my F-150, but I can no longer justify the gas mileage it provides.

From an article at Examiner.com:

"What can you tow with a 5,000lb capacity? How about a brand new, fully loaded 26’ travel trailer?  TrailManor’s new Elkmont 26 offers all of the amenities of a large apartment with a weight of just 3,420lbs – leaving plenty of room to load the trailer up with supplies yet still staying under 5,000lbs. Click here for a look at the Elkmont 26, as you will see that it offers everything that you could want in a travel trailer and it is well within the 2011 Explorer’s towing capacity."