jacksammi1
Boston
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Finally pulled the trigger and upgraded my pop-up to the Rockwood Roo 23ss. Does anyone see any issues with my 06 Ford Explorer V8 towing the new camper? It has a towing capacity of 7,300 lbs, rear axle ratio of 3.55 and a wheelbase of 114 inches. Loaded up, I'm guessing the camper will weigh appox 4,500 lbs. I'll be using WDH and sway control.
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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Should be a great combination. Enjoy / Skip
2004 F-250 SCREW Long Bed (new)
OR 2004 F-150 HD (85,000 towing miles)
Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
We have enough YOUTH...how about a fountain of SMART
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jacksammi1
Boston
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Thx! just wish it was April so we could use it . . .
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aeohio
New Mexico
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You should be fine, have fun with it.
2010 Passport UL 290BH
2006 Ford Expedition Limited
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kknowlton
Wisconsin Border Country, IL
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If you're not used to towing a full-height trailer with the Explorer, you'll find the experience a bit of a shock at first. Make sure to check your owner's manual to see what they recommend as far as transmission settings (ours said to disengage overdrive). Gas mileage will likely be about the same as most of us get with trucks & trailers, somewhere between 8 and 13, depending on conditions.
From our experience (former combo was a V6 Explorer and a Travelstar 21SSO, which is roughly similar to your Roo), I would recommend making sure your WDH & sway control are adjusted & torqued properly. That length of trailer was all our Explorer could handle - we definitely felt wind & passing trucks, though I wouldn't say it was white knuckle most of the time. The extra power you'll have from the V8 will be welcome in headwinds, hills and other less-than-ideal towing conditions.
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Chuck_S
Broadview Hts, OH, USA
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Figure on your Roo 23SS weighing closer to 5500 than 4500 pounds unless you're talking about the trip home from the dealer. Not sure who told you 4500 pounds loaded! It will weigh 4350 sitting on the dealer's lot when you pick it up.
The 1000/10,000 pound Equalizer has built in sway control and will handle this trailer wonderfully. Why 1000 pounds? I find I push 800 pounds tongue weight when fully loaded for camping. An easy setup and there are several of us with Roo 23SS + Explorer setups so we can dial you in without a lot of trial and error on your part.
Get the Tekonsha Prodigy or P3 electronic brake controller and the Ford cable. Plug-n-play.
Here's what Ford really says about overdrive. Note they don't say to turn it off except under certain conditions: Quote:DRIVING WITH AN AUTOMATIC
OVERDRIVE TRANSMISSION
• With certain automatic overdrive
transmissions, towing – especially in
hilly areas – may cause excessive shifting
between overdrive and the next lower gear.
• To eliminate this condition and achieve
steadier performance, overdrive can be
locked out (see vehicle Owner Guide).
• If excessive shifting doesn’t occur, use
overdrive to optimize fuel economy.
• Overdrive also may be locked out to
obtain engine braking on downgrades. (Emphasis added.)
I pulled our '06 Roo 23SS for two seasons with my '02 Explorer V6 + HD Tow model. There was no excessive shifting. Didn't run 5th gear a lot, but the gears shift fine for themselves. The Explorer is still in service at college with my daughter.
-- Chuck
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland
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jacksammi1
Boston
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thank you all again. We already have the brake control and we're planing on buying the 1000/10,000 pound Equalizer. This was recommended by each dealer we spoke to. We don't do a ton of driving with the unit. We mainly drive it to the campground and leave it on the site for a month or so at a time. I'm guessing we drive 250 miles per year with the camper, although, we spend over 40 nights in it (one of the reasons why we needed to upgrade from the pop up).
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jacksammi1
Boston
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any thoughts on the following? It was recommended by a friend.
http://auto.sears.com/Item.htm?catalogId=10623&productId=100000359287&appId
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Chuck_S
Broadview Hts, OH, USA
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This will work just fine.
There is usually a large caution label on this type of sway control to disengage it before backing. But you're only making a couple of trips annually.
-- Chuck
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PeteandJenny
Holtwood PA
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We pulled a Jayco 25E for 3 years with a V8 Explorer. I think our camper is a little heavier than yours. We had no problems, but keep a comfortable speed for all conditions. You should have no issues. Happy camping.
Pete
Jenny
Dodge Ram 2500 diesel
Jayco 25E
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