Marv's Boring Black SR5

How does that Expedition tow fully laden??

Always love the pics of trips!!

 

It’s got plenty of power. Tow/haul mode is great in the mountains when descending hills. It actually downshifts and keeps you from riding the brakes. It rides pretty nice and doesn’t get pushed around too bad. Air conditioned and heated seats are nice! All in all, a pretty comfortable experience for a 1/2 ton vehicle. The GVWR is actually 7720, which is 500 pounds more than the Tundra.

2 turbos make a lot of heat, though. Even with 5500 pounds behind it going 75mph, the thing will hold 8th or 9th gear by getting into the boost. It doesn’t have a dedicated trans cooler and temps rise quickly. The fans are running a lot. I knew it had some trans issues when we bought it and we got a new one under warranty a few weeks ago. Our first tow trip to the mountains the trans was spewing fluid at the top of a decent grade that was about 7 miles long and I held 60mph going up. We got home without a tow, but it wasn’t confidence inspiring. I’m still getting used to seeing engine and trans temps hit 240’s and 230’s, respectively. I know the newer vehicles and fluids are known to run hotter, but heat kills stuff. I’m not convinced this thing was built to do what I’m going to ask of it long term, but we’ve got limited options for vehicles that will seat 7 and tow. Got a trip to TX coming up so we’ll see what happens after we put about 3000 towing miles behind us.

 

I’d be interested to hear if you can manage the trans temps with a lower gear selection while towing. Can you lock it to 7th or 8th gear?

With temps in the 250° range, I’d be looking for an auxiliary cooler option. That’s toasty! I rarely see 230° in my Tundra while towing my 7,000# travel trailer, and that’s in the hills. On the highway with the same load, I’m in the 210° range. Everyday cruising (empty, but still 7,200# truck weight) is 195° to 205°.

 

Locking out higher gears is exactly what I’ve been playing with. We’ll see if it helps. I also got a new thermostat that I need to put in. It’s still a 195 thermostat, but ford redesigned the part in 2022 using a slightly different design that supposedly keeps it from sticking. The high temps I’m seeing may be caused in part by the thermostat sticking partially closed.

 

Ok sports fans..been a while since I updated. I can't remember if I posted it or not, but a few months ago I got a new transmission for the expedition and also switched out the thermostat for a newer part # from Ford. We went to TX this year for our annual family trip and it was great. Towed like 3k miles, 7 people in the vehicle, TT weighed probably around 5500 pounds. I babied it for a little while, but most of the trip I was driving about 75 mph and letting the turbos work. I think the highest trans temp I saw was low 230's for a few seconds, and that was in hill country. I was super happy that we had a great trip with no mechanical issues. It's really nice to have AC cooled seats. Another plus is my wife was able to do a little driving with the trailer and felt pretty comfortable. The expedition is her daily, so she's much more at home in it vs my truck.

Major stops were San Antonio, Galveston, and Tyler. Everybody had a pretty dang good time. Alamo was cool. Kids loved the beach, and I got to do some night hog hunting with old friends. 2 weeks goes quick, but we were happy to be back in our own beds by the time we got home. I'm really blessed to be able to enjoy such things!

 

After we got home from TX, I had some goodies waiting on me so I installed those. New RCI bumper with DD lights. Also got the RCI engine and trans skids. Install was pretty smooth, minus the stripped bolt holes for the engine skid. Turns out that when I smashed off my OEM skid (splash guard) it wrecked those threaded holes in the frame. Not sure how I'm going to deal with it long term, but it's holding fine as it is missing 2 bolts. As usual, I had help from my crew

I also did a little cleanup/painting on one of my rock sliders. I just hit it with a wire wheel best I could, primed, and shot it with black. It's not the most durable, but at least I can easily touch it up when I smash them.

 

With some new parts on the truck, it was time for some off road fun! Did a quick day trip west of Boulder to shake down the bumper and everything went well. Approach angles are WAY better than stock bumper. I smashed the new one on a granite chunk and it took it like a champ. I need to get some decent recovery gear that can be hooked to my new attachment points though.

 

Another recent outing was for my oldest son's birthday. We took the camper out around Taylor Park Reservoir and stayed a few days with other off road friends. It was awesome. Ran tin cup pass and did the water crossing at mirror lake, which was fairly deep. Not sure I'd want to get into water any deeper than this with a daily driver! Also took the kids to their first drive in theater and of course we enjoyed some popcorn in the truck bed under an amazing sky. Good time had by all and once again, the Tundra performed great. It's kind of amazing how much I beat this truck and it just keeps ticking. Odometer is at 117,xxx now. Need an oil change and probably should do the diff fluids!

 

Nice work, all the way around. Definitely beat my summer camping!

 

The truck and fam are lookin great, Marv! And don’t fight the urge for 37’s, they’re totally worth it

 

I’m having a better life than I have a right to.

 

Soon…

 

Doubt that’s true. You reap what you sow…