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| My wife has a 4 cylinder Escape and I was thinking about putting a hitch on it and using it for a tow vehicle if we decide to fish away from our house. Its just a better ride and more comfortable than my 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I usually use. I have a 17' deep V Princecraft with a 70HP Johnson. What do you guys think? |
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Posts: 1763
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | I would not do it. 4 cylinder engines and towing over 1000 lbs mix like oil and water. |
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| Okay good deal. Just wanted to make sure. They sell hitches for her car that tow capacity is 3500 but not that the car can handle it. |
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Posts: 132
| I believe those vehicles have a max tow rating of 3500 lbs, but that is with the V6 as well as probably some tow package. Yours doesn't have it and probably has a rating of a lot less than that. But I agree, I wouldn't do it. It will put too much strain on that powertrain and probably decrease the life a bunch.
I know it's not the same year, but check this out... Specifically the bottom right of the first page...
http://www.ford.com/assets/pdf/towing/10FLMrvESCAPREsep09.pdf
Edited by hunterjoe 6/5/2012 7:54 AM
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| Ok thanks for the heads up. We might just trade it in for something else that will suffice for taking it on longer trips. |
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| I tow a Mr Pike 17 with a 125 with a 4 cylinder tacoma and a standard transmission...105k miles and the original clutch and powertrain are going strong. Low 4 on steep/inimproved ramps helps. That's about 2700lb or more total trailered weight, imagine an escape w/ auto transmission would be fine with a lighter boat?? |
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Posts: 1763
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | Since the max towing for the Escape 4cyl is 1000 lbs, don't risk it. |
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Posts: 3514
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
Pulling it probably won't be a problem....stopping it, though...another story. For a boat of that size, the weight of the boat and trailer alone could potentially push your vehicle into someone quite easily if you had to stop quick. The brakes on a vehicle of that size are not designed to pull much of anything, so it can be a tricky situation to use it for towing.
I would bet the engine and transmission could handle it, given you treat it well, keep it out of overdrive so fluid flow is higher for engine and transmission cooling (if it has a transmission cooler on it. If not, I would definitely ask that you consider the idea to install one.)
Steve
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| I would just put a hitch on your jeep. Plenty of people just have an old suv/truck they keep just for towing around their boat, as long as you re not going real long distances. |
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