302 towing help!!!
 

I sold the beek boat and just got a '99 302. I have to drive 300 miles to pick it up. Mostly flat, but my tow vehicle is an Expedition EB 5.4L. It towed the Fountain (single) well. Does anyone tow a 302 or 29 Outlaw with an F-150 or Expedition? I have a guy that I sort of hang out with that I can ask to go with me, but prefer not to. Anything to expect? Should I not even try? Help!

Tim

If you go slow and easy you should not have any problems. Don't speed and allow plenty of time to stop.

My dealer just has a 1/2 Chevy pickup and I have seen him pull a 302 with it recently.

This is the truth, even though it may seem hard to believe, but a guy on Lake Norman here name Todd pulled his 38 Special with a Ford Expedition V-8 all the way to the coast. His was equiped with the load leveling supension and pulled it OK, the problem was that he did not have enough brakes on the Expedition to get the surge brakes on the trailer to kick in. He allowed plenty of time to stop it, and would have been screwed if he would have had to make a panic stop.

Good luck, take it easy and you will be fine.

Mark

I tow my 342 with a 1/2 ton Dodge 5.9. 4x4. Leave at the marina most of the time. Tow back and forth to dealer 60-70 miles. Just take it slow and leave yourself room to stop. I'm not proud of towing this way but the lease is up in Dec.

I agree with Doc. Just give yourself room to stop in case of anyhting happening in front of you. You'll be fine.

Mike

Baja 342, Does the Dodge need any extra suspension help for this set-up?

Thanks guys,

I go to pick it up Saturday morning. I guess I have to change my screen name now!:D

29 Fever, Is this the boat at Grand Sport Center in Illinois?

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS ON BECOMING A BAJA OWNER. YOU'LL LOVE THE 302!!!!

Luv-N-It,
I have to say the truck does not drop that much at all. The truck does really well towing it. The only time it feels really bad is when I fill the tank up. Anyway no I do not have any suspension help. The one thing I hate the most is if the ramp is wet when unloading. Seem like the whole things going in!!

Tim - 1st rule: In order to keep a go-fast you must INSURE that your commander and first mate are comfortable:D :D

Congratulations, now get it down here so we can go can run em'.

Kent

My Dodge 1/2 ton 4x4 pulls my 252 great, but even with that boat it has trouble stopping. Anyone know if the brakes can be up-graded?

Before getting my Formula, I had an Expedition with load-leveling air bags from the factory. Pulled a car trailer with a full size sedan in freezing rain. (Can guess the Weight before, but after a quarter inch of ice on everything, who knows? A lot). It convenced me to get a different ride for serious trailering of big loads. The bigest problem was "chine walking" where the air would rush from one rear airbag to the other the whole way. Otherwise the Expedition did okay. Still kind of miss it.

Rick 252: Try ceramic pads from CarQuest on your dodge. They have to warm up a little first, but then they are better than semi-metalic brakes.

...and your signature at the bottom. :D

Don't worry about towing - tell us about the boat.

Congratulations! The Baja looks sharp!!

"Gotta trade-in the Beak"

29 Fever,

I have an E.B. 5.4L Ford Expedition and pull a 29' Outlaw. I hauled our boat over six hours to Dubuque from St. Paul, MN for a poker run earlier this summer. I had NO problems at all; it pulls fine, however the braking is a little suspect. If you anticipate your stops everything should be okay. Remember to put your truck in 4x4 high when putting in and taking out your boat!

Fever,
When I bought my Excursion I looked for a 5.4 because I did not want to feed the V-10. However, the first thing I did was lift it 6 inches and throw 35's on it. Right after that I replaced the 4.10 gears with 4.56's to compensate for the tires. It pulls my 29 Outlaw no problem, even to Lake Mead in 100 deg heat. The mileage actually got better with the gear swap, cause the tires threw the RPM's out of the power band with the original gears. The only mods to the engine is a K&N filtercharger. The brakes are fine, but the Excursion is a 3/4 ton. I get 8-9 mpg towing and 13.8 highway w/out. Not great but carrying 8 people and the gear in comfort is cool.
Before I got the Excursion I towed with my lifted 3/4 ton 5.7 GMC with 35's and 4.10 gears. The tires had the effect of making the gear ratio 3.73's and required the overdrive to be off most of the time. Gas mileage sucked when towing,6-7 mpg.
The most important factor to consider with your 5.4 is tire size and gear ratio. With stock tires I would install 4.10's on your Expedition. With 33's or larger 4.56's would be right. If you plan on keeping that package, regear and you'll be much happier.
It should cost you around $1500-2000 installed for new gears, not a do it yourself project unless you have done it before. I have not needed airbags yet, but you may with the 1/2 ton suspension. Email me if I can help.

Thanks again everyone. To answer some of the questions...yes it was on consignment from Grand Sport just outside of Chicago.

1999 - 53 hours
Boss package
chrome bezels - Faria gauges
in-dash mapping, color GPS
VHF
Twin 7.4s. It's going to be tough to add a motor and slow down.

I was looking for one with MAGS, Gaffrig gauges, hydraulic steering...etc, etc.

I couldn't even find a '96 with all that for what I ended up getting this for. I also have a 3 month little girl at home. I figure I will be happier with the room on a clean low hour boat than an older one that goes a little faster.

Hey,

I just towed a 302 for 3 1/2 hours in a major thrunderstorm recently. - With a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It had the "tow" package. Actually it's rates to ~7500lbs. Well the 302 is 6800 dry, some gas, and the trailer weight ~1500 lbs. Couldn't break 55mph and the boat did some steering on the downhills, but I made it without much incident. Don't do it every day though.

BTW - I maged twin 502 maggies - YES!

Shooter,

You beat me to that boat. I was hoping it was going to still be around. The only plus I can say is that I got a '99 with 53 hours on it for about what you paid. You'll just have to slow down to so I can run with you!;)

Let's see some pics. And I want performance reports!

Tim

WOW!!!!! I never knew you were a Baja guy at heart!!!! It must have been the jealousy I created on Brookville LAke in April...HAHAHAHAHAAAAA. See ya on the River. we still have a good 6 weeks of good boating weather. LAter

My ford dealer warned me about the hitches breaking and the auto transmission. After we bought a H2X, we pulled it back with powerstroke 4x4 manual it made it back from Kentucky. Nothing to brag about hear. We asked the dealer about one of those with a auto, I drive alot of rush hour traffic on A Plan they laughed and told me to go across the street to their used lot they had Dodge 360 4X4 with ten thousand miles when it hit 50k so did the power. We have were told that this wasn't uncommon! So back to Chevy and it feels good. Anyone wonder why we do not see many fords and dodges in boats anymore?????? :rolleyes: The throttle body spacer helped our expedition out alot. Good Luck!