2024 Tow Vehicle Overview

[BlkGS]

Yup. May get an F-150 sometime this year but will keep the Expy.

From what I have read, the 2017 is the last year with 6 spd trans. (all 3rd Gen Expeditions have them). From 2018 to current they have the 10 spd and there have been issues with them and towing beats the hell out of them. Many lawsuits and things going on with them. I get my info from the Ford Expedition Forum a lot of great information. But I cannot confirm this first hand. Getting ready to put in new shocks and coils that I have sitting in my garage, KYB's. Was going to do it a few weeks ago but the weather changed. Will put a couple of Sumo Spring

Almost bought the F-150 two weeks ago, but the dealer jacked me around at the last minute. It was a 2023 F-150 Powerboost. Will see how the 2024 are priced and what deals they will offer, otherwise I may just wait on a 2nd vehicle.

The 10 speed I like overall. The f150 guys do seem to complain about it more. I think it just took Ford a while to get a good calibration on it, and even then, it isn't perfect. About once a quarter it makes a clunky shift, like it wasn't expecting to shift. That said, it's another of those shared designs between GM and Ford, and they bolt it behind the raptor r. We are at just over 50k miles and it seems to shift harder when cold then before, probably time to look into a fluid drain and fill or two. It also takes quite a while for the trans fluid to warm up, so I have a hard time believing it doesn't have enough cooling for towing. That said, ours is a loaded limited stealth, so it has any towing packages and whatnot that might help it.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@BlkGS Read up on the forums that I linked. It appears if it starts the clunking once in a while that, that is a sign that it should be addressed and future problems may arise. I would of much preferred the 10 speed. new models seems to be less prone. The 6 speed I have is pretty much bullet proof. But now it is 7 years old. I was hoping to get a newer Expy, but figured I would just keep mine for towing when I need to get 8 people in vehicle to the lake. Depending on price will most likely get an F-150, Powerboost with the 360 system and tow package. For all the other times when it is just me, or me and the admiral or a kid or two I will take the F-150 to tow. Plus I will most likely just lease it for a couple/few years and either buy it at the end, or just turn it in.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@BlkGS Here is a link to one of the many discussions. Looks like there may be a TSB out as well.

TSB 23-2250 - 2018-2023 Expedition/Navigator + Other Models - 10R80 Auto Trans + Others - Harsh/Delayed Engagement And/Or Harsh/Delayed Shift | Ford Expedition Forum

 

[ahenderson432]

What does your owners manual say the tow rating is? Does it mention towed length or not? Seems like that tow rating would be inclusive of the wheel base as well as other factors. For me, I’d be going off of the tow rating. In the case of my F-350 CC SWB 4x4, the two rating is 21,000#, there is no mention of wheel base. Some of the RV trailers these days are upwards of 42’ long, but are well within the tow rating of the truck. That 21,000# is either class V ball hitch, fifth wheel, or gooseneck.

Manual says nothing about Trailer Length vs. GVW other than check the sticker on the Driver Side b Pillar for your vehicle specific rating.

Sticker Shows:
GVWR: 7,500lbs
GCWR: 14,500lbs
RGAWR: 4,300lbs
Curb Weight: 6002lbs
Max Payload: 1,498lbs

Conventional TWR: 8,100lbs
Max Tongue Weight: 8,10lbs

2024 255xd:
Dry Weight-4,694lbs
75 Gallons of Fuel-485lbs
Weight Capacity-2,350lbs
Shorelander YAV51TJXWMS0 Trailer-1,190lbs
Total-8,719lbs

Tahoe-6,002lbs
Boat-4,694lbs
Fuel-485lbs
Trailer-1,190lbs
Total-12,371lbs
Gear/Passengers/Dog/Beer-2,129lbs
GCWR Left Over-0lbs

​

So if I fully load the Boat to max capacity rating, load up the family in the Tahoe, and have enough Beer to spend a 2 weeks on Lake Powell..........

I may exceed the rating just a bit. But I do not see myself loading up 2,100lbs of Beer (90-30pks) then towing.

Thank you all for making me run the numbers and prove to the wife we need a SUV with a higher GCWR.

 

[BlkGS]

@BlkGS Read up on the forums that I linked. It appears if it starts the clunking once in a while that, that is a sign that it should be addressed and future problems may arise. I would of much preferred the 10 speed. new models seems to be less prone. The 6 speed I have is pretty much bullet proof. But now it is 7 years old. I was hoping to get a newer Expy, but figured I would just keep mine for towing when I need to get 8 people in vehicle to the lake. Depending on price will most likely get an F-150, Powerboost with the 360 system and tow package. For all the other times when it is just me, or me and the admiral or a kid or two I will take the F-150 to tow. Plus I will most likely just lease it for a couple/few years and either buy it at the end, or just turn it in.

I will have to take a look into it. We have a lifetime powertrain warranty on it, so I'm not super concerned, but it's good to know.

I am not a huge fan of the 6 speed. We had it in a series of explorer sport tracs, and they all needed torque converters. My biggest gripe with Ford is that they always create a cheaper version of these transmissions that has issues. The explorer ST guys blow up their 10 speeds with some frequency when modding (to be fair, they're often pushing a lot more power and there's definite learning curves with tuning to get power and not break transmissions).

We did have to get the software in the transmission updated by Ford like three times. The first one was supposed to fix the cam.phaser rattle. It did not and make the shifts weird and engine lug. The next update fixed both of those for a while and shifted well, with only the occasional hiccup. Then the cam.phasers started rattling again, so they actually swapped them out this time, and we got a new software version for the engine and trans. It seems fine so far, no stumbles or anything.

I will say... I think the ZF 8 speed is a better transmission. The tuning on it in the BMW is stunning, and I think ZF just understands how their transmission works better and assists automakers, whereas GM/Ford are kinda fumbling through it.

 

[BlkGS]

@BlkGS Here is a link to one of the many discussions. Looks like there may be a TSB out as well.

TSB 23-2250 - 2018-2023 Expedition/Navigator + Other Models - 10R80 Auto Trans + Others - Harsh/Delayed Engagement And/Or Harsh/Delayed Shift | Ford Expedition Forum

Fun story.

A few weeks/months after you posted this I startes to notice harsh shifts becoming more consistent. It started doing the delayed engagement stuff, the hard shifts out of Park, all kinds of stuff. Not as much on an on ramp, but putting around town as a family hauler, its been consistent.

Made an appt to get it looked at under warranty (getting close in terms of time and mileage). Service advisor basically told me my problems before I could tell her. I'm thinking we are getting a new/rebuilt transmission under warranty, lol. Seemed like they'd seen this many times before.

This after it was in for camshaft phaser replacement a few weeks ago, lol. Seems like both of these issues aren't like, catastrophic failure possibilities, but more like nuisances that could end up leading to premature failures if left unchecked. Good news is those are getting dealt with and we have a lifetime powertrain warranty on it too.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@BlkGS That is Great news you are getting it taken care of.

 

[keram75]

In 2015, I bought brand new F-150, 6 speed transmission. In 2022, with 60K miles on odometer, I traded in for new F150. Yesterday got the call from dealer, transmission needs to go for rebuild. Only 18K miles on new truck. Problems started two months ago, with clunk, noise at the acceleration.

 

[Maxpilot]

For those Tahoe/Yukon guys that pull 21-25 foot boats, can you open the rear hatch with the boat attached?

 

[Jdz1]

Good Article. My 2023 Z71 6.2L Tahoe tows like a dream except for the 10mpg.

Looking at large SUV vs full size van with awd or 4x4. Do you think a couple mountain bikes would fit easily in the back of your Tahoe with four passengers and other gear like a few backpacks for weekend travel, ice chest etc?

 

[BlkGS]

Looking at large SUV vs full size van with awd or 4x4. Do you think a couple mountain bikes would fit easily in the back of your Tahoe with four passengers and other gear like a few backpacks for weekend travel, ice chest etc?

Can't speak to Tahoe, but I think they would be too tall to fit inside our expedition. You'd likely want to put them on the roof or a hitch mounted carrier.

 

[ahenderson432]

For those Tahoe/Yukon guys that pull 21-25 foot boats, can you open the rear hatch with the boat attached?

Yes you can. 2023 Tahoe and 255XD on trailer I open the hatch with plenty of clearance.

 

[ahenderson432]

Looking at large SUV vs full size van with awd or 4x4. Do you think a couple mountain bikes would fit easily in the back of your Tahoe with four passengers and other gear like a few backpacks for weekend travel, ice chest etc?

Mountain Bikes will NOT stand up in a Tahoe. It’s tough to even put them laying down and you have to put the 2nd and 3rd row seats down. I use a hitch mount for 2-3 bikes.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Manual says nothing about Trailer Length vs. GVW other than check the sticker on the Driver Side b Pillar for your vehicle specific rating.

Sticker Shows:
GVWR: 7,500lbs
GCWR: 14,500lbs
RGAWR: 4,300lbs
Curb Weight: 6002lbs
Max Payload: 1,498lbs

Conventional TWR: 8,100lbs
Max Tongue Weight: 8,10lbs

2024 255xd:
Dry Weight-4,694lbs
75 Gallons of Fuel-485lbs
Weight Capacity-2,350lbs
Shorelander YAV51TJXWMS0 Trailer-1,190lbs
Total-8,719lbs

Tahoe-6,002lbs
Boat-4,694lbs
Fuel-485lbs
Trailer-1,190lbs
Total-12,371lbs
Gear/Passengers/Dog/Beer-2,129lbs
GCWR Left Over-0lbs

​

So if I fully load the Boat to max capacity rating, load up the family in the Tahoe, and have enough Beer to spend a 2 weeks on Lake Powell..........

I may exceed the rating just a bit. But I do not see myself loading up 2,100lbs of Beer (90-30pks) then towing.

Thank you all for making me run the numbers and prove to the wife we need a SUV with a higher GCWR.

So, assuming the trailer is set up to have shore landers recommended 8% tongue weight, with the boat on the trailer and full of fuel and no gear in the boat the tongue weight would be 509#, ( 4694+485+1190 =6369 X .08= 509) which would leave 989# for additional passengers and cargo in your Tahoe. That’s a fair amount of people and beer in the Tahoe. If you put the beer and other heavy stuff in the boat over the axles that would be a good place to carry that extra weight and to keep the Tahoe from squatting and pointing your headlights at the stars.

6369(boat w full fuel and trailer no gear) + 6002 = 12,371# leaving 2129# on the GCVWR of 14,500# so you’ve got a lot of room there, and 1731# of additional trailer weight (8100-6369=1731# ) for the tow rating for gear/food/beer etc in the trailer. If the trailer is set up at 8% tongue weight, with an 8100# trailer that gives a tongue weight of 648#, leaving 850# for additional passengers and cargo in the Tahoe.

The Tahoe would be within its ratings and fully loaded depending on how much stuff you did take. It’ll be fine to use while your new Tow Vehicle is being built.

Dunno if I mentioned this before, but if you have a little patience go into the fleet sales guy and order your vehicle from the factory. You will get the exact vehicle you want, color, trim, tow package etc and it will be less money than buying it off the lot. Also, sell your vehicle yourself and get way more money than trade in value. I’ve ordered all my vehicles save one since 1990.