Jim & Debbie
Member
We recently purchased a 2009 Escape 5.0 Single Axle trailer. We loved the layout and build quality (first time we ever saw inside an Escape). We don’t have a truck to tow it with, but the sweet couple we bought it from graciously agreed to deliver it to our house about 1.5 hours away. We figured it was a lot harder to find an Escape near us (Virginia) than to find a suitable truck. We have a Reese Pro Series 15000 hitch with universal rails that mount in the bed.
As we started researching suitable trucks, we discovered that most of the newer 1/2 ton trucks have bed rails that are > 55” high from the ground. Our single axle 5.0 has the frame under the loft area that is 56” above ground, so this doesn’t allow sufficient clearance above the bed rails (I read that 6” is ideal). The previous owner as well as original owner towed the 5.0 with a Nissan Frontier (46” bed rails for the 2017 that the previous owner has). With the pin box set at 45” above ground, they had a good 7” of clearance above their bed rails.
We started looking at Frontiers with 4.0/3.8L V6. We would need the Crew Cab to take grandkids along with us sometimes. Would also want the 6’ bed to provide maximum clearance to cab. Not many of these around. The payload was only 1360 lbs for 2WD or 1220 lbs for 4WD. I could see us approaching or exceeding that fairly easily. The other issue is that this truck is not rated for 5th wheel towing, so there is no custom frame mounting brackets for the in-bed universal rails. I was having a hard time finding a trailer shop that would install a fifth wheel hitch even though I told them my trailer was < 3000 lbs. (probably for liability reasons, which I can understand).
We started visiting used car lots to measure older trucks.
My dad has a 2002 Tundra access cab 2WD with 50” bed rails. That seems like a good fit, so 2000-2006 Tundra could work, but these trucks are almost 20 years old. I don’t know what the payload is on his truck since it doesn’t have a yellow sticker.
We saw a 2001 Chevy Silverado access cab 2WD with 49” high bed rails. So 2000-2006 GM trucks would probably be a good fit. Same concerns as Tundra with age and payload.
We recently found a 2017 Ford F-150 XL 3.5L natural aspirated 6-speed AT 2WD SuperCab 6.5’ bed with only 16K miles. The Carfax showed it was a local dealer truck. This truck has the Tow Package with 7300 lb 5th wheel tow rating and 1580 lb payload (6100 lb GVWR). This includes 3.73 rear e-locking axle, integrated brake controller, hitch and 7 pin connector, backup camera. I can buy a universal rail installation kit for F-150 that bolts to existing holes in frame (actually all I need is the under bed mounting brackets since I already have the above bed rails, but I can’t find just the brackets yet). This truck has 53” bed rail height.
In my scouring the forum, I found a post from aldertree2 on 10/26/2012 in which he contacted Escape to ask about tow vehicle dimensions for the 5.0 SA. They said minimum 29” from cab to axle and 54” maximum bed rail height above ground (or 56” with lift kit spacers). My 2009 5.0 has a square tube welded to a gusset that raises the frame 2” above the axle. I don’t know if I could add the Dexter 2-5/8” channel with stiffeners to raise it further if needed, but I think it would look funny.
I think the F-150 non-turbo 3.5 V6 would be fine for towing the 5.0 SA. However, I am trying to plan ahead in case we decide to upgrade to a 5.0 TA with 1000 lb extra weight.
We are leaning toward buying the F-150 since it already has the tow package and payload is adequate for what we need and I could install the hitch myself with the custom brackets. I know many people tow with F-150 Ecoboosts, but I haven’t seen much experience with 3.5 non turbo trucks. One thing that is not great is this truck is not as comfortable a daily driver as our Odyssey. It is 232” long, so would not be nearly as nimble getting around town. I’ll ask my wife her thoughts about this if we test drive it.
Any advice regarding any of the options above would be much appreciated. We’ve never towed a fifth wheel or anything larger than our popup. From reading the experiences of many forum members, it sounds like fifth wheel will be a very comfortable easy tow.
Thanks,
Jim & Debbie
As we started researching suitable trucks, we discovered that most of the newer 1/2 ton trucks have bed rails that are > 55” high from the ground. Our single axle 5.0 has the frame under the loft area that is 56” above ground, so this doesn’t allow sufficient clearance above the bed rails (I read that 6” is ideal). The previous owner as well as original owner towed the 5.0 with a Nissan Frontier (46” bed rails for the 2017 that the previous owner has). With the pin box set at 45” above ground, they had a good 7” of clearance above their bed rails.
We started looking at Frontiers with 4.0/3.8L V6. We would need the Crew Cab to take grandkids along with us sometimes. Would also want the 6’ bed to provide maximum clearance to cab. Not many of these around. The payload was only 1360 lbs for 2WD or 1220 lbs for 4WD. I could see us approaching or exceeding that fairly easily. The other issue is that this truck is not rated for 5th wheel towing, so there is no custom frame mounting brackets for the in-bed universal rails. I was having a hard time finding a trailer shop that would install a fifth wheel hitch even though I told them my trailer was < 3000 lbs. (probably for liability reasons, which I can understand).
We started visiting used car lots to measure older trucks.
My dad has a 2002 Tundra access cab 2WD with 50” bed rails. That seems like a good fit, so 2000-2006 Tundra could work, but these trucks are almost 20 years old. I don’t know what the payload is on his truck since it doesn’t have a yellow sticker.
We saw a 2001 Chevy Silverado access cab 2WD with 49” high bed rails. So 2000-2006 GM trucks would probably be a good fit. Same concerns as Tundra with age and payload.
We recently found a 2017 Ford F-150 XL 3.5L natural aspirated 6-speed AT 2WD SuperCab 6.5’ bed with only 16K miles. The Carfax showed it was a local dealer truck. This truck has the Tow Package with 7300 lb 5th wheel tow rating and 1580 lb payload (6100 lb GVWR). This includes 3.73 rear e-locking axle, integrated brake controller, hitch and 7 pin connector, backup camera. I can buy a universal rail installation kit for F-150 that bolts to existing holes in frame (actually all I need is the under bed mounting brackets since I already have the above bed rails, but I can’t find just the brackets yet). This truck has 53” bed rail height.
In my scouring the forum, I found a post from aldertree2 on 10/26/2012 in which he contacted Escape to ask about tow vehicle dimensions for the 5.0 SA. They said minimum 29” from cab to axle and 54” maximum bed rail height above ground (or 56” with lift kit spacers). My 2009 5.0 has a square tube welded to a gusset that raises the frame 2” above the axle. I don’t know if I could add the Dexter 2-5/8” channel with stiffeners to raise it further if needed, but I think it would look funny.
I think the F-150 non-turbo 3.5 V6 would be fine for towing the 5.0 SA. However, I am trying to plan ahead in case we decide to upgrade to a 5.0 TA with 1000 lb extra weight.
We are leaning toward buying the F-150 since it already has the tow package and payload is adequate for what we need and I could install the hitch myself with the custom brackets. I know many people tow with F-150 Ecoboosts, but I haven’t seen much experience with 3.5 non turbo trucks. One thing that is not great is this truck is not as comfortable a daily driver as our Odyssey. It is 232” long, so would not be nearly as nimble getting around town. I’ll ask my wife her thoughts about this if we test drive it.
Any advice regarding any of the options above would be much appreciated. We’ve never towed a fifth wheel or anything larger than our popup. From reading the experiences of many forum members, it sounds like fifth wheel will be a very comfortable easy tow.
Thanks,
Jim & Debbie