I am looking for some suggestions on towing. I have a 2006 FEH AWD with a class 3 hitch. I need to move some items (plastic flower pots, the nursery type) from one location to another. I am looking at renting a Uhaul trailer to move these. I need to move these from the coast of NC inland (mostly flat driving) about 200 miles with a mixture of highway and 2 lane country road driving.

I am looking at one of the Uhaul 6' x 12' trailers to pull. It has about 400 cu ft of inside space. The stats can be seen at http://www.uhaul.com/guide/index.asp...t=trailer-6x12

Anyone see any reason why I can't do this? I have never pulled a enclosed trailer behind me on my FEH before. My load will only be the plastic pots (the type you get at the nursery when you buy plants). The trailer will most likely be 3/4 or more full of these with nothing else in it. I would put stacks of the larger pots to the front of the trailer (the heavier stacks) and work my way back to the back with the lighter stacks.

Just looking for advice or suggestions. Thank you for your time.

 

The max towing load is suppose to be 1000lbs. The trailer you referenced to is significantly heavier than this. You need to obtain an "open" trailer that is lighter. Good luck.

 

You will be okay, but stay off the interstate with high speed limits.

Keep the truck between 45 & 55 MPH and you will be OKAY.
Keep air conditioning off, and put the least amount of weight inside the car and you will be better off.

I have towed a 2000 pound trailer at 55 MPH over the rocky mountains of colorado and there were no issues. I actually got about 25 MPG to boot also!

My engine temperature never went up more than 5 or 6 degrees on a 60 degree day. My transmission temperature got about 20 degrees warmer which was still in the "nominal" range. The temperature of the electric motors changed hardly at all.

The battery pack did get warmer than usual, but never more than 86 degrees.
The car will use the battery pack more often when towing.
I do not think this is a bad thing, and may be why my MPG was relatively good. 25 MPG shocked the hell out of my dad, but not me. This is an awesome little SUV.

HTH,
-John E

 

Re: towing a U-Haul 6X12.

I would be seriously uncomfortable with this trailer behind an Escape Hybrid. Aside from the gross weight issue, I feel it is just too big for the Escape, even the V-6.

Across my 30 years in the military I moved 19 times. Seemed like every time I came back from a deployment my wife had another antique which then had to be moved in a u-haul trailer when orders came my way.

I routinely used a Suburban to tow a U-Haul 6x12. No sweat for a Suburban (they don't call it an "urban assault vehicle" for nothing). But... I would not even consider hooking it up to my Escape Hybrid!

Should you have an accident and try to go after Ford for a piece of the fault... they'll laugh all the way to court, you won't have a prayer, given the load restrictions they have on it.

I am looking at towing with mine and am looking at a U-Haul 4x8. It will have to be lightly loaded until I get more experience with it behind the Escape Hybrid.

My take is: even if empty, hook a 6X12 to your Escape Hybrid at your peril.

 

Of course you assume the risk when exceeding recommendations.
However, Ford set the "user" rating at one-third of the tow capacity they used during R&D testing. They told me during my Dearborn visit they towed extensively and could not "break" the car. Any good engineer builds in a 3:1 safety margin.

The heavier you tow, the lower your margin.
As far as braking goes, the FEH has the largest braking capacity of any of the Escape line up. 4 wheel discs plus regen.

Of course, I too would "practice" a bit with an empty trailer to see how the car feels and handles. For my own, I could not really tell I was towing, except I needed longer stopping distances.

RPM's ran higher, but generally not over 4,000 even on mountain grades in the 45-55 MPH range. I would not go over 55 MPH in any circumstance.

Use extra caution, please.

 

I have towed a smaller UHAUL (enclosed 5X8) carrying a snowblower and load of firewood through the western Maine mountains from Boston. I probably wasn't too much above the 1000 limit, but had no problems at all (though the mpg took a hit). If I remember correctly the trailer itself weighs about 600+; I'm sure with the 6X12 you'll be over by quite a bit.

 

That trailer weighed 1800 lbs empty, so that would be a yes.

 

Something that nobody has mentioned here yet and has hit me before (I learned the hard way). I was towing a very small trailer with a dirtbike on it in San Francisco. I had to park on a steep street facing downhill.

Now, everyone here should remember that the FEH and its Mercury and Mazda kin use ONLY the electric motors when in reverse. The engine does not apply any torque in reverse.

Add to that, I had to leave FEH and trailer unattended for a bit and came back to find somebody parked right in front of me with about a 1/2 inch of clearance between my front bumper and their rear bumper.

In short, I ended up stuck for over an hour waiting for them to return, because with a (less than 1,000 pound) trailer attached, it was impossible for me to back up the hill and get around the car in front of me. The electric motors simply do not have enough torque to get it moving alone with a load on it uphill. At least not in reverse.

Just something to consider when towing.

 

Someone mention previously (Gpsman, I think) that he talked to engineers about not being able to climb a curb in reverse. I assume that was fixed. Yes, I agree, backing a trailer up a hill could present a problem.

 

Caution: Mythbusting in progress....

The motors have PLENTY of torque to push the car in reverse, with a HUGE HEAVY TRAILER.

The Electric traction motor has many times more torque at low RPM than the gas engine does at ANY RPM.

Torque, or power in reverse is not an issue. Not in the slightest.

The issue is..... ( drum roll please.... )

There is a stall sensor. If electric current is applied to the traction motor, and the motor does not spin in x amount of seconds, all power is cut to the motor. A motor that is not moving is a form of short circuit, and the power is cut to prevent over-heat.

If the motor can spin, even an inch or two in reverse, once it is moving, and hence, not in a stall condition, you will have more than 400 ft pounds of torque in reverse... 4x the gas engine at max. torque.

Something to think about...

The FEH will not pull out a stump if the line is taught.
The FEH will not pull out another car stuck in the snow if the line is taught.
( I tried once without success, the stall limiter cut all power to the wheels. )
The FEH will not roll over a curb if the wheels are right upon the curb.
( wheel chocks )

*If you could tow a vehicle with a bungee cord, ( not recommended ) so you could get the wheels moving before load was applied, you could tow almost anything.

In short, it is the stall sensor that cuts power if the wheels don't turn within one second of you pressing the go pedal that is the issue.

This FEH ( well mine anyhow ) will pull ( or push ) 2000 pounds of trailer up a 10% slope driveway with style and grace. But... you need to know the limitation outlined above.

HTH,
-John