Hi fellow FEHers,
I thought I would share a summer experience for those who coddle their FEH or are considering buying one but are worried how they will hold up under SUV conditions.

This past summer we took a major camping trip of National Parks including Yosemite, Mojave Desert, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Arches (Moab), Grand Teton, and Yellowstone.

The rig: FEH 2008 that had about 60k miles on it at the start of the trip. I borrowed a Yakima roof box from a friend, and it was loaded with 200-300 lbs of gear. The back cargo area was stuffed floor to ceiling with coolers, duffle bags, food etc. Back seat had 2 kids (60-70 lbs each) and a bunch of gear. Two svelt adults up front.


I was a little worried about the roof box creating drag, or ripping off the factory rails. But my worries were for naught. The truck handled like a champ!
We drove over Sonora Pass (Hwy 108 in California) which has some of the steepest grades and most intense switchbacks you will find (29% grade at one point). Sure we slowed down, but the FEH handled it just fine despite the load. Going up mountain grades on the interstate we also slowed down, sometimes to 45 or 50 mph, but otherwise performance was fine.

Mileage was great! Loaded down I barely notice a drop in mileage. Cruising around without the gear mileage was great. In fact, I had my best tank ever in Yellowstone at 790km to E.

My conclusions are that this truck can handle being loaded up and and heading into the mountains. The roof boxes (at least the model I used) have virtually no effect on mileage.

Don't be afraid to load up these babies!!

 

I got almost 2000 miles of driving with my Thule Ascent 1500 cargo box

 

I got almost 2000 miles of mostly highway travel in the past month with my Thule Ascent 1500 cargo box that is 35 inches wide.


My results indicated a 2-2.5 mpg loss using this rooftop cargo box at interstate highway speeds. Slowing down during gliding episodes on downhills was noticable. My longer Thule Evolution 1700 cargo box is only 25 inches wide (but longer than the Ascent 1500) and usually creates a 1.5-2 mpg loss. Your results will and can vary. Note the newer Escape style (2008 +) is a couple of inches lower to the ground than the 05-07 models.

 

Thanks BillyK. The earlier Escapes had nicer rails imho. I like the recessed slot that your model has. The pseudo-chrome ones on our 2008 are pretty flimsy. I also drive a 2005 non-hybrid Escape for work and its roof racks are far superior.

 

You can remove the factory rack and replace it with the rails (channels), the hole spacing and hardware are exactly the same. I ordered the factory rails from one of the online Ford dealers and put those on my '07. Now I use the Yakima Landing Pad system to mount bike/kayak racks to the rails. When I remove the racks I'm left with a completely flat roof.

 

Good to know. I've never been a fan of the chromey plastic rails that came with ours. Much prefer those recessed rails.

The Yakima railgrab clamps grab hold of the factory rails pretty tight, but I don't like the amount of flex in the rails themselves.