Anyone towing a Mac26X or Mac26M with a Ford Transit 150 or 250 Van?

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

We’re wondering is any on the forum have experience towing a Mac26X or Mac26M with a Ford Transit 150 or 250 Van?

We’re looking into the possibility of getting a low mileage used utility standard wheel base mid height top Ford Transit 250 Van as a tow vehicle.

How has your Transit Van done as a Tow Vehicle?
What kind of terrain have you towed in? Mountains? Desert? Flat?
How has your Transit held up over time? Any maintenance issues we should keep an eye on?

While we are currently satisfied with our 2017 Dodge Caravan with the Timbren rear axle load pucks has worked out so far BUT we have to carefully watch what gets to go on the trip to stay within the vehicle load and towing limitations. As such life goes on and we find that we would like to be able to do more cross country trips as well as move things to/from NH/SC on a more regular basis while towing our Mac26X on at least 50 % of the round trips. So from a practical perspective the larger Van makes sense.

We are also toying with making the Van into a semi convertible camper van for trips afield without the Mac26X in tow as our camper RV as we have done. Nothing wrong with doing that except it precludes us from enjoying more the urban destinations.

The cavernous interior space is enticing for what we need to do over the next several years but we figured it might be prudent to ‘ask around’ for other people’s perspectives and experience.

(Note: We used to have a Ford Excursion for several years to tow our old Alfa Gold 30ft travel trailer but they are no longer in production for a while now and a regular or crew cab pickup truck with a rear shell really doesn’t fit what we’d like to do going forward. We looked at the Suburban but the lack of interior space vs acquisition cost didn’t work for us.)

Any comments of your experiences, pro/con, would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[adudinsk]

Having worked at Ford.. the Transit, depending on the trim can tow 6000lbs-13000lbs. All depends on the exact spec..
As well on the Transit.. they EAT brakes... and if you let them to till they squeal.. which does not take long.. your in for a VERY costly brake job. 30k -40K miles is NOT uncommon for them to go.. less if heavy loads and towing occurs. (google Ford Transit Brake problems.. LOTS of complaints)

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[OverEasy]

Hi Adudinsk!

Thanks for the heads up on the brakes issue.
Our old 1986 F250 Pickup and our 2001 Ford Excursion both had what appears to be similar appetites for the brake pads and rotors.

We were towing a 9000 lb Alfa Gold travel trailer with them.
The Excursion had better towing capacity than the pickup but the brakes on each were lucky to get to 30k mileage before needing to be replaced. Pickup got to about 80k before we sold it and Excursion to about 130k before we scrapped it as the frame rusted out and the exhaust manifold studs had disintegrated (just wasn’t worth repairing) .

Seems that the brakes must be of a similar endemic design…..
If I did it early I could get two sets of pads per rotor , if I didn’t get to them in time it was replacing pads and rotors.
Needless to say I really tried to stay ahead of it.

From your experience and perspective did the Transit have any other characteristics we should look for?
Transmission? Engine? A/C? Steering?

Good to know!
Fore warned is fore armed as it were.
Thank you!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[adudinsk]

Yes,.. all about cost savings...
Most people only tow a tiny bit... or "plan to tow" and never do.
Wife's Dodge Journey is terrible on brakes too... and ball joints.. and tie rod ends .. and wheel bearings.

I do them myself.. buy ones with warranty, and replaced them about every 6-9 months (wife drives like the car was stolen..) Guys at the Part Source know me well.

For new vehicles.. rear brakes are harder to do as they have electric parking brakes.. and you need to unlock them with a special procedure on the dash.. or (as I did) bought a computer analyzer that can do it easy.

Another thing to look at for all Flex Vehicles.. (fyi) is that they no longer use an alcohol sensor (too $$) they calculate the fuel added at fill up.. and the O2 sensors and their readings and "learn" the % alcohol.
If over filled (more than one click on the pump) or if filled less than 5 gallons (ie: stalled on side of road.. put 1 gallon in..) it will 100% mess up the % alcohol.. eventually one often gets engine knock and in worst case (as its running rich) an check engine.

Solution .. Reset the KAM (keep alive memory ) with a programmer (not too costly .. $200 maybe) and relearn all your settings from scratch.

I do this about once every 2 months.. for me/my dad/my friends with a Flex Fuel Vehicle.
KNOWN problem!! for any vehicle that is 2013 (approx.) or newer with Flex Fuel ability. (Ford/GM/ Chry/ETc)

Listing for a slight knock on acceleration, under a bit of load.. WORSE if towing..

[Russ]

If over filled (more than one click on the pump) or if filled less than 5 gallons (ie: stalled on side of road.. put 1 gallon in..) it will 100% mess up the % alcohol.. a check engine

Interesting about under filling (<5 gals) on Flex vehicles. I never knew that.

Yup. I've over filled with rental cars making sure it was "full" when I returned it. Check Engine came on. Ooops.

I've also seen where over filling will cause fuel to flow into the charcoal canister causing check engine and probably an expensive repair.

Don't over fill! When it clicks, stop.

[OverEasy]

Hi Adudinsk & Russ!

Thanks!
Learned something new with your experience !!!
Did not know about the ‘flex fuel’ aspect
Been woefully ignorant about this.
Thanks for bringing this up!

Yes, the little bit more for the “guaranteed “ parts was worth it.
AutoZone was my go to place for the “guaranteed “ brake parts.
I kept the original boxes and receipts taped together for the inevitable return/replacements .
After starting to do that there was never a question.
(EXCEPT when previously using “Pep Boys” it was ALWAYS A HASSLE! )
(Not sure about other locations, but the local Pep Boy to us is just not worth the time of day.)

I’ve been guilty of the ‘extra click’ at the gas pump which could explain the occasional “idiot” light
I’ll avoid that in the future!

Guess I’m gonna have to breakdown and get one of those computer analyzers and begrudgingly join the 20 century.
(Haven’t used my zenon strobe timing light, point gap gages, meter or point files in a decade or two but they are still in the top drawer of the toolbox! Guess it’s time )

I can appreciate those that think about towing vs those that actually tow.
Been there, done that. I’ve got friends with 350 duallies who have never towed or hauled little more than a bag of potting soil or fertilizer.
And then there we are now hauling a Mac26X about North to South to North to South with a Dodge Caravan.
Which, after having previously had the F250 and Excursion towing East to West to East with the RV, is why we’re seriously looking at the Transit Van now hoping for the better part of both worlds.

Given the aspect of retirements and fixed incomes one has to make sure the cost benefits and longevity/ maintenance aspects are worth the investment. We’ve also looked at other manufacturer full size utility type vans but have generally found that the load and tow capacities aren’t as high as the Transit (although the front wheel drive on some of these could possibly be of benefit on a boat ramp).

Even buying a relatively recent low mileage used, it’s still a big investment for us so any feedback, advice, experiences is very much appreciated. Thank you!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[adudinsk]

What also can happen with over filling the tank, is there is a Vapor Canister.. that catches gas vapor... on the top of the tank, if its over filled.. and the temp changes (goes up) the gas will expand,... and its now NOT vapor in the canister.. it has fluid in it.
This really messes with the calculations/engine fuel trim/etc.

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[adudinsk]

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content/da ... t_Dec3.pdf

Here is the towing PDF.

As a passenger van.. not a lot of headroom for towing.

For better engine life.. and no turbo fails at 80k-100k miles.. consider the 3.5L PFDI V6 engine. (Listed MPG will show worse.. but....)

And remember, if you look at MPG, they test while NOT riding the turbos... and the Eco-boost looks great.. but normal people don't drive like Grandma.. and will get a surprise in mpg, when unintentionally spinning up the turbos..

AD

[OverEasy]

Hi Adudinsk!

Thanks for the chart!

Yes mileage is important and will become more important as time goes on it would appear given how the speculators and oil companies work… … but that’s nothing we can fix but is something we need to consider more now than we did a month ago.

Yes , not as much tow capacity for passenger vs. utility versions. Guess that it has to do with the dead weight of all the interior finish and seats, which while nice, isn’t what we need.

We have discovered that our credit union bank would require us to get a commercial auto loan vs. a conventional personal vehicle loan for any non-passenger van! regardless of it’s registration status or even if the extra rear seats are added by the dealer. It kind of complicated things as interest rate goes up by 2+% and we’d need to have a commercial account in place for at least 24 months prior to the loan being issued?!?! Who knew? Apparently having a good rating and prior loan history had nothing to do with it. Go figure…

We’ll have to do some more checking around at different banks and other options but it has put a bit of a kink in the works. Fribble!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[adudinsk]

Ford ranger with Towing package can tow lots more. 3500lbs stock, and up to 7500lbs with towing pack.
But they DO change the gear ratio so MPG will suffer when not towing.

Also there is the Ford TRANSIT and the smaller TRANSIT connect. These are 2 very different vehicles. Connect tows about 2000lbs.


Don't even CONSIDER a Ford Maverick.. it has a CVT transmission.. RUN!!!!
Bronco.. about 3500lbs..
F150 with a 5.0L is the way to go.. that's what I bought.
If you want a truck that will REALLLLY last.. F250 with the 7.3 Godzilla pushrod engine (yes.. they call it the Godzilla)

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[Duquette5]

We use a 2008 Dodge Sprinter 2500 Cargo Van that we've converted. It's setup like an RV but I can unbolt the interior and have it back in cargo mode in under an hour. The Sprinter barely notices it's pulling the or the . If we set the cruise control to 68 we average 22+ MPG, which is helpful with the cost of diesel.