4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

[jwwilson]

New to iboats.com. I've read a few threads here about what cars people use to tow their boats. I have a question I posed on one of those threads and, under advise from another poster, I am starting this new thread...

I have finally talked my husband into getting into boating, having been raised in a boating family. It only took 5 years! My question is, would a 2008/2009 Ford Explorer 4.0L V6 4x4 have enough towing capacity for a 21' bowrider? I've seen somewhere online that it has a towing capacity of 5300 lbs. Or, would I need the V8 (which I've seen online has a towing capacity of 7200 lbs)?

I'm hoping the V6 will do. The V8 is a bit out of my price range unless I go a couple years older and I'm not sure the extra money is necessary. Either one is an upgrade from my '04 Trailblazer V6, which I would use for the job if it weren't a 4x2.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[skyking897]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

We have a V6 Explorer Sportrac and our old boat was a 21' Bayliner. Loaded ready to tow it was probably at max capacity. It would tow it fairly well around here, mostly flat roads very few hills. You won't win any races towing that much and stopping is another issue. Remember to turn the O/D off when towing. If your only going to tow it short distances and only occasionally go with the V6 because 99% of the time you will be empty. If you are towing in hilly areas, long distances every week go with the V8, I'm seriously considering it and the fuel mileage will not be that much worse.

 

[Evinbuck]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Being a ford guy I would say go bigger. Agree with skyking the V6 will handle towing but you're going to be close to the max. If you're going to be boating close by and just an occasional boater and need to consider mileage in the equation then go for the newer V6. Make sure your plans aren't iffy in case you get a larger boat or plan on long hauls. Good luck.

 

[JB]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

The 4.0 V6 is more reliable than the 4.6 V8.

If you can handle a 2011 F150, the eco-boost 3.5 V6 is stronger than either and uses less fuel.

I don't know if the eco-boost V6 will be available in the Exploder in 2012, but if it is, I will be interested.

 

[Jetwash]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

We have a V6 Explorer Sportrac and our old boat was a 21' Bayliner. Loaded ready to tow it was probably at max capacity. It would tow it fairly well around here, mostly flat roads very few hills. You won't win any races towing that much and stopping is another issue. Remember to turn the O/D off when towing. If your only going to tow it short distances and only occasionally go with the V6 because 99% of the time you will be empty. If you are towing in hilly areas, long distances every week go with the V8, I'm seriously considering it and the fuel mileage will not be that much worse.

+ 1

I haven't shopped for trucks in years, but an upgrade to a v-8 should be less than a thousand bucks. If you finance, its about 20 bucks or less per month. Youll save more if you sit quietly in the finance managers office and tell him no thanks to everything he wants to sell. Dealers pack the payments and bury the profit in the add ons like extra warranty protection, undercoating, service plans and other stuff. The only people who finance with a dealers are "get me ons" Dealer can easily make 1% on the bank loan and they often use that carrot to persuade you to spend money on junk you dont need.

With the bigger motor you may get a stronger transmission and springs etc. Its worth making notes toward value. Small engines do not sell well on the used market, as people associate small engines with being beat to death.

Be under the tow rating of the vehicle by a couple thousand. They are incredibly OPTIMISTIC.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Neither, and it has nothing to do with the engine - they both have plenty of towing power. Problem with the newer explorers is that they have IRS rather than a straight axle. In general IRS sucks for towing.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

The 4.0 V6 is more reliable than the 4.6 V8.

If you can handle a 2011 F150, the eco-boost 3.5 V6 is stronger than either and uses less fuel.

I don't know if the eco-boost V6 will be available in the Exploder in 2012, but if it is, I will be interested.

I think I'd hold off on the eco-boost a couple years until they have proven themselves. They get 1mpg more than my V8 Hemi so the milage isn't really all that special, and keeping turbo chargers on gas engines alive in cold climates is always a challenge.

 

[drrpm]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

I don't see why the Explorer would be an upgrade over the trail blazer. Depending on the ramps you'll use, a 4x2 is fine. The new Explorers are no longer built as body on frame. I had one of the early Explorers (1991) and it was a decent vehicle but I wouldn't have wanted to tow anything big behind it. If you really want a towing upgrade an Expedition or F-150 would be better choices.

 

[JimKW]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Personally I think the 04 Trailblazer is a better vehicle than either of the Explorers. But I think the 21' boat is a bit much for any of the ones you mentioned. I would get a bigger vehicle to tow something 21' long. I bought a V8 4Runner to tow an 18' boat. I had towed with a 98 Envoy and it worked fine, but a heavier boat would have been a bit much for it.

 

[lncoop]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

I don't see why the Explorer would be an upgrade over the trail blazer. Depending on the ramps you'll use, a 4x2 is fine. The new Explorers are no longer built as body on frame. I had one of the early Explorers (1991) and it was a decent vehicle but I wouldn't have wanted to tow anything big behind it. If you really want a towing upgrade an Expedition or F-150 would be better choices.

+1. I swapped my Sierra Crew Cab Z71 last year for an Expedition and am very happy with how it tows.

 

[White90GT]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

For a 21' boat, I would have to have a v8 and preferably bigger than an explorer.

I've pulled our 17' chris craft (much lighter than a 21') with my wife's trailblazer, with a V6 97 F150,, V8 4x4 F150, with an older 90 Ford Ranger with 2.8 V6, and with my suburban. The bigger suburban hands down pulls better and doesn't get jerked around by the boat.

The trailblazer can pull it power wise, and stops OK, but you definitely know its back there. Again this is with a smaller boat.

 

[NYBo]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Be under the tow rating of the vehicle by a couple thousand. They are incredibly OPTIMISTIC.

You have posted this several times. That is in contradiction with the fact that the exact vehicle in the USA can have have a much higher tow rating in Europe.

 

[Mike Zee]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

My 02 F150 4.6 gets better fuel milage than my 04 Ranger 4.0 did. The Ranger did run out pretty good it had 4.10 gears. Makes me wonder why, i think with a 3.55 it would still run good and get better gas milage. But I love the economy of the 4.6 and the size and ride of the F150. I say 4.6 and never look back.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

since you know the towing capacity of the V6 explorer, all you need to know is the total weight of the 21' boat+trailer+stuff. Then you have your answer.

BTW - I tow with the V8 Explorer and I am running at about 6700 lbs loaded, which is right up near the 7K lbs limit. Still seems to do OK.

 

[Jetwash]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

You have posted this several times. That is in contradiction with the fact that the exact vehicle in the USA can have have a much higher tow rating in Europe.

They probably have higher alcohol content in their beer, too. Does it take them more beers to get drunk?
Europe can do everything better then the US. Just ask the French.

Maybe your requirements for towing are less than mine are. I do a lot of it. I watched my old man go thru two station wagons and finally bought a 454 chevy to tow a 17 foot Kit travel trailer. Youd think a 400 CI station wagon would tow a little bitty trailer. Then he turned around and bought a six cylinder 4x4 f-150 and then tried to tow a 22 foot airstream. Next stop was the F250 with a 6.9 diesel.

You are free to recommend whatever you want. I know they wont come back to me and complain about the lack of motor, tranny or brakes.

 

[NYBo]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Sorry, jetwash, but you haven't offered anything to back up your claim.

If anything, vehicle manufacturers have a vested interest in underestimating towing capacity to help reduce their exposure when someone has an accident or component failure while towing. "Sorry, Mr. Smith, you were towing more than the recommended 3500 pounds when your transmission blew, so it isn't covered by warranty."

 

[Jetwash]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Ya thats why they spend all that money on advertisng who has more towing capacity.

Auto manufactures are caught in the middle. Smaller engines to keep the cafe ratings up and trying to sell trucks for towing.

If American ads were truthful, then European ads are not being honest in their ads. Whatever you pull, its in NewYork which doesnt compare to the terrain on the west coast or the moutains and in particular the Rocky mountains or the desert.

 

[jkust]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Depending on how your Trailblazer is optioned it can tow from 5,100 lbs to 6,100lbs with the stardard inline 6 cylinder. Trailblazers are respectable machines for towing but you really need to know the trailer/wet weight of your prospective 21 footer. Less expensive brands of boats can be substantially lighter than premium boat brands but even then any 21 footer if it is contemporary is going to be heavy. I tow an 18 footer that is 4000lbs on the trailer with the more luxurious Buick version of the Trailblazer with the 5.3liter v8 rated at 6,700lbs towing capacity and I don't know that I'd want to go all the way to a 21 footer even though it could tow it. If I am a person regularly towing even a medium weight, middle of the road 21 footer, I'd own a Tahoe or similar even though they have the same 5.3 liter engine, they are longer and more robust. If I'm going to get my mindset into boating shy of a high tech eco boost type of engine, there is no way I would own anything but a v8 for a boat that big. There will never be a time you wished you had less power but after many years of towing there have been many times I wished I had more power. Towing will get you into so many situations that you will want the most power you can get and still be a practical vehicle. Also don't forget the ratio of the rear end makes a decent difference as well. When I mentioned the Trailblazer being "optioned" a certain way I refer to whether a person selected the standard rear end or one of the two optional rear ends for towing. Also since we are on the subject, make sure any tow vehicle you buy has some sort of either locking or at least limited slip differential. These things are overlooked by truck and suv buyers until they start towing something and realize they bought the wrong equipment and the upgrades after the fact are Prohibitively expensive. At the end of the day lots of lesser vehicles could move the boat and do the job but fail at the margins and that is where the danger is of having the incorrect tow vehicle lie.

 

[jwwilson]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

Thank you all for your posts. I have reconsidered and am now looking at a 2008 Jeep Commander V8 4x4. It has the same towing capacity as the V8 Explorer, but is in my price range. Thanks again.

 

[sbbamafan]

Re: 4.0L V6 Explorer? Or 4.6L V8?

I can tell you that it is not all about tow ratings, number of cylinders, or displacement volume. Some tow vehicles might be rated lower than others but might tow better. Case in point: My Toyota 4Runner was a great tow vehicle - with a 4.0 L V6.