I really have nothing negative to say about the ST overall. Great daily driver. Comfortable, fast with ZFG tune, handles well with Steeda swaybar, looks great, gas mileage is pretty decent, etc...
We bought a boat 2 months ago and have to trailer it any time we want to use it. ST pulls it well even if its at the higher side of the ST tow rating. I dont notice much suspension squat although I am sure there is some. We towed 4 hours home from picking the boat up and I had no complaints. Only towed one other time about an hour each way to drop off the boat and pick it up after getting a custom cover made...again no real complaints of bad on road towing behavior.
My issue(and may not really be an issue) is every time we put the boat in the water(or take it out obviously) the rear of the Explorer is underwater(parts of the rear bumper, mufflers, rear tires in the water, trailer wiring connector, etc...), I basically step out of the drivers door into the water(front tires are out of the water). 2 weeks ago I am pretty sure the mufflers took on a lot of water as they were gurgling after we pulled the boat out and were wiping it down(I did not shut off the ST) and draining water from the weep holes for a while(I saw water under the mufflers in my garage the next morning). Every time I pull the trailer wiring connector I am spraying with some cleaner to keep it from getting corrosion from being wet(and staying wet). I cant imagine this is good for long term longevity with all the other electrical stuff that is back there either.
NOW I think this is a combination of things. Our trailer being fairly low slung being one of them. Were using a b&w 2" drop ball mount(30010). Although it calls it a 2" drop, the ball is just about centered with the receiver opening. This gets our trailer level(the "proper" way to tow a tandem from what I read). The other factor is the ST is already fairly low and the overhangs are pretty short, so from rear tire to rear bumper is pretty short distance. Again, I dont feel that the ST sags excessively when the trailer is hooked up, so not sure if this is a contributor to any of these things or not.
So first, I guess any thoughts on my real or perceived issue above and long term issues with the vehicle in question?
Second... thinking on ordering an F150 or F250 and doing a trade. Trade in price right now is more than I paid for the ST, so financially I would come out well.
Looking at Lariat packages in both as I am thinking of a supercab vs. crew cab. I have 21' of garage depth. I can get an F150 crew cab into the garage, but an F250 would have to be a supercab. We dont use the back seats much in the ST so thats not much of a concern for us. It seems that the back seat in both cab sizes is basically the same, but in the crew cab(f150) you gain about 12" of leg room. Supercab can get 6.5' bed, crew cab 5.5' bed. The extra foot is in the cab from what we can tell. On the fence on an F150 of 3.5eco vs. 5.0. F250 would be the 7.3 Godzilla motor with 4.30 axles because, why not? LOL... Only reason on thinking of 5.0 in the F150 is a Whipple although with mods the 3.5ecoboost is probably the better choice power wise. But the Coyote motor is pretty nice motor. Any of them would tow my boat and likely anything else I would buy outside of a 5th wheel(which the wife and I have looked at from time to time and obviously the F250 would tow it). F150 is more interesting because of the Blue Cruise hands free driving, otherwise the interiors and electronics on both are pretty much the same. Obviously F250 is going to beat out F150 in trailer capacity and overall weight capacity for an obvious MPG hit of about 5mpg... F250 is definitely overkill for my boat. Both trucks the way I would order them sticker right at 65k... thats the ONLY other reason the F250 is even in the conversation.
Am I dumb for even thinking about this? Is my concern with dipping the rear of the ST into the water constantly overblown?
If I do decide to order a truck and trade, thoughts on my F150 vs. F250 arguments...
We bought a boat 2 months ago and have to trailer it any time we want to use it. ST pulls it well even if its at the higher side of the ST tow rating. I dont notice much suspension squat although I am sure there is some. We towed 4 hours home from picking the boat up and I had no complaints. Only towed one other time about an hour each way to drop off the boat and pick it up after getting a custom cover made...again no real complaints of bad on road towing behavior.
My issue(and may not really be an issue) is every time we put the boat in the water(or take it out obviously) the rear of the Explorer is underwater(parts of the rear bumper, mufflers, rear tires in the water, trailer wiring connector, etc...), I basically step out of the drivers door into the water(front tires are out of the water). 2 weeks ago I am pretty sure the mufflers took on a lot of water as they were gurgling after we pulled the boat out and were wiping it down(I did not shut off the ST) and draining water from the weep holes for a while(I saw water under the mufflers in my garage the next morning). Every time I pull the trailer wiring connector I am spraying with some cleaner to keep it from getting corrosion from being wet(and staying wet). I cant imagine this is good for long term longevity with all the other electrical stuff that is back there either.
NOW I think this is a combination of things. Our trailer being fairly low slung being one of them. Were using a b&w 2" drop ball mount(30010). Although it calls it a 2" drop, the ball is just about centered with the receiver opening. This gets our trailer level(the "proper" way to tow a tandem from what I read). The other factor is the ST is already fairly low and the overhangs are pretty short, so from rear tire to rear bumper is pretty short distance. Again, I dont feel that the ST sags excessively when the trailer is hooked up, so not sure if this is a contributor to any of these things or not.
So first, I guess any thoughts on my real or perceived issue above and long term issues with the vehicle in question?
Second... thinking on ordering an F150 or F250 and doing a trade. Trade in price right now is more than I paid for the ST, so financially I would come out well.
Looking at Lariat packages in both as I am thinking of a supercab vs. crew cab. I have 21' of garage depth. I can get an F150 crew cab into the garage, but an F250 would have to be a supercab. We dont use the back seats much in the ST so thats not much of a concern for us. It seems that the back seat in both cab sizes is basically the same, but in the crew cab(f150) you gain about 12" of leg room. Supercab can get 6.5' bed, crew cab 5.5' bed. The extra foot is in the cab from what we can tell. On the fence on an F150 of 3.5eco vs. 5.0. F250 would be the 7.3 Godzilla motor with 4.30 axles because, why not? LOL... Only reason on thinking of 5.0 in the F150 is a Whipple although with mods the 3.5ecoboost is probably the better choice power wise. But the Coyote motor is pretty nice motor. Any of them would tow my boat and likely anything else I would buy outside of a 5th wheel(which the wife and I have looked at from time to time and obviously the F250 would tow it). F150 is more interesting because of the Blue Cruise hands free driving, otherwise the interiors and electronics on both are pretty much the same. Obviously F250 is going to beat out F150 in trailer capacity and overall weight capacity for an obvious MPG hit of about 5mpg... F250 is definitely overkill for my boat. Both trucks the way I would order them sticker right at 65k... thats the ONLY other reason the F250 is even in the conversation.
Am I dumb for even thinking about this? Is my concern with dipping the rear of the ST into the water constantly overblown?
If I do decide to order a truck and trade, thoughts on my F150 vs. F250 arguments...
