Ford Escape Towing

[zachp]

I'm considering taking my boat to AK this summer when i move up there, it's a 17' lund angler sc, fully loaded it should weigh around 2200 lbs...I'll be towing the uhaul with my pick up and my fiancee would have to tow the boat up with her 03 escape. I looked at fords HSOforum and it says the 3.0 L 6 cyl can handle 3500 lbs towing capacity so i'm sure it can handle it on flat ground, but I have a feeling the mountains could be a challenge for it and I don't want to be stuck in the middle of the yukon territory with a vehicle that is out of commission. Right now i'm leaning towards selling it in MN and maybe go boatless this summer and find something in ak over the winter, but the reason I wanted to bring it up there was so I didn't have to be boatless this summer. Anyone with a escape do a lot of towing?

[Scott K]

I agree with you, although it can tow it, I wouldnt tow it to AK, even if there wasnt mountains!

[WingNut]

I have an 01' with same engine. I pulled a 12' alum. trailer with one snowmobile and a portable fishouse about 100 miles at -10 below and my tranny was warm enough to smell it.The trailer ways 600lbs. I would not suggest towing anything that far with your escape. Just my .02 cents...

[huntingislife]

I just got rid of a Mazda truck with the same engine. I would definitely NOT tow your boat to AK with it.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Zach,

I started a thread on a similair subject. I am starting to look for a car/suv/crossover vehicle to purchase new that would tow my 18 foot Lund Alaskan with a 40 hp 4 stroke. I am looking for something that would ring in under 25K on the price tag but gets 20-25 mpg. Tough nut to crack.

Windy

[MnWilly]

My brother has a '03 Ford Escape with the V6. He was towing a single axle Uhaul trailer with only some furniture in it. I would estimale the total weight to be around 1200-1400 pounds. He fried the tranny after only about 100 miles on the highway. Total rebuild cost about 2500 bucks. I wouldn't even consider it!

[zachp]

I figured this would be the case but I wanted to be sure. I really wasn't looking forward to pulling two trailers anyways just for the fact that it's more tires that can and will blow on the alacan hwy, last time we drove a car up there we blew 2 tires on the way up, lots of sharp rocks. Thanks for the replies, now i've got to get the boat out of storage and get her shined up so she can be put on the market.