Ford Flex/21BHS Towing Impressions

[fasteddieb]

As posted in another thread, here's our rig:






2014 CampLite 21BHS behind a 2011 Ford Flex with the EcoBoost engine and factory receiver.

Andy from CanAm was nice enough to be our guru on equipment selection (I owe him a Mexican dinner!). He recommended the EAZ-Lift Elite with a Husky sway control. As installed:






Bear in mind I have never towed anything larger than a utility trailer. My impressions:

1) At first I honked down the sway control, using the ON-OFF lever, assuming I needed to tighten it all the way for the bottom adjustment to come into play. Towing was fine, but there was a godawful creaking/moaning when turning. Eventually backed off on the ON-OFF lever, and in Knoxville got a BBQ brush and removed the pad material that had transferred to the sliding portion. I backed off to just two turns in from initial contact on the ON-OFF lever and think I found a sweet spot where there's no sway and no noise.

2) I asked the dealer about tire pressures. I had put in the 37 psi recommended for my 20" wheel/tire combination. He said with the low profile tires, that pressure should be fine and I did not adjust it upwards. It felt fine, though I can see the logic of going a little higher to compensate for the tongue weight.

3) As asked in another thread, I'm wondering if drilling another hole in the hitch and moving it about 3" closer to the receiver would be worthwhile.

4) The Flex got around 21 or 22 mpg on the highway going up to IL. First leg with the trailer got 8.4 (!). That was into a 20 to 25 mph headwind. Later legs seemed to settle into about 12 to 12.5 mpg. I used 65 mph as my conservative upper limit.

5) Power was never an issue, and there are some pretty long grades between IL and N GA. Temp gauge never moved with outside temps around 40º.

6) The transmission on the Flex with EcoBoost seems ideal. Regular "D" worked fine on level ground. Putting it into "M" first puts it in "grade assist" which was fine for gently rolling terrain, always keeping the transmission in a slightly lower gear. A few times I went into Manual using the paddle shifters to downshift to fifth for uphills to keep around 2,000 rpm, then shifting to sixth on the downhills for about 1,600 rpm unless lower was needed for braking.

Anyway, I think we done good. First real outing will be at the SpringStream in a couple weeks in nearby Hiawasee, GA. It's an Airstream rally but all are welcome!

[tinkeringtechie]

Sounds like a successful first drive. Glad it worked out
[quote source="/post/373/thread" timestamp="1396376506" author="@fasteddieb"]
2) I asked the dealer about tire pressures. I had put in the 37 psi recommended for my 20" wheel/tire combination. He said with the low profile tires, that pressure should be fine and I did not adjust it upwards. It felt fine, though I can see the logic of going a little higher to compensate for the tongue weight.
[/quote]

A good rule of thumb for tire pressure is to try and keep the contact patch the same size. If the tire is deflecting more than usual, it will cause it to heat up and potentially burst. Contact Size = Weight/PSI. So if your flex starts equally balanced, that's about 1100lbs/tire. So 1100/37 = 29.72sqin. If you have 300lbs (150 per tire) extra on the rear tires, that's  PSI = (new weight)/(original contact patch) = (1250/29.72) = 42PSI. Of course this is based on assumptions of your car weight and how the weight is distributed. The only way to know for sure is to take it to a scale. The profile of your tire makes no difference. I've always increased my rear tire pressure before towing.

[quote source="/post/373/thread" timestamp="1396376506" author="@fasteddieb"]
5) Power was never an issue, and there are some pretty long grades between IL and N GA. Temp gauge never moved with outside temps around 40º.
[/quote]

Does the Flex have a transmission temp display? That's the temperature I'd be watching. If the torque converter isn't locking, it can cause it to heat up pretty quickly (and waste fuel). If trans temp is not available on the stock gauges, there are some inexpensive displays you can add. There's even cheaper bluetooth ODB-II adapters that will allow you to see the sensor readings on your phone/tablet.

[fasteddieb]

Thanks!

I was thinking about ballpark 40 psi or so for the increased weight. Maybe 40 front and 42 rear when towing. Should be close enough.

Any links re: the ODB-II transmitter? I do have an iPhone 5s. Looks like gauges are relatively inexpensive as well.

BTW, I posted the same basic post to the Airforums site here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463/show-us-your-small-tow-vehicle-set-up-114513-35.html#post1436094

Getting some good feedback there as well.

[tinkeringtechie]

Here's the one I use:

[a href="http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-diagnostics-Android/dp/B005NLQAHS/"]http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-diagnostics-Android/dp/B005NLQAHS/

[/a]It says android only though, but I'm sure one of the recommended alternative there would work with an iphone. I use an app called "Torque"

[vmcmn]

Might want to look into one of these.It plugs into your OBD-II port and you can monitor several things real time, plus if you ever have a check engine light you can read the codes as to what is wrong.It's like a hand held code reader with other functions.  http://www.scangauge.com/
[a href="http://s429.photobucket.com/user/HHRnole/media/scangauge_zpscbdafc1c.png.html"]

[charliem]

[font size="3"][font face="arial"]X2 on the ScanGauge. I have mine set to monitor transmission oil temp, MPG for the present tankful, instantaneous MPG, and distance to empty. The last three were built into my Pilot and I got used to them, but not so on the Tacoma.
[/font][/font]