Understanding the towing capacity of your 2005 Ford Excursion is more complex than it might initially seem, requiring you to gather three key attributes of your SUV.
In this guide, I'll help you uncover these crucial aspects and I'll not only reveal what these important factors are but also show you how and where to locate them, equipping you with the knowledge to get the correct rating from the chart.
The 2005 Ford Excursion Towing Chart!
Take a moment to examine the tow chart for the 2005 Excursion, as it's a valuable tool that will give you a clear understanding of not only the towing capacities but also the limitations, specific to your SUV.
As you look through the chart, you might be able to notice the three variables that you need to know about your Excursion to get an accurate rating from the chart. These include the type of engine that's equipped, whether it's a 2WD or 4WD model, and the axle ratio, all three of which are crucial in determining your towing capacity.
2005 Excursion Towing Capacity Data Breakdown (By Engine Type):
Let's break down the information in the chart a little further and we will do this by engine option, seeing as how that was one of the biggest factors that came into play when it came to the numbers in the chart...
- If you had a 2005 Ford Excursion equipped with the 5.4l (V8) engine then you had a towing capacity of 6,100-7,600 pounds for 2WD models and a rating of up to 7,200 pounds for 4WD variations.
- For 2005 Excursions that were equipped with the larger 6.8l (V10) engine, you had a towing capacity of between 10,000-11,000 pounds if it was a 2WD configuration and 4WD models had a range of between 9,600-11,000 pounds.
- If your 2005 Excursion had the 6.0l (diesel) engine option installed, then your towing capacity would be set at 11,000 pounds, no matter if you had a 2WD or 4WD version, as they were both the same rating.
Three Things You Need to Know About Your Excursion To Get Your Towing Capacity:
You only need three pieces of information from your SUV, in order to figure out your rating in the tow chart...
- What engine you have equipped
- If you have a 2WD or 4WD model
- The axle ratio
Once you know the specific of these three items, you can plug the data into the chart and get your rating. Now finding these things out can be fairly easy for some of you out there to do but for others, it can be a quite confusing ordeal, so I am going to explain how to get this information in the next sections of this article, to clear things up!
Figuring Out What Engine & Drivetrain (2x2/4x4) You Have:
The beauty of figuring out these two pieces of the puzzle, is the fact that it can be done easily and quickly if you have the VIN from your Excursion. Once you have that, you can go to any online decoder, plug your VIN into the search bar and decode it.
It is free to so and provides loads of helpful data about your vehicle, but more specifically, the engine and drivetrain that was used, giving us two, out of the three things we needed to figure out.
Axle Ratio Options:
If you had the 5.4l or 6.8l engine equipped, then you are going to need to look up what axle ratio you had installed (3.73, 4.10 or 4.30)too because the VIN decoder does not provide that information, unfortunately. If you had a 6.0l engine equipped, there was only one axle ratio option available, so there would be nothing to figure out.
Option 1: Look On Your SUV's Certification Label
The first option you have would be to look for the certification label that is usually located on the driver's side door somewhere or on the pillar of the door. It will look similar to the image of the one I have posted below, but may slightly differ in appearance for older models.
Look For The Axle Code: Once you find this sticker, you will want to look around for an area (towards the bottom) that has the word "AXLE" printed on it. Once you find that, a code will be printed below that you will need to take note of.
Now, you'll want to so a little digging online to see if you can find the axle ratio from that code for your 2005 Excursion. You will have to conduct your own research to decipher this because Ford did not provide any details on how to decode these axle codes on earlier model year vehicles, only newer ones.
If the axle code is not visible on your certification label or if the label is missing or severely faded, you will need to take a different approach (options 2 and 3).
Option 2: Identify the Axle Yourself...
Another option would be to try and identify the axle ratio yourself and to do this you will have to be willing to crawl under your vehicle and look for a small metal tag that looks like the one in the image below.
These tags can be a bit hard to find, but should be located somewhere on the rear axle housing. The example images shows what one of these tags looks like and has a 3.73 stamped into it, indicating a 3.73 axle ratio for this particular vehicle. The "L" is not used for our purposes but signifies what type of axle it is, which would be a Limited Slip, in this case.
Option 3: Get Some Help
The last thing you could do is take your vehicle into a mechanic or dealer to see if they can find the axle ratio for you. They should be able to verify this in a matter of minutes, as they are familiar with vehicles and where to find the information they need.
3 Different Hitches & Their Weight Limits:
Another thing you should be aware of is that the type of hitch you use will limit your tow weight, no matter what the chart states. There are three main types of hitches that you could use with your 05 Excursion, and these were:
- A Bumper Hitch: A bumper hitch is not that common, but are still used. They are easy to install and provide up to 5,000 pounds of capacity, according to Ford. These just get screwed into the bumper of your SUV and off you go, it's really that simple.
- A Hitch Receiver: A hitch receiver is the most common type of hitch that most people have or will install because they attach directly to the frame of the vehicle and provide a much stronger connection. These are only rated for 5,000 pounds though, according to Ford's data and if you want to pull anything heavier than that behind you, you will need to use a weight distributing hitch, along with these hitches.
- A Weight Distributing Hitch: A weight distributing hitch is used as more of an accessory to the hitch receiver, and they both work together to offset some of the trailer's weight off of your vehicle's rear end. These are required to get those maximum trailer ratings that are shown on the chart.
In order to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information found in this article, I made sure to gather data from credible sources. These sources, include the 2005 Ford Towing Guide and the owner's manual, which I recommend you checking out for yourself, to get a better idea of your SUV's capabilities and limitations.