The 2015 Ford Escape had a pretty decent overall towing capacity, when you look at the specs and these SUVs even had their own tow package that was available in order to achieve those higher ratings that were specified.
There wasn't a whole lot of information to go over, as there weren't many components listed in the actual package itself, but there were a few things that you should know that I go over in this article and would be happy to share with you! Let's check it out.
In the 2015 Escape Trailer Tow Package, you get:
The 2015 Ford Escape only have three different components that were included in their trailer tow packages and these were listed as a 4-pin trailer wiring harness, a hitch receiver and a trailer sway control feature and that was it!
I also want to point out that this tow package was available with the 2.0L and 2.3L EcoBoost engines, and then was available as a dealer accessory if you had the 2.5L or 1.6L EcoBoost engine equipped in your vehicle.
(1) Available with 2.0/2.3L EcoBoost® I4 only. Available as dealer accessory with 2.5L I4 engine and 1.6L EcoBoost® I4 engine.
Trailer Wiring Harness with 4 pins: A trailer wiring harness is always included in any sort of towing package, as it is the main electrical connection between your vehicle and your trailer.
In this case, a 4 pin connection was included and this will be located somewhere around the hitch and basically connects your vehicle's signal lights with your trailer so that the trailer will have the same signal lights which operate with the same exact timing as your vehicle's lights.
A Hitch Receiver (Class II): A Class 2 hitch receiver was also included in one of these packages for the 2015 Ford Escape and is really the main component in the entire package because without it, you couldn't pull anything. The hitch receiver gets mounted underneath your vehicle, like the image below shows, and is bolted directly to the frame of the vehicle, which provides a very strong connection point.
What About the Hitch Class: The hitch class was an important detail that not a whole lot of people mention or even know about, but is very important when it comes to what type of hitch receiver is mounted on your vehicle.
There are many different hitch classes out there and it basically boils down to the maximum amount of weight that each hitch can handle. A Class II hitch can handle up to 3,500 pounds, which is what the 2015 Escape's towing capacity was rated at, so it was a good fit.
Don't Forget the Hitch Receiver Dimensions: Another thing I wanted to talk about is the interior dimensions of the hitch receiver tube itself. Not all hitch receivers use the same interior dimensions, so if you are going to use an accessory with your hitch receiver like a trailer ball or a bicycle carrier, then you will need to order the appropriate dimensions that match up with what you have equipped on your vehicle.
Some of these smaller Class 1 and Class 2 hitches use a smaller interior dimension than other hitch classes, so be sure to measure what yours is.
Finally, the Trailer Sway Control Feature: The trailer sway control feature was actually a feature of the vehicle itself and not a component like the other two items were and is actually an automatic feature that helps to reduce trailer swaying, if it is present and senses that.
This is an automatic feature that works by reducing the engine's torque output, while applying the brakes to individual wheels, simultaneously, to slow the vehicle down to try to reduce the amount of trailer sway that might be occurring.
This will not totally eliminate trailer swaying, as that is up to the driver of the vehicle, but it is a nice safety feature that can come in handy on the road.
Information Sources Used in This Article:
There wasn't a whole lot of research to do for this article, mainly due to the fact that there were only three components listed in the towing package, but I still had to conduct some research to dive a little deeper into the information.
I only used two different resources for this article and I went ahead and listed those two resources below for those of you out there that may want to check them out a little bit further and these were the owner's manual and the 2015 towing guide that Ford publishes online.