2016 Ford Escape Tow Package, What’s Included?

The 2016 Ford Escape did in fact have a tow package that was available, but when I looked a little deeper into it, I was surprised to find that only three components were included.

In this article, I go over what those three components were and explain a little bit about each of the components and what their functions are, for those of you out there that may be wondering.  Let's dive into the article to see what was included in these packages!

What's Included in the 2016 Escape's Towing Package:

The 2016 Ford Escape had a trailer tow package that consisted of only three items and these were:

  • a 4 pin wiring harness 
  • a Class 2 hitch receiver 
  • a trailer sway control feature 

The wiring harness and hitch receiver were two components that a lot of other towing packages have equipped, but the trailer sway control feature was actually a feature of the vehicle itself and is a little less common.

I also wanted to point out that the Ford Escape also shared their tow package components with the Lincoln MKC, but both vehicles still used the 536 package that was specified by Ford.

2016 Ford Escape Trailer Tow Package Equipment

(1) Available with 2.0L/2.3L EcoBoost® I4 only. Available as dealer accessory with 2.5L I4 engine and 1.6L EcoBoost® I4 engine.

Wiring Harness for a Four-Pin Trailer Connector: A trailer wiring harness, in this case a 4 pin harness, is pretty common on most towing packages nowadays and if you're unfamiliar with what this is it is basically just an electrical connection that links your vehicle's lights with your trailer's lights.

After this connection is made, your vehicle's turn signals, brake lights, running lights and hazard lights will be synchronized with your trailer's lights and will function just like your vehicle's lights do.

4 Pin Wiring Connection

A Class II Trailer Hitch Receiver: The hitch receiver is definitely the most critical component in any trailer package and this is the actual hitch that gets mounted to your vehicle and it attaches directly to the chassis or frame of your vehicle, which provides a very strong anchoring point, enabling you to pull additional weight behind your vehicle.

The image below shows what a hitch receiver would look like mounted on the vehicle and you can see a small part of the hitch that is showing.

Escape Trailer Hitch

Hitch Class: Here is an image that shows the hitch receiver before it is mounted to the vehicle and when it comes to the 2016 Escape, they use a Class 2 hitch, which has a maximum trailer weight rating of up to 3,500 lbs. This is the towing capacity that the 2016 Ford Escape is equipped to handle, so it is a perfect fit.

Keep in mind, that there are different hitch classes out there and you will want to stick with one that is rated to handle your vehicle's specific towing capacity (or more).

You will be limited by the lowest rated component of your setup, which could include the hitch itself or even the vehicle, among other things.

Class II Hitch

Your Hitch Receiver's Dimensions: I think it's also important to mention that the interior dimensions of your hitch receiver tube might be different from other hitches, so you will want to measure the interior dimensions if you're planning on buying additional accessories to go with your hitch.

Some hitch receivers have an interior tubing dimension of 1-1/4" and other hitches have a 2" interior dimension, so you need to measure to make sure you order compatible accessories.

Class II Hitch Receiver Size

Trailer Sway Control: The trailer sway control feature was a feature of the vehicle itself, like I mentioned earlier, and it basically is an automatic feature that helps reduce any type of trailer swaying that might be occurring. 

This is achieved by reducing the engine's torque output, while at the same time applying the brakes to individual wheels of the vehicle to essentially try to slow the vehicle down to reduce the amount of trailer swaying.

Don't think that this feature will stop trailer swaying altogether, it is just a nice safety feature that will help reduce these situations and the driver behind the wheel is always the best preventative measure when it comes to any problems that might occur on the road.

Trailer Sway Feature Escape

Resources I Used for This Article:

This article was actually pretty easy to put together because there wasn't a whole lot of components that were included in the tow package itself and the three items were pretty self-explanatory, for the most part. 

I was able to gather all of my data for this particular article from only two main resources please, both of which were provided by Ford and these were the owner's manual for the 2016 Escape and the 2016 towing guide that Ford publishes.

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