2017 Ford Escape Towing Capacity

The 2017 Ford Escape had the same towing capacity that a lot of the other model years had and was actually still able to achieve that same 3,500 LB maximum rating, if the vehicle is properly equipped.

You will need to look through the chart that I have listed in this article in order to see the different maximum trailer rate ratings that are listed for each engine configuration. This will help you get a better idea of how capable your specific vehicle can be.

Be sure that you read through your owners manual and that you adhere to all of Ford's recommendations and requirements when it comes to towing or anything else related to your vehicle.

2017 Escape Overview


Overall Capacity: The overall towing capacity for the 2017 Ford Escape ranged from 1,500-3,500 lbs, which is no surprise considering that nearly every other model year had this same range and the only variable that really affected the capacity rating was the engine that you are SUV had equipped.


Capacity By Trim Levels: For the 2017 model year, we had three different trim levels to choose from for these vehicles. I wanted to compare the capacity ranges between each trim level, and I did this by comparing the different engine options that were available for each trim level.


If we look at the data below, we can see that the S trim levels had the lowest rating, which were set at 1,500 lbs and then the SE and titanium trim levels had the same capacity range of between 2,000-3,500 pounds. Both the SE and Titanium trim levels have the option of either having the 1.5 liter engine or the 2.0 liter engine equipped, and is why they had these same metrics.

  • S:1,500 lbs.
  • SE: 2,000-3,500 lbs.
  • Titanium: 2,000-3,500 lbs.
2017 Escape Engine Options and Trim Levels

By Engine Options: On top of the three different trim levels that were available, three different engine options were also available and, like I mentioned earlier, were the main contributing factor to what your vehicle could pull.


If we look at the three different engines below, we can see that the 2.5 liter engine was definitely the most under powered engine out of the three choices, having a maximum capacity rating of 1,500 lbs.


The 1.6 liter engine was the middle choice as far as pulling power was concerned, having a maximum rating of up to 2,000 lbs. The 2.0 liter engine was the best engine option if you are worried about the maximum towing capacity for these vehicles, as it had a range between 2,000-3,500 lbs, which was the highest rating in the chart.

  • 2.5L (4 cylinder): 1,500 lbs.
  • 1.6L (4 cylinder) EcoBoost: 2,000 lbs.
  • 2.0L (4 cylinder) EcoBoost: 2,000-3,500 lbs. (2,000 lb. limit without trailer package 536)

The Tow Chart:

If we take a look at the screenshot of the 2017 chart that I have posted below, we can see that it is pretty simple as far as the amount of information that is shown in the chart itself, which makes it pretty easy to understand and read. The three different engine choices are shown listed on the left-hand side of the table in blue lettering, while the maximum trailer weight ratings are specified in the opposite end of the chart.

On a side note, the 2017 models had the same engine options as the 2018 and 2019 models as well and is why the charts look so similar. If we compare the three different model years, we can see that the towing capacity for the 2018 Escape was the same as the 2017 model years. The same was true for the 2019 Escape towing capacities as well.

The axle ratios and gross combined weight rating specifications were listed between these two sections and won't really apply to most people, in general but the gross combined weight rating specifications could come in handy when doing a little bit more complex calculations when it came to the weight in your vehicle and the weight in your trailer.

2017 Ford Escape Towing Chart
Ford MTW Definition

What You Need To Know About Your SUV To Get Your Maximum Trailer Rating:

Even though the chart shows us quite a bit of information, we only needed to know the engine configuration of these vehicles in order to get the maximum trailer weight ratings because all the other variables really didn't play a role in calculating the maximum trailer weight ratings, except for maybe the gross combined weight rating figure.

Escape Chart Explained 3
  • The engine you had equipped - You will need to find out whether you had the 2.5 liter engine, the 1.5 liter engine or the 2.0 liter engine equipped.

Sometimes identifying which engine you have installed on your vehicle can be difficult, especially if there are no markings to indicate what that engine actually is.

Another way you could find out this information would be to take the VIN of your vehicle and plug it into a VIN decoder, which can be found online, and it will spit out a bunch of information about your vehicle, including what engine was used. I like to use this website personally, as I have had really great results with it in the past, especially with Ford vehicles.

2017 Escape Trailer Tow Packages...

In order to achieve some of these higher capacity ratings that were listed in the chart, you might need to have a tow package installed and I was able to find the package that does apply to these model year vehicles and is labeled as the 536 package.

If we look at the table below, we can see that only three items were included in one of these packages and these three items were a hitch receiver, A4 pin trailer wiring harness to connect your trailer brake lights and then it lists a trailer sway control which might be a button inside the vehicle but I'm not sure.

2017 Escape Trailer Tow Package Options

(1) Available with 2.0L/2.3L EcoBoost® I4 only. Available as dealer accessory with 2.5L I4 engine and 1.5L EcoBoost® I4 engine

Hitch Receiver Weight Limits: I was also able to find this hitch receiver weight capacity chart that lists the maximum capacity limits for both a weight carrying hitch and a weight distributing hitch. But the Ford Escape did not have a very high maximum trailer weight rating in comparison to some other Ford vehicles, so there was no need to use a weight distributing hitch for these vehicles. So this chart really doesn't apply to these vehicles, but I did find it, so I did want to add that additional information.

Ford Escape Receiver Hitch Capacity

Trailer Brakes: On a separate note, Ford does require that the trailer you were using have its own brakes installed if the trailer and the cargo weigh 1,500 lbs or more. This will definitely be a possibility if you have the 1.5 liter or 2.0 liter engine equipped in your vehicle.

I do want to point out that these vehicles did not have the capability of having a brake controller or a 7 pin wiring harness from the factory, so you will have to have these two items installed by either a shop or yourself in order to work in conjunction with electric trailer brakes.

You will also need to make sure that the 1,500 lbs limit that Ford specifies also complies with your local regulations, as each state will have their own laws regarding trailer brakes and trailer weight ratings.

2011 Escape Trailer Brake Notes
Escape Trailer Brake Notes

Now The Certification Label...

Ford Certification Label

GCWR, GVWR & GAWRs: The gross combined weight rating figures were specified in the charts, like I mentioned earlier and makes finding this information very convenient and very accessible.

If you happen to be looking for either the gross vehicle weight rating or the gross axle weight ratings, you will have to actually look on the vehicle itself and these will be located on the safety certification label, which looks like the label that I have shown above but may differ in appearance slightly.

This label can be found on the driver side door pillar of your vehicle, and will be clearly visible when the driver side door is open. These two metrics can be found towards the top of this label, which I have outlined in the image above as well.

Axle Code: The actual code is also shown at the bottom of this label and is good information to keep on hand for future reference. If you were just wanting to figure out the maximum trailer weight rating for your vehicle, you did not need to know the axle ratio that you had equipped on the vehicle, as these metrics weren't needed to figure this information out.

Helpful Resources I Used For My Research:

All of the research I conducted for the 2017 Ford Escape came directly from only three different resources and I went ahead and listed these three resources below for anybody out there that wants to check those out a little bit deeper.

All three resources came in handy and each resource provided me different types of information, which really helped to fill out nearly all of the details I was looking for when it came to these vehicles.

Last updated on May 12th, 2022 at 05:45 pm

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