The maximum braked weight of the trailer that the vehicle can tow. This varies significantly from vehicle to vehicle; Everest has a maximum braked towing capacity of 3500kg¹ when fitted with a genuine Ford Tow Pack standard on Limited models.

This is the maximum amount of weight that can be carried on your vehicle’s towbar. Everest has a maximum tow ball weight limit of 350kg when fitted with a genuine Ford Tow Pack.

 This is how much the trailer weighs when fully loaded and includes the tow ball weight of your trailer.

This is the mass transmitted to the ground by either the axle or axles when the trailer is loaded uniformly and coupled to the towing vehicle.

This is how heavy the combination of the vehicle and trailer can be.

Everest Weights⁶ Table.

Variant
4x4 2.3L 10AT

Gross Combined Mass (GCM) kg
5880

Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) kg
3000

Payload (based on Max Kerb Weight) kg
780 (XLS), 769 (XLT), 684 (Limited)

Kerb weight kg
2220 (XLS), 2231 (XLT), 2316 (Limited)

Maximum Towing Capacity Braked kg
3100

Before you hitch up and head off, make sure your vehicle and trailer are in top condition. This means you will need to check:

• The oil.
• Windscreen washer fluids.
• Brake fluids.
• Indicators (on vehicle and trailer).
• Lights (on vehicle and trailer).
• Tyres on vehicle and trailer (including spares).
• Drawbar for rust or cracks.

When it comes to packing items into your caravan or trailer you want to keep the heavy stuff low, as close to the axle(s) as possible and spread out evenly from left to right. Too much weight towards the front of the trailer will transfer too much load onto the rear of the towing vehicle (causing it to travel bum down and nose up) while too much weight at the back of the trailer will reduce tow ball load and cause the trailer to sway.

Hitching up a trailer follows a strict checklist to ensure that nothing gets forgotten. If you are towing a camper trailer or caravan, then make sure everything is folded and secured, doors and windows are locked, corner stays wound up, pop-tops and TV aerial lowered, and awning secured. Once your trailer is locked onto your vehicle’s tow ball (remove or fold the jockey wheel out of the way), connect the trailer plug and attach the chain to the tow bar (if your trailer has two chains then cross them over under the tow bar), connect the breakaway brakes cable, switch off the gas bottle, and release the handbrake.

Make sure you use the Everest’s reversing camera with zoom function² to hone right in on your tow bar when reversing up to the trailer. A dynamic dotted line extends from the vehicle’s tow bar allowing you to reverse up to a trailer with millimetre precision.

Make sure you set your trailer’s dimensions via the SYNC^®4 infotainment screen in your Everest Limited so that the blind-spot monitoring (BLIS) with trailer assist^{3 5} automatically adjusts to account for the length of your trailer. You can store a name for your trailer too if you have more than one trailer.

To access this feature, press the vehicle button, then Controls on the SYNC^®4 screen, then press Towing, and then press Add Trailer. With a trailer connected onto the towbar, the system will then take you through a series of questions to help set up your trailer or allow you to select from an existing trailer already saved in the system. Then setup your trailer to ensure the Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) will also work with the trailer.

The system saves your trailer details, where you can add in a name, once you enter the trailer length measurement.

In addition, Everest can run a trailer light check⁴ to ensure all the lights on your trailer are working correctly meaning you no longer need someone to stand outside and tell you if the indicators are working. To access this feature:

• Select Home on the SYNC^®4 touch screen.
• Press Towing.
• Press Trailer light check.
• Press Start.

There is even a handy digital towing checklist you can access via SYNC^®4 to ensure you have not forgotten anything before you head off. To access this feature:

• Press Home on the SYNC^®4 touch screen.
• Press Towing.
• Press Checklist.

Everything takes a little longer when you are towing a trailer, from accelerating to braking. Always tow with your Everest using the Tow/Haul mode which optimizes gear shift timing to maintain power delivery and engine braking in hilly terrain, it also increases steering weight for improved control. Where practical and possible, always try and leave a five-second gap ahead of you when towing as this will give you more time to react if something goes wrong.

Trailer sway (or snaking) can be terrifying and is usually caused by a poorly balanced trailer, but it can also be caused by a wind gust or when you are being overtaken by a large truck. Everest’s Trailer Sway Control² constantly monitors the behavior of the tow vehicle and the trailer. The system can immediately correct detected instability via a left-right braking pattern and by reducing engine torque if required. And the best bit is you do not have to do anything at all.

When turning a corner while towing, you will need to take a wider arc through the turn than you normally would as your trailer could cut the corner - the longer the trailer the more likely it is to cut the corner. A good rule of thumb is to start turning when the back wheels of the towing vehicle are level with the corner of the intersection.

This is probably the most intimidating part of towing a trailer. The secret is to go slow (no more than a walking pace), steady and with small steering inputs because they are easier to correct. You want to start off with the towing vehicle and trailer pointing in a straight line. When you start to reverse, keep your hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, and your eyes on the side mirrors. If the trailer starts to appear in the right-hand mirror, gently bring your right hand down on the steering wheel. The trailer will move back out of sight. If it appears in your left mirror, move your left hand down.