pezdyspensr

My '19 has the 2.0 and 8F35. I have a small utility trailer for odd jobs and have pulled up to roughly 1200lb without any feeling of concern. I have not done any long highway towing however. I have really wanted to pull the trigger on a pop up but when I add up the dry weight plus camping items and family members it starts to be eerily close to the GCWR. I do feel bummed how Ford dropped the ball on this series of vans. They could've put the 2.0 ecoboost and AWD in these and kept up with building them in the Maverick factories - maybe even offering the tow package that the little truck has. There are too many horror stories already popping up about the 8F35s as well, though I would like to see how many early failures were also zero-fluid change situations. There's a Ford tech on YouTube that goes by Big Ben that specifically works on Focus's and the like, and his takeaway on this transmission is that the fluid is likely heat sensitive and breaks down prematurely. There's also a captive filter so preemptive fluid changes are paramount.

@G B L what are your average and max trailer weights?

Would love some towing feedback from some 2.0 Ti-VCT GDI /8F35 owners. There is precious little info on TC towing, and the little positive feedback I have seen is from 2.5 owners. I am really on the fence about getting a 1400lb pop-up and I don't want to prematurely wreck my tender little van. For what it's worth I put a hitch and 4-pin wiring on myself so no sway control from Ford, though if I go ahead with this the mechanical sway control looks better.

Has anyone actually completed this upgrade? In my searches it came to my attention the Maverick, which has the same 8f35 trans and a turbocharged version of the 2.0l engine has a 4k tow upgrade package, which to my understanding is mainly a trans cooler and possibly larger radiator? I realize it isn't Ford condoned but seeing as the Maverick is the equivalent of the TC I can only imagine similar upgrades would make the TC more tow worthy.