[thewayneo]

I called a Ford dealer, talked to service, then parts. They knew all about the U-Haul ban, said it started when SUV's were all narrower, up to 2002/2003 for Explorers. Stability problems due to the narrow stance/tall body in all SUV's of that era.

I called two U-Haul stores, they agreed with Ford's explanation. They said the ban on models previous to 2003 has just this week been expanded to all models previous to 2011 (when the Explorer had a complete design change) as a corporate CYA due to years of currently (and on-going!) pending litigation from way back.

Had an online chat with Uhaul.com. Confirmed accuracy of all the above.

Just for fun I tried to rent a U-Haul on-line, this is what I got:

U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations. This policy is not related to safety issues. This is an unusual circumstance for U-Haul – we have built our success for over 60 years by saying 'yes' to our customers.

I remember an episode of Motor Trend from back in the day showing Suzuki SUV rollover instability. The Firestone tire problem came up to further complicate things for Ford, but was separate from the “all SUV's too narrow” issue. I kept up with all this because I had a 1997 Explorer, now a 2005 Explorer.

Edit: MAYBE what happened for Explorers is different for Explorer Sport Tracs? If so, I apologize for my confusion!

wayne