Hello all, I am new here. My wife and I are about to buy a boat and I was wondering if I can upgrade the towing capacity of our 2002 SE. I will be installing a Class III hitch. I know I will need to add a tranny cooler and an oil cooler. Will I need to repalce the rear shocks and add a rear sway bar as well? I appreciate your inputs. Thanks. John

What's the weight of the boat? I pull a 2700lb glastron with my 2000 LX (trailer towing package) no problem. the TT package didn't come with any different suspension in the back as far as i'm aware of.

Thanks Steve. It is the same weight. My SE doesn't have a towing package so I was wondering if anything needed to be done.

Well you definetly want to consider installing a tranny cooler for your SE. As for the trailer wiring, the current does it switching on the negative side of the load, as opposed to the "normal' positive side, so a special wiring harness is needed.

This site here

http://www.cartrackers.com/Forums/live/fordwindstar/1989.html

should be able to answer the rest of your questions.

You might also see if AirLift has an application for the Windstar. For my Nissan Pathfinder, I installed their AirLift Airbags in the rear coil springs. This allows the airbags to be inflated before adding weight to the rear and prevents sagging and bottoming out and really improves the ride with weight. Once I'm done towing you just deflate them down to their minimum PSI for normal driving.

http://airliftcompany.com/

On their home page click on Air Lift Company Traditional Products, then Passenger Cars, then Air Lift 1000. That page has all the details on the bags and has an online catalog at the bottom of the page to search by vehicle.

All '96 up W/s NEED a "trailer light isolator" installed, or you WILL fry the "GEM/LCM" (lighting control module). Installation is very easy, you plug it into the factory harness, run one fused power wire to the battery/keyed power and one ground. You get a longish 4 flat cable and trailer connector in the kit. NAPA sells them, as do most respected RV places.

The single MOST important thing is to keep that ATF COOL! You should also change it every fall (after towing season). If you neglect the ATF, it will very likely bite you. Now, you CAN do this yourself, and not even get very dirty. You pull the oil cooler return line off the trans, point it into a bucket, start the engine and pump out the old ATF. You will only get about 1/3 of the total out, but that's ok, add 4 new qts and repeat. Now reinstall the cooler return line and fill per dipstick markings.

Use ONLY a fluid marked MerconV.