I pulled a Triton tr-20 with that same truck for 2 years. My explorer was a 2000. Granted the triton quite a bit lighter than that nitro, but I had no problems with it. However, I rarely towed it more than 20 miles, and most trips were only about 10 miles, I did pull it on a few, several hour trips. I did notice it was back there, but it was not a big issue. I played with several hitch configurations until I got the height right. As long as the trailer has breaks, and don't mind slowing down a bit (not that it won't go as fast as you want - but just not to over stress the engine) you should be fine. If I lived any farther away from the lake, say maybe an hour or so each way, I would look into something that is made more for towing/hauling.