Trailer?

Well, in that case...I still say 20' or smaller and the newer the better, because they build them lighter now.

-andrew

Towing with a 21 ft tandem axle jayco featherlite

My 2008 ranger ext cab 4 litre manual 4x4 with 3.73 tows a 2007 ,3200lb dry weight tandem axle jayco featherlite 21 ft travel trailer.I can tell you I have the electric brakes the weight dist hitch and the friction sway bar damper and I have experience hauling a single axle 4000lb dry weight trailer behind an old 84 dodge 1/2 ton and by no means does that new ranger come close to hauling as easy as the old dodge did because of the length of the trailer compared to the ranger's wheelbase length and the shear size of the front of the travel trailer breaking the airflow.Like one of the guys previously mentioned,its fine power wise it will probably haul double the weight but the air drag causes the thing to be all over the road when a semi passes you or you get above 80km/hr (in canada hence the km/hr).I actually hesitated buying this trailer at the sales place and actually called my dealership to confirm the ability of the truck and his words were,"The truck is rated for less but I assure you that the truck can handle 5000lb no problems at all and therefore you dont have to worry about your warranty coverage".I followed up with the fact I wanted him to record that he oked my towing this trailer under warranty period on my file and he did.The trailer company should let you take the darn things out for a test pull since I left the trailer sales place to find out once on the highway that the rig was being pulled all over the place by the semis passing me ,as well the truck wouldnt acheive 100km/hr on anything but a straight away unless you were in 3rd gear revving the shit out of the motor.So if you are wanting to know whether to pull something this big I would say no .Unfortunately I cant just go buy another new truck or trailer without loosing my shirt in debt now so I am stuck with this setup till I can actually find an old International long wheel base or an old dodge truck to pull it with.Unless of course some one here has a suggestion on how to mod the truck to handle the towing better.I was thinking of mayeb putting an air dam on the truck itself to deflect the airflow away from the trailer or at least take some drag away.I hope this message was somewhat helpful to anyone thinking of buying a trailer this size for your ranger.

wahlstrom1 said:

Well, his ranger is gonna be on 1 tons and 38's, so he's gonna knock down the same amount of wind as a fullsize. I would stick to a newer trailer (95+) just for the fact they are built a lot lighter and stick to a 20' or smaller. With the lift, a fifth wheel is also outta the question.

-andrew

Click to expand...

No he isn't. It's still a little Ranger body. A Ranger body is about 64" wide and 50" tall. A full-size body is about 80" wide and 60" tall. A Ranger is punching 50% less of a hole in the air.

'Binder's experience is the same as mine. It's not enough truck. Its like putting a 300hp outboard engine on a commercial fishing trawler It's enough power, but there isn't anywhere near enough propeller to use it in that application. The Ranger drivetrain is suitable for that weight, but there isn't a suitable frame and body to control it.

I also would not agree that newer trailers are lighter. Old trailers are framed in 2x2s (or smaller) with aluminum skin on them and usually an undersized frame and axle and nothing like the amount of amenities available in a new trailer. AC was rare, generators rare, slideouts nonexistant, ice boxes instead of refers. They were also narrower--usually 7'6" width was standard--and had less headroom.

Definately trying to smooth out the airflow between the truck and trailer would help. An airdam to try and throw the air up and maybe an 8" wide deflector on either side too. I don't know how that would be done. But there's a lot of trailer on either side of a narrow Ranger cab. With an 8' wide trailer even a mirror extension won't let you see backwards. The equalizer is good since a Ranger can't accept that much tonque weight. I had a sway control--I would use a pair of them with a Ranger and a fullsize. That will take the semi factor away.

Build a little fiver for a Ranger, I would say. I'm going to build one when I get these boats in my yard built, just because it would be fun and inexpensive.

look into teardrop trailors, a honda civic could tow them, and there just really cool

Guys, this thread is a year old.

Yeah?

The Jesus boat is 2,000 years old and to some people it's about the most interesting thing they ever heard of.

I was trying to be humorous, not rude.

If someone wants to talk about it, it's worth talking about whenever. That's my point.

A topic brought back to live is in my opinion something that was never finished in the first place. Sometimes by finishing it you make it easier for people who actually know how to use the "search feature" to find what they are looking for and prevent any further posts on the exact same subject. Not that it may apply in this exact same case but still you never know.

There you go, I never thought about that. Someone uses the search function and of course the topic is going to be old. We certainly don't want to discourage use of the search function.

Good points. I didnt mean to discourage discussion. I will definitely agree that threads that have no resolution are very annoying. Often its, "this is my problem" followed by "check this this and this" and then the thread dies with no actual resolution which is by far the most useful part of any technical thread.

yep, & when one has brain damage & one gives a 300 word reply & one hits the submit button before one realizes the thread is from 8Mar2005--one really gets embarrased: other than that, it's all good

Not helpful.