New member with some towing questions

joshkeller · Mar 18, 2013

hey guys, new member here, just looking to get some info. I have a 2006 4x4 ranger, 3.0 standard cab, stock size 235/75/15 BFG all terrain tires, 5 speed manual, 4:10 gears. class 3 hitch installed.

I have towed my 750 lbs jon boat with the truck already, and it does a great job - cant tell its back there. However, come hunting season, I need to tow a 2012 yamaha grizzley 450 atv (approx 600 lbs), on a trailer I made out of an old camper frame - heavy estimate of 600 pounds, in reality, its not that much). It will only be two or three times a year, as I have a f250 diesel to tow with, except for the three times a year max that We take the campers down for the season. I will only have at most, two people in the truck including myself (200 lbs) and gf, (110 lbs), small 50 lb generator, 5 gal gas can, food, and a maximum of 200 lbs of corn to feed the deer.

I believe the truck will tow this load fine, but I'm looking for assurance, as the camp is located in Greenbrier county, wv - there are two mountains to climb that are 9% grades. I plan to keep speeds slow while climbing, and using the gears to slow my descents. Will these be any problems for the load I'm planning on using the truck for?

I know, the truck is a 3.slow, however, it feels pretty nice as my previous daily driver was a s10 with a 2.2 and 5 speed - i made the drive to camp twice with that, towing my 4 wheeler trailer, and it did fine, just took my time.

sorry for the long winded post, thanks guys!

wildbill23c · Mar 24, 2013

You have towed your boat fine, the ATV/Trailer is going to weigh more than your boat by a couple hundred pounds, add the weight of your camping/hunting gear, and you are still within the capacity of your truck. You shouldn't have a problem towing any of that stuff. I drove a 1998 Ford Ranger 4x2 2.3L 5 speed loaded with 6 overhead garage doors up through the mountains from Boise Idaho to Donnelly Idaho and it took all that truck had in 3rd gear to get up through the passes, but then again that truck had 400,000+ miles on it, and had not been serviced or had a tune-up done in who knows how long. The doors with all the hardware and myself and tools I was around 1800lbs, completely overloaded by my standards for that size of a truck, not sure what the actual capacity was supposed to be but I know it struggled. You are going to be around 1200 pounds I'm guessing so you should be just fine with the 3.0L as I had a 99 Ford Ranger 3.0L that replaced the 4 cylinder 98 model and it had tons more power for those runs up into the mountains. You shouldn't have any problems really. Don't expect to win races but you shouldn't be driving like that when towing anyhow. Even if you have the manual transmission avoid using the overdrive don't even attempt running in overdrive you'll quickly destroy the transmission due to heat build up.

Mac · Mar 25, 2013

Sure shouldn't be a problem. A 2000 with your combantion is rated at 2200LBs towing.
Dave

kimcrwbr1 · Mar 25, 2013

I`m not sure on the proper tongue weight but maybe somewhere around 8% of the trailer weight or 160 lbs on the tongue. You dont want the trailer flopping up and down on the hitch. Load the trailer accordingly.

joshkeller · Mar 27, 2013

thanks guys. I generally wont have any other gear in the truck except two people, gas can, small generator, and a few bags of corn. I also fill up the 4 wheeler and gas can at a station 10 miles from camp, so that saves a little weight. My biggest concern was the 5 speed holding up going up a 9% grade for a few miles at a time. The steepness itself generally wouldnt be a problem, but the road switch backs and theres no room to get any speed up. I know pulling in my s10, the worst hill was a first gear hill for about a quarter mile, simply because of 3 90 degree turns in a quarter mile.

I flushed the coolant system when I bought the truck, is the overheat problem on the 3.0 as big of an issue as I've heard?

Also, i back the 4 wheeler onto the trailer, and use a hand crank winch to attach it from the back, and the 4 wheelers winch on a u bolt mounted to the trailer frame to anchor down the front. This allows me to get more of the 4 wheelers weight ahead of the axle and improves the ride. The trailer has approx 250 lbs of tongue weight - the one time I couldnt get the jack down due to uneven terrain, it took everything I had to lift it off the hitch ball.

wildbill23c · Mar 27, 2013

Plan your downshifts before hand, it will keep your speed up, avoid towing in overdrive, and you will be fine. Can't do any worse than some vehicles I've followed up through the mountains towing larger trailers than they should have creeping along at 30mph.

I doubt the overheating issue is much of a problem if you do the proper vehicle maintenance and keep an eye on the gauges. If it starts getting hotter than normal pull over and let it cool down before it becomes a problem, this is something the majority of people don't do then wonder why they have major engine problems.

I had a 1994 Toyota 4Runner 3.0L V6 4x4 5 speed, and it was a complete dog when towing on anything but flat ground, it was just gutless for towing, it was rated for 3500lbs and my thought was yeah that must have been for downhill with a tail wind.

Your ranger has a better power plant than my 4Runner did, so you shouldn't have any issues with that weight. An average ATV weighs around 500-700lbs, and your trailer probably weighs around 600-800lbs, so you are looking at around 1800-2000lbs of weight total including yourself/GF/generator, etc. That's definitely not going to overload your truck.

joshkeller · Mar 28, 2013

is it adviseable to not tow in O/D with my light jon boat? I can literally push the entire thing by hand uphill into the garage as seen in the picture.

Captain Ledd · Mar 28, 2013

joshkeller said:
is it adviseable to not tow in O/D with my light jon boat? I can literally push the entire thing by hand uphill into the garage as seen in the picture.

The issue with towing in overdrive is mainly with automatics and what's called "hunting". When the transmission is constantly switching back and forth between O/D and 4th gear it really wears the shit out of things, creates a LOT of excess heat, and is all around bad. IF you can drive down a stretch of road and the trans isn't shifting back and forth, you're generally good. If it's hilly, you might want to drop the gear selector a notch to keep it out of overdrive for a bit.

For something as light as your jon boat, I probably wouldn't worry about it unless you had a really stiff headwind (or it starts to hunt like described). Anything getting towards 1000-1500 lbs I'd probably drop it out of overdrive just to be safe (or if it had a large frontal area, like an enclosed trailer, wind resistance adds up quick)

wildbill23c · Mar 28, 2013

joshkeller said:
is it adviseable to not tow in O/D with my light jon boat? I can literally push the entire thing by hand uphill into the garage as seen in the picture.

I know with my 84 Bronco 2, and every other vehicle I've owned regardless of manual or automatic transmission it states DO NOT TOW IN OVERDRIVE, mean don't tow in overdrive, don't ask questions, do what it says if you want to keep your transmission. What happens with the manual transmissions especially newer ones with overdrive is that the overdrive gears aren't as hardened and are farther down the shaft so they do not get lubricated as well as 4th gear and below plus they are of a softer material and are not to be used under load, overdrive is for cruising on flat ground and very light hills under no load. Running a manual transmission in overdrive while towing will start to put extreme stress on the overdrive gear and pretty soon will be whining, howling, and eventually will fail. Its best to do what the manual says.

joshkeller · Mar 29, 2013

thanks guys. i had the day off work and took both trailer to the scales today to see what they really weighed. The jon boat/trailer was only 600 lbs including trailer. the 4 wheeler and trailer weighed in at 1350 lbs.

definitly wont tow the 4 wheeler trailer in 5th gear, but it will be hard to tow the jon boat at 75 mph down the highway (i live in the flat part of wv - close to dc and baltimore) in 4th gear.

And i definitly know about the planning downshifts. In my s10, I would have to shift down to 4th before I even got to a mountain if I wanted to maintain anything over 60 mph - and that was empty!

wildbill23c · Mar 31, 2013

~1300lbs was about what my Yamaha Rhino weighed in at full of fuel, fluids and extra camping gear. So that weight sounds bout right for a trailer and a Yamaha Grizzly 450. Sure miss not having an ATV, but budget isn't anywhere near being able to get another one

. You won't have any problems at all towing your ATV/Trailer through the mountains with a 3.0L Ranger.

MastuhWaffles · Mar 31, 2013

I wish I could tow this.

Unfortunately, its to big.

Sasquatch_Ryda · Apr 1, 2013

You should be able to tow that without any issues.

I towed a 24ft travel trailer behind my 05 sport trac with the 4.0L with little issue.

pjtoledo · Apr 5, 2013

what brakes and rear axle do you have?
front brakes, 12" or 11.25"?
rear brakes, 10" drums, 9" drums, or disks?
rear axle, 7.5" or 8.8"?

my 05 2wd easily tows 1500lbs, and thats with a 2.3, 5sp, 7.5 with 3.73, and the smallest brakes front & rear.

Perry

Rangered06 · Apr 10, 2013

here is one of the trailers im gonna be towing this summer cant really tell its there the first time i towed it gotta love the 4.0

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