1989 ford ranger towing

diddy · Jul 6, 2011

4.0B2 said:
go to where you get your tags; and ask them.

What are tags?

--weezl-- · Jul 7, 2011

license plate

diddy · Jul 7, 2011

ok cool thank you very much

4.0B2 · Jul 7, 2011

diddy said:
What are tags?

sorry, i'm from missippi, i like to say the shortest word possible... we rednecks dot that

diddy · Jul 7, 2011

not a problem. are trailer hitches hard to install?

4.0B2 · Jul 7, 2011

usually they just bolt up

about $150
http://www.autoanything.com/towing/73A3874A0A0A1775384.aspx

second one down is the one w/ the 2" receiver.
might be cheaper just do a simple google search. check w/ autozone. jcwhitney. camper city, if you have a local one.

Tonka · Jul 8, 2011

diddy said:
hi i have a 1989 2wd ford ranger. i cut a couple lawns and am looking to get a small trailer (4X6) to tow my walk behind mower (approx 500lbs). is my truck able to handle towing a trailer? thanks

You left out info about your powertrain. Engine, trans, rear end, etc. But it doesn't matter. You can tow 500 lbs with just about ANYTHING. My dad towed a 200 lb trailer, with a Honda Goldwing GL1200 on it, behind his Mazda Miata, from Chicago to San Diego and back. That's about a 4400 mile round trip.

I have an 89 Ranger, equipped with a 2.9L V6 engine, 5 speed manual trans, and a 3.45 rear end.
I towed a 3500 lb hard-top travel trailer from Lincoln, NE to Kankakee, IL with it, then on a later date my dad took the truck to New Jersey and bought an airplane that came with a 25 foot enclosed trailer, and he pulled it home 800 miles.

Tonka · Jul 8, 2011

diddy said:
not a problem. are trailer hitches hard to install?

Not too hard. I had to install a frame-mount hitch because the rear end of my camper would scrape the ground sometimes when I was towing it with my ranger's bumper hitch, because it was too high. The frame mount receiver locates the ball about 8" lower than the bumper ball, thus eliminating my problem. It also eliminated the camper sway problem too.

Before, with the bumper hitch and with cheap car tires on my single axle, 3500 lb, 17 foot hard-top travel trailer, if I ran it over 60 mph the camper would wiggle left and right, which is really hard on the truck's leaf springs. I towed it from Lincoln, NE to my home in Kankakee, IL like that. 545 miles. It was a long, slow, miserable, and dangerous trip on a hot summer day with my temp gauge not working, 18 wheelers riding my *** until they could get around me, no trailer brake controller, .. I ended up parking at a truck stop in Des Moines and sleeping in the camper and getting up at 11 PM to go the last 350 miles after dark when the engine would run cooler and I could go slower without impeding traffic.

Before I hit the highway with that camper again, not only did I put real actual trailer tires on the camper (thicker side-walls, twice the air pressure) but the receiver hitch lowered my coupler height, which also raised my camper 's back bumper enough it wouldn't scrape the ground and I think it increased my aerodynamics a bit by bringing the top front edge of the camper about 8 inches down, reducing wind drag. When you're towing with a "Tonka" truck like a Ranger, you really notice slight differences like that.

My Curt brand hitch required I drill only two holes, the rear bolts for the hitch shared two of the bumper mount bolts.

1989 ford ranger towing

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