Towing a Ranger

Rod · Nov 7, 2007

I have a 1999 Ranger 3.0 4X4 Manual trans. I want to tow this four down, I've been told I just can't put trans in neutral and tow. I'm not sure why not. The owners manual says for two wheel drive you can put it in neutral and tow it but you can't exceed 35 mph or 50 miles.
And if I haxe to pull driveshaft, how do I keep from losing all the trans fluid out the rear seal.

tanbuddy · Nov 7, 2007

Is it 2 or 4 wheel drive? If u have a manual t case put that in nutural and i believe u can flat tow it. If not, just pull the d shaft off the rear and use a zip tie or something to hold it to the frame. U wont loose any fluid then, jsut make sure its held up pretty good, wouldnt want to loose it

Jspafford · Nov 7, 2007

You cannot flat tow a ford 4x4 unless it has a manual transfer case. The lube pump runs off the transmission and without it running and in gear it will not have any lubrication when being towed.

You have a couple choices. You can buy a neutral tow kit from ford which puts your electric t-case into neutral. You can swap in a manual t-case, or as stated you can take loose the 4 13mm bolts holding the driveshaft on the rear axle and tie it up out of the way. Even if you were to take the rear driveshaft out it will not lose any fluid because the output at the t-case is a flange not a slip joint.

JohnnyU · Nov 7, 2007

What style hubs would a 99 have? I'd pull the front driveshaft just to be safe. Back when I drove a wrecker I used to have to pull the driveshaft or axle shafts out of medium duty trucks all the time. It's the safest method.

maddhatter · Nov 9, 2007

Don't flat tow at all tow bars suck know it now or learn the hard way just find a car dolly and pull the back drive shaft and you will be a lot happier trust me.
:badidea:

Will · Nov 10, 2007

That depends. I towed my B2 on a towbar from VA Beach behind a SWB '91 Ranger 4.0 and 31s. No sooned did I get it hooked up did it start raining. A flat-towed vehicle HATES to turn--it wants to go straight and it takes a bit of force to turn the gearbox from the worng end. So my first stop was on a curve and it pushed the lightweight ass end of my Ranger around--and I was just creeping along. Thank God I was only 750 miles from hope with a treacherous piece of crap. I would rather run backwards on a balance beam 20' above a dumpster filled with broken bottles, at night, with a bowling ball held in each outstretched hand--in tight shoes, than to do that again.

I still carry the tow bar in case we absolutely need to get someone home and we don't have trailer space.

And I will say I had to pull it behind my 3/4 truck and it wasn't too bad. But you can still feel it and you have to be really careful.

TowguyPLAT · Feb 3, 2008

OK I work for a towing company so I agree that flat towing will do extreme damage to your trans a t case now if you pull the driveshaft just remove the u-joint or yoke depending on what you got now use a rope or bunge cord and tie it up to your frame now also remember that if you pull out the u joint use electrical tape to tie up the caps

Wicked_Sludge · Feb 4, 2008

whats that about flat towing? :icon_cheers:

(note the snow and ice on the ground)

flat towing is fine as long as you take your time while getting used to the feeling. its definitely not the same as towing a trailer. it helps if your tow rig outweighs your towed rig by a respectable amount (like an RV towing a focus).

LIMA BEAN · Feb 7, 2008

Wicked_Sludge said:
whats that about flat towing? (note the snow and ice on the ground)

flat towing is fine as long as you take your time while getting used to the feeling. its definitely not the same as towing a trailer. it helps if your tow rig outweighs your towed rig by a respectable amount (like an RV towing a focus).

Funny how the gen 1 looks small there,Your rig is still lookin great Wicked, Whens your next trip back to AK. Er that pic IS here the gen 1 has Ak tags too.

exbass94 · Feb 7, 2008

If you pull the driveshaft. do not just tie it up underneath the truck. About a month ago, a guy came into the Napa I work at and needed a driveshaft for his Ranger...because it fell off while he was flat-towing it.

Wicked_Sludge · Feb 10, 2008

LIMA BEAN said:
Funny how the gen 1 looks small there,Your rig is still lookin great Wicked, Whens your next trip back to AK. Er that pic IS here the gen 1 has Ak tags too.

id love to make it back up there this summer...but it remains to be seen if the money will show.

thats on old picture, and its actually at my folks' house in washington. they had just moved down from Juneau and hadnt gotten WA tags for the truck yet...good eye though :icon_cheers:

hjbfreeman · Mar 10, 2008

flat tow 2004 ranger 4x4 auto

So as I understand it, if you disconnect the rear driveshaft, have the selector in 2wd on the dash, you will not damage the transfer case towing behind a motorhome ??????? Is that correct???

Remco does make a rear driveshaft disconnect for these trucks, pricey as they have to make a steel driveshaft tube to weld the disconnect to. ($1300 installed)

Wicked_Sludge · Mar 10, 2008

your '04 does not have hubs on the front wheels...so any time the front wheels are turning, the front axles and driveshaft are turning. this wouldnt be a problem if the rear drive shaft is connected...since the t-cases oil pump is driven off of the rear output.

unfortunatly for your auto transmission, its oil pump is driven by the engine....so if its spinning in nuetral without the motor running it will burn up.

the only way you could flat tow your truck without disconnecting both drivelines is if you had a manual t-case and could put it in nuetral (though, ive heard you can "trick" the electric t-cases into nuetral somehow...but i dont know how).

Towing a Ranger

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