I’m a newbie & just saw this link & thought I’d throw “Big Red” and the new toy out there:
Big red is a 1996 F250 HD (most people don’t realize there were three different 1996 F250s), 7.3 diesel, 4 x 4, extended cab, XLT, automatic, all the toys except leather (Which I would like to add some day). It is all stock, except I’ve added the code 3 lights upfront and I have a traffic annunciator up top on the back. cherry, I’ve owned it since new, garage kept or under a carport in Atlanta all its life except for maybe a month or two. It’s a $2/yr permit in Georgia for the lights if you have a reason to have them and keep your nose clean.
The black buggy is an 87 short cab, short bed, 4x4, 5-speed, XLT, Roll up windows and AC. It has a freeze-broken/thrown rod 2.9v6 i’m trying to replace right now. The Ranger was given to me. I’m not sure if the guy liked me or not ;-) !
TRS interest may be the tow bar. I made it out of 2 x 2 x 3/16 angle iron about 1980. I’m guessing the threaded rod adjustments are about 5/8 or 3/4. It has a cheap 2 inch coupler which is the only thing I would do more heavy duty, or I should say I’ll do the next time, since I’ve cracked it up the sides a couple times where its welded to the angle iron. I made it at a time when the bumpers were steel like this little ranger. I’ve pulled a 60’s F600 dump truck with it.
Basically you hook the two lower chains to the frame of the towed vehicle, and tighten them up which pulls the tongue down, but not too much. The two chains on the top only hook on the top of the bumper, usually I put some carpet or rubber to protect the chrome, and they just get snagged. They’re only purpose is to keep the bar from falling if it goes slack. I made it at a time when the bumpers were steel like this little ranger. I use an equally heavy safety chain wrapped around the frame of the tow bar to hook it on the truck. The ball pulls the bar which pulls the towed vehicle by the frame, and the chains on top and underneath the tow vehicle are preventative safety items.
When I hook it up, after 50 yards, I have to stop and tighten one side and loosen the other side as it levels itself out. I usually do it again in another 500 or thousand yards, etc. until it doesn’t move around. Once I hit the road, I check it about 50 miles, but having done it many times, I really have to adjust it. U-Haul used to make a hitch like this in the 70s, and the biggest mistake people would make is tightening all the chains as hard as they could, which would bend the bumpers, maybe even the frame, and make it very hard to pull.
Something else that may be of interest: I have some tow lights that I can hang on the back of the towed vehicle. But what I have done for years, with any vehicle I think I may be Towing over and over again, is I cut the wires to the tail lights on the towed vehicle and splice in a female/male trailer connector. I have a long extension that will reach to BIG Red, and when I am Towing, I pull the towed vehicle circuit, and I plug-in the tail lights directly to BIG red. I wouldn’t do this on a newer vehicle, but it’s a great trick I’ve learned for hauling around less exotic stuff. The portable lights seem to always scratch the paint or fall off or who knows what, huh?
i’ve done the same trailer connector trick for lights that may be on top of my truck or temporary.
These pictures are from when I picked up the Ranger in South Carolina and towed it back home to North Atlanta. Didn’t even know it was back there. I’ll try to get some better pictures of the tow bar this weekend.
Other projects to be determined: I had a two axle trailer that would hold my 87 and 88 town cars very comfortably, but a guy down the road just had to have it more than I needed it. Money talks, huh? In the meantime I picked up a 1978 Lincoln Mark V which is about 7000 pounds, the second largest Car (L/W) Ford Ever made (460/233 inches). I have all the axles and trailer equipment in the garage to make a two or three axle 21 or 22 or 23 foot trailer, and I plan on making a similar mini two axle trailer if I get the Ranger going, just for fun, something big enough to hold a small car or one of the golf carts.
It’s not anything to do with what I do for a living, but I love playing with all this little stuff. I’ll post more as it moves along, it may be a little while
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) but the thing runs like a top.
