Maxing out towing capacity with a leveled truck

[Blmpkn]

I moved my 86 squarebody chevy the other day on a 14' equipment trailer. The trailer weighs anywhere between 2400-2750 lbs, and the truck probably weighs 4500 or so with the amount of snow/ice in the bed. 400lbs of passengers, at least a couple hundred pounds of jacks and assorted recovery equipment. I was definitely AT if not OVER total payload/towing capacity.

The ranger was sufficiently squatted with everything loaded up. No pictures, sorry.

The amount of squat the truck was dealing with was enough for it to think that there was issues with the stability control, traction control, and ABS.. all of which didn't function with the truck on the trailer.

Just something to keep in mind If your planning on towing anywhere close to max capacity and you have a leveling kit. If I Hauled this much weight regularly I'd definitely go with some air shocks or airbag helpers or something.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Ida pulled that with my 1st gen no problem

 

[superj]

i would bet over, for sure.

were you pulling far? the only reason i still have a full size truck is for when i have to go get the jeep from other states, or i have to move my little rv around. i think the ranger would be scary to pull that stuff with if i have to go anywhere more than 10 or so miles

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If I want my truck to sit level I put my camper in the back.

 

[Blmpkn]

i would bet over, for sure.

were you pulling far? the only reason i still have a full size truck is for when i have to go get the jeep from other states, or i have to move my little rv around. i think the ranger would be scary to pull that stuff with if i have to go anywhere more than 10 or so miles

Not too far. 15 miles mabey. It did fine imo, certainly not sketchy.. would be a different story if the roads weren't dry though.

 

[sgtsandman]

This is part of the reason I don’t do the leveling thing.

Not a judgement statement by any means but since there are occasions that I load up the trucks pretty good, I don’t want to deal with the potential issues that a sagging back end might bring.

 

[Blmpkn]

This is part of the reason I don’t do the leveling thing.

Not a judgement statement by any means but since there are occasions that I load up the trucks pretty good, I don’t want to deal with the potential issues that a sagging back end might bring.

Yeah, leveling certainly isn't optimal if your going to be hauling stuff all over the place.

The wierd thing I thought was that the truck handled just fine. Didn't have the light front end feel at all. I would of felt comfortable trucking clear across the country if the ABS worked lol.

More issues caused by electrical crap.

 

[gw33gp]

I solve the sagging with my levelled Ranger with air bags on the rear suspension. I can adjust to what ever load in on it. Makes towing much more stable and it has less capability than the new Rangers. If I get a new Ranger, it will be levelled and bagged on the rear suspension for sure.

 

[Snoranger]

I solved my Ranger’s sagging issue by replacing it with an F150 with the max tow package.

 

[JohnnyO]

Firestone makes a rear airbag kit for the Gen 5's.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

This reminds me of a story....

I had an 83 F150 with helper leaves and coilovers on the shocks. I went to pick up a load of dried cow shi....err...fertilizer and had the truck parked with my front end in kind of a dip but the ass up on a bit of an incline.

I wasnt thinking about this as me and my buddy were loading it. Id check, didnt look to squatty, "shovel it on bud!" And we kept going and going and going. Finally after i concluded we had enough cow shi....err....fertilizer i hopped in the truck and pulled forward...

Oh...my....god. Im not one to worry about overloading to much but this was in another leauge. The front end was so light it was about like driving on ice and the the brakes were about worthless.

It was 6 miles home down dirt roads so i did it. But it was honestly probably the most i had ever overloaded a pickup in my life. Besides maybe the 27 bundles of shingles in rusty#1, but im not sure that was as bad as rusty#1 actually still steered and stopped decent.

That old 300/T18 combo never once bitched though.

 

[wildbill23c]

This reminds me of a story....

I had an 83 F150 with helper leaves and coilovers on the shocks. I went to pick up a load of dried cow shi....err...fertilizer and had the truck parked with my front end in kind of a dip but the ass up on a bit of an incline.

I wasnt thinking about this as me and my buddy were loading it. Id check, didnt look to squatty, "shovel it on bud!" And we kept going and going and going. Finally after i concluded we had enough cow shi....err....fertilizer i hopped in the truck and pulled forward...

Oh...my....god. Im not one to worry about overloading to much but this was in another leauge. The front end was so light it was about like driving on ice and the the brakes were about worthless.

It was 6 miles home down dirt roads so i did it. But it was honestly probably the most i had ever overloaded a pickup in my life. Besides maybe the 27 bundles of shingles in rusty#1, but im not sure that was as bad as rusty#1 actually still steered and stopped decent.

That old 300/T18 combo never once bitched though.

I pulled my full size truck bed utility trailer home last summer with 4300lbs of gravel in it behind my 87 Ranger....that was rated for 2,000lbs LOL...yep, the front end on the truck was a bit light, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I see why they limit the manual equipped trucks to 2,000lbs, the clutch didn't like weight too well LOL.

 

[bobbywalter]

 

[HenryMac]

Hold my beer. I've got stupid stuff I did that I need to type and send out for the world to see....

 

[racsan]

‘93 4.0 ranger with 5040 gvwr (heavier rear spring pkg), 6x10 haulmark box trailer filled halfway up with green oak firewood. went from one end of town to the other- in low range, front hubs unlocked. minimal front braking, was surprised I couldnt lift front wheels off ground during acceleration. I dont know the weight, was certainly overloaded. Even has helper coils on rear axle. Would of been quite a handful at highway speed, assuming it could of managed it.