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Ranger bed trailer


snoranger

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Vehicle Year
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Make / Model
All Fords
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I didn't ask for your life story, just answer the question!
Pretty cool... Glad to see you got it going down the road. I'm sure someone out there would pay up a bit to sport that behind their 1st Gen.

I really hope to get a chance to spend more time camping, hunting, fishing and exploring within the next couple years. I thought about a purpose built camping trailer... but my vision seems to end up with a truck bed trailer that matches the truck.

At any rate... thanks for the update.
Getting it registered in NJ was harder than building it. I needed:
-Titles to any vehicles that the used parts came off. (Including the truck, any trailer that was used for parts, etc) And pay all taxes and title transfer fees on each title.
-Receipts for all major parts (steel, hitch, wheels, tires, etc)
-Actual weight at a certified scale.
-Notarized bill of materials including prices, new or used, where you bought them, etc.

I think there was something else, but I don't remember.

My supervisor is interested in buying it. He wants to take the 8.8 LSD 3.73 rear out of it for his 84 302 Ranger and put his 7.5 in it.
 
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Uncle Gump

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Location
Ottawa IL
Vehicle Year
2006/1986
Make / Model
Ranger/BroncoII
Engine Size
4.0L SOHC/2.9L
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Lead follow or get out of my way
Illinois is getting to that point too... all of it is just a cash grab.

My wife has been telling me I have to sell some stuff before I can buy new stuff. Just figured someone out there would really enjoy that trailer.
 

racsan

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central ohio
Vehicle Year
2009
Make / Model
ford/escape
Engine Type
2.5 (4 Cylinder)
Engine Size
2.5/151 I-4
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Tire Size
235/70/16
My credo
the grey-t escape
I like mine, was surprised how much it weighs though. It’s a nice match behind my small tractor for getting firewood . Glad I didn’t have to go through all that red tape to license it. I just needed a weigh slip, took off everything I could before the weigh-in .
 

snoranger

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Vehicle Year
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Make / Model
All Fords
Engine Type
2.3 EcoBoost
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
I didn't ask for your life story, just answer the question!
I understand why they do it, and I don't consider it a cash grab because it cost me nothing but time. It's to prove it's not stolen or built with stolen parts. They want you to have a legit paper chain on anything used.
You used to be able to walk into DMV with a pic and walk out with it being in your name. Trailers are very easy to steal.

Total costs:
-Taxes and title transfer fees - $0, I already owned the truck.
-Receipts -$0, I just kept the receipts for the stuff I bought.
-Certified scale -$0 at work. (Would have cost about $20.)
-Notarized BOM -$0, most bank will notarize stuff free if you have an account.

-Registration fee -$22, same as any other trailer. NJ doesn't title trailer under a certain size, so no title fee.
I don't mind spending the extra time proving it's legit because if someone steals it, they're going to have to go through the same deal to try register it. That makes it less lucrative to steal.
 

Uncle Gump

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Vehicle Year
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Make / Model
Ranger/BroncoII
Engine Size
4.0L SOHC/2.9L
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Lead follow or get out of my way
I guess maybe I'm still a little jaded with all the recent tax hikes the new Gov just put through here. I did several assembled roadster titles in Michigan and it was really about the same as you had to do for the trailer. Basically you had to prove the major components aren't stolen.

Even with the legalization of recreational marijuana and the tax revenue it will send into the coffers... they will find a way to just need more.

Rant over...
 

Bird76Mojo

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Uncle Gump, good luck getting a truck bed trailer legal here in Illinois now... I've known people that have tried. All of them ended up just using it illegally. Some installed a slow moving vehicle "triangle" farm sign on theirs to try to avoid tickets.
 

Uncle Gump

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Vehicle Year
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Make / Model
Ranger/BroncoII
Engine Size
4.0L SOHC/2.9L
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Lead follow or get out of my way
The only thing I'm trying to accomplish here in Illinois... is to execute my exit plan. I'm gonna let someone else pay the $100K plus in taxes I've paid into the machine every year for the last 6 years.
 

Shran

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I've built several pickup box trailers out of Rangers. Usually what I do is cut the frame behind the front cab mounts, then cut a triangle shape out of the top and bottom of the frame further back and bend the frame rails in. Then I take 2" square tubing and build a T shape that goes between the frame rails and also forward to form the tongue. Add hitch, lights and jack - done deal.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of them. Full size trucks make way better trailers. They are balanced better and track better on the road. You almost have to add weight to the front of a Ranger trailer and it helps to have a super long tongue.

Easy to register in SD - fill out a form, weld a VIN number onto it in several places, get it weighed and inspected by a police officer, and buy plates.

I have one sitting behind my shop right now that I'm storing engines in (has a topper on it.) Pretty handy.
 

snoranger

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Vehicle Year
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Make / Model
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Engine Type
2.3 EcoBoost
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
I didn't ask for your life story, just answer the question!
That said, I'm not a huge fan of them. Full size trucks make way better trailers. They are balanced better and track better on the road. You almost have to add weight to the front of a Ranger trailer and it helps to have a super long tongue.
As far as tracking and balance, that's why I made the tongue the length it is and put the storage box there. I also made a mount to put a spare tire winch under the tongue. I've never put the spare there, I don't take the trailer on long enough trips to bother. I only use it around town.
The hacked up frame tongue wouldn't have worked for my plans of putting the spare under the tongue, It drops down too much. Plus it looks like, well, a hacked up truck frame... I'm not a fan of the look.



My original idea was to cut up a second bed and have a tailgate at both the front and back of the trailer. That way I could carry both of my quads without unhooking the trailer. I would open all 3 tailgates (1 on the truck, 2 on the bed), drive up the ramps into the trailer, across both tailgates into the truck bed, close the front 2 tailgates, then load the 2nd quad into the trailer.
But, we had a kid, bought a SxS, and changed the plans.
 

Uncle Gump

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Vehicle Year
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Make / Model
Ranger/BroncoII
Engine Size
4.0L SOHC/2.9L
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Lead follow or get out of my way
snoranger... that is ummm... thinking outside the box. No pun intended.

We are planning a western trip out through a bunch of the national parks. While I think I could be OK doing it in a Ranger truck bed trailer set up for camping... the wife seems to think I'm crazy and has started looking at smallish camping trailers. I just don't want t spend the money they want for some of those... and the fact they aren't real off road worthy. I'm just gonna keep my options open and see what comes up.
 

racsan

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Vehicle Year
2009
Make / Model
ford/escape
Engine Type
2.5 (4 Cylinder)
Engine Size
2.5/151 I-4
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Tire Size
235/70/16
My credo
the grey-t escape
i measured mine the other day for the heck of it, mine is 59” from the front of the box to the ball hitch. i cut as much frame forward as i could, right behind the transmission crossmember. notched the frame and bent the ends in, about where the rear cab mount brackets were. used a long peice of 3x3 box beam as my tounge, it was previously part of a frame for saddle tanks on a farm tractor. mine was a little toungue light too, put on a full size crossover toolbox that i had (dad got a used truck , tool box was on it, he didnt want or need it, so it got tossed in the weeds behind the barn) and i had enough space to put a spare on in front of the tool box. does fine, its nice to have a separate area for saw gear when cutting wood. i do have coil helpers on the axle just like i do with my rangers.
 

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