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Your Tow Rig


036speed

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Age
37
Location
Akron Ohio
Vehicle Year
90
Make / Model
F-250
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
351
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
Solid Axle Swap 4x4
Total Lift
6"
Tire Size
44
It doesn't get 21mpg like a cummins, I get 18 unloaded. But it doesn't get 14 like a Duramax, either.
It'll pull what ever hill you point it at loaded, at 35mph, but it struggles to do more (mountain passes)
And it doesn't drive awesome, but it doesn't drive like shit either.
It's an old truck though, but I love it. Selling it is going to be hard.
My friends give me crap all the time. They have newer trucks that can blow my doors off while towing 2 rigs vs my one. Doesn't bother me. I still get there. Then they claim they get 20+mpg over my 15ish. However, I paid about $20,000 less for my truck. $40,000 less I some cases. I can buy a lot of fuel with that money.
 


scotts90ranger

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Location
Dayton Oregon
Vehicle Year
1990, 1997
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
2.3 (4 Cylinder)
Engine Size
2.3 Turbo
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
6
Tire Size
35"


I don't have any better pics on my photobucket, although have some somewhere...

'97 F350 crew cab long bed powerstroke with ZF5... it might be old hand have a billion miles on it (I took a picture of the odometer when it passed 333,333.3 a few months ago, will take another when it passes 345,678.9 :)) but the thing runs like a top.

When I got it the fuel filter was plugged, was getting 13mpg at best. Changed the filter, the oil a couple times, the valve cover gaskets, glow plug relay, replaced those bald Toyo's with Goodyear Duratrac's, oil cooler O rings and serpentine belt and now it gets 17mpg daily driving it (the Ranger gets 16mpg on premium, so technically the F350 is cheaper to drive while my Tracker is torn apart). If I'm towing stupid amounts of weight or fast I can drop that down to 12mpg now but if I'm not trying to keep up with my duramax and cummins buddies it'll get 14mpg towing my Ranger around.

By stupid amounts of weight I mean I transported a Ford 8600 tractor for my brother, truck trailer and tractor was somewhere around 22,500 pounds... and that was after we took the 1000lb of weights off of the front!
 

bobbywalter

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Location
woodhaven mi
Vehicle Year
1988
Make / Model
FORD mostly
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
BIGGER
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
sawzall?
Tire Size
33-44
My credo
it is easier to fix and understand than "her"
have you ever seen my ranger.


its also my tow rig.:thefinger:
 

rusty ol ranger

Im a Jeep guy now.
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Location
Michigan
Vehicle Year
1987
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Engine Size
177 CID
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
My credo
A legend to the old man, a hero to the child...
Well, glad to see i aint the only one with a pre superduty tow rig.

Heres my 97 HD F250, 460 (7.5L to you youngin :)), Turning an E4OD sending power to a 4.10 rear.

Camper is a 2012 32ft Salem tipping the scales at around 7200lbs. Truck barely notices it and returns about 8mpg with the O/D off.

 
Last edited:

Shran

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5.0
I sold my '85 F250 last year. I was not sad to see it go. It served its purpose pretty well but I was fixing something every time I drove it - I need a truck that works for me, rather than me working on it all the time.

Replaced with a 2007 F250, V10, auto, ex cab long box. Needed a few little things and cosmetic work here and there but it's 10x the truck the old one ever could have been, and after selling the old one, I only have $1200 into it.

 

85_Ranger4x4

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Location
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Vehicle Year
1985
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Ford
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Manual
XLT headlights are a plug and play upgrade and on dad's '04 it was literally a night and day difference. It is a clean looking truck.
 

rusty ol ranger

Im a Jeep guy now.
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Location
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Vehicle Year
1987
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Engine Size
177 CID
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
My credo
A legend to the old man, a hero to the child...
XLT headlights are a plug and play upgrade and on dad's '04 it was literally a night and day difference. It is a clean looking truck.
I always liked the sealed beams on them, plus they dont turn yellow
 

Shran

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I've always preferred the sealed beams too. I guess because they're more of a spot light vs flood light, or so I think. I probably won't do much to the front end other than replace the headlight trim, grille and bumper because they're either cracked, bent, or just beat up.
 

Rick W

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Age
68
Location
Atlanta
Vehicle Year
1997 1987
Make / Model
Ranger XLT x2
Engine Type
4.0 V6
Engine Size
4.0 & 2.9
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
97 stock, 3” on 87
Total Drop
N/A
Tire Size
235/75-15
My credo
Never put off ‘til tomorrow what you can put off indefinitely
I’m a newbie & just saw this link & thought I’d throw “Big Red” and the new toy out there:
43804

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 ;-) !

43806


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
 

Rick W

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Age
68
Location
Atlanta
Vehicle Year
1997 1987
Make / Model
Ranger XLT x2
Engine Type
4.0 V6
Engine Size
4.0 & 2.9
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
97 stock, 3” on 87
Total Drop
N/A
Tire Size
235/75-15
My credo
Never put off ‘til tomorrow what you can put off indefinitely
Afterthought, but if I were to guess, I have used that tow bar for four or 5000 miles towing anything from a Volkswagen beetle to an F 600 dump truck. The only thing I would do different today is to curve the verticals that the bumper pushes against, cut out some thick rubber pads from an old used tire, and bolts them on the face to protect the modern “bumpers.”
 

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