01 Ranger Towing Abilities

[sgtsandman]

I guess I’ll ask this here after reading this thread…
How do you guys weigh your trucks? Curb weight ratings for Rangers seem inconsistent and I’m curious what I weight empty with fuel and myself in the truck.

A scrap yard is one place. A place that sells gravel, mulch, and the like that would get loaded into a trailer or truck will often do it if you ask. I got my trailer weighed at a place that sells gravel. I was way off in my estimation of how much it weighted. Just weighting it was free. Getting a print out was a nominal fee. $20, I think.

 

[racsan]

I live not far from a place where farmers take their grain, you can see the scale readout through the window, its always on. I go there after hours if I want to know a weight of a vehicle. During harvest season its pretty busy during daylight hours but late night/early morning isnt a issue.

 

[superj]

i have a scale about 1.5 miles from my house that is free. i used to drive on it almost every day just to see what each mark on the gas gauge read at.

its a drmo scale here on the navy base. its always on so you pull up and the reading appears on the light up board to the left of the scale.

if i remember, i will stop on it today and take a picture.

 

[don4331]

I guess I’ll ask this here after reading this thread…
How do you guys weigh your trucks? Curb weight ratings for Rangers seem inconsistent and I’m curious what I weight empty with fuel and myself in the truck.

Inconsistent isn't the word I'd use, but rather there is significant difference between a regular cab short bed 2wd with I-4/manual (old blue was 3,255lbs) and SuperCab having 'suicide' doors, 4wd with 4.0/auto, A/C, power windows & locks, trailer hitch & tonneau cover (Squirrel was 4,385lbs). There's also significant difference between '83 and '11 ones (they put on more than a couple pounds over the years). Both mine being '98s.

There's lot of different locations to get the truck weighed as mentioned. The big boys laugh when I pull across but I like to know where I'm at.

I occassionally pull the truck/trailer across together, then drop the trailer and weigh again to make sure I'm in the 15%+ range on tongue.​

It is beef about U-haul trailers: When the 5x8trailer had GVWR of 2.7k lbs, the tongue weight is going to be >400lbs. How to you lift the thing without a tongue jack??​

​

Note: While too much tongue weight might be hard on the truck, it isn't unsafe (you will be overloaded on rear axle before the front end gets light). Too little is exciting at best; fatal at worst.

 

[superj]

Ok, i feel like their scale is out of calibration because of this weight, but i stopped and checked.

This is an 04 single cab, 5 speed, stepside with plastic flooring, roller windows, manyal door locks, and the 3.0 v6 with between a hafl and a quarter tank of gas rolling on stock size tires with stock steelie 15s.

As.you can tell, the wind was making it fluctuate a little. If i climbed on with the truck, it sat 2700 flat

 

[pjtoledo]

that seems a couple hundred pounds light.
during a scrap run a few years back I seem to recall 3200-3300 on my '05 reg cab short bed 4cyl.
me, cap, heavy bed mat, hitch.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Reading all the replies- thanks for all the input. Very cool to know that an average personal vehicle can weigh at these places, I will probably weigh my truck on the way down to LBL just out of curiosity.

 

[superj]

that seems a couple hundred pounds light.
during a scrap run a few years back I seem to recall 3200-3300 on my '05 reg cab short bed 4cyl.
me, cap, heavy bed mat, hitch.

It sounds low to me too

 

[don4331]

that seems a couple hundred pounds light.
during a scrap run a few years back I seem to recall 3200-3300 on my '05 reg cab short bed 4cyl.
me, cap, heavy bed mat, hitch.

Lil' blue at 3,255lbs is right in that window with more less same truck (Might have had hard tonneau, bed liner and hitch (didn't record those, but most of my Rangers have them).

But I'd like @superj's scale when the camper was on.

The truck with sandwich maker/lift kit/big tires and tools was about 500lbs more than expected and at the time I didn't know campers 'brochure' weight, didn't include battery/propane tank. So, I was about 875lbs overweight! With that scale, I could get with spitting distance of compliant.​

 

[SenorNoob]

I can't see why any of the truck stops that offer pay for scale usage would turn anyone away. Most of them around here serve as DOT scales. Even seen some say that if you were good according to their scales and got stopped they'd take care of the legal trouble.

 

[nickname23]

So you can just go to a truck stop and pay for the scale, and they'll let you use it?

I always thought they wouldn't like a pickup weighing there.

Loves CAT Scale, it's cheap and would be a nice trip